Elizabeth Eiss breaks down the delegation engine every small business owner needs — process first, tools second, people third.
GROWTH PILLAR: AI & Automation
WHO THIS IS FOR: SMB owners · Solopreneurs · Corporate escapees · Leaders building systems
WHAT THEY'LL GAIN: A clear framework for deciding what to delegate, what to automate, and what to keep — plus a free tool to calculate exactly what your time is worth.
Most small business owners are spending more than half their time on work that doesn't generate a dollar. Elizabeth Eiss, CEO and founder of Results Resourcing, has spent over a decade solving that problem, and in this Canada Growth Network session, she lays out exactly how.
Her delegation engine framework starts with one honest question: are you investing your time or just spending it? Using her free ROI time calculator, Elizabeth reveals that the average business owner values their time at $166 per hour — but only 43% of their week goes toward revenue-generating work. The other 57% is running the business. That gap is the opportunity.
Her approach runs in a specific order: process first, then tools and AI, then people. It's not about hiring fast. It's about building a system that works with or without you in the room.
Elizabeth also tackles the virtual assistant vs AI debate head-on. AI is taking over the low end of the task spectrum — and that's a good thing. It frees human virtual assistants to step into higher-value, outcomes-oriented work: brand voice, critical thinking, client accountability, and creativity. The best solution, she argues, is always a hybrid.
Results Resourcing provides vetted US and Canadian-based talent in pre-built teams — no minimums, no long commitments, up and running in 24 to 48 hours.
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Co-hosts: Percy Barr · Wayne Pratt
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NEXT STEPS
Elizabeth (00:05)
I'm an entrepreneur and my topic today is really for entrepreneurs, smaller businesses, it's really the ROI of time and how to invest your time like a CEO. And I'm the CEO and founder of my own company, Results Resources, and I'll talk more about what that is. But understanding why I'm doing what I'm doing today, I spent decades running a Fortune 500 companies in the insurance industry in the United States.
Joined my first tech startup in 2002, which is why I live in New York City today, and that's what brought me here. And really, since 2002, I was with a startup, became an entrepreneur. After that first startup did not succeed, which is not uncommon. And it didn't succeed for a number of good reasons, but there were some interesting stories for another time there. But I've spent the last 25 years really as an entrepreneur and an angel investor.
And literally have spent the last two decades hiring freelancers. And I learned a lot about freelancers. And while I never expected to be in the in the contract staffing arena, that's where I ended up. And in 2015, I launched my company called Results Resourcing. And what we are is a is a company that provides human help in helping small businesses hire fractional talent. And so we do contract staffing.
But we're also a technology hybrid because I've chosen from the very beginning to serve the smallest businesses, solopreneurs and small employers, which in most economies is 99.9% of the businesses. And those are not the people that it's cost effective to help with human beings. And so I decided to solve that problem. So basically, what I did is I built a technology platform because I wanted to be human first to helping small businesses understand their needs and help them find the talent that would help them scale.
and and yet I needed technology to be efficient. And what that really led me to to over the past, you know couple decades is is really to develop what I call business owner delegation engines. And I'll talk more about what that is, but I've spent the last ten years helping companies hire high performing freelance professionals. And we've got tons of successful matches, high client satisfaction, and so I really
The theme is delegation engines, not so much talent or hiring or virtual assistants. It's what's what is the right way to delegate work for your business so you can scale. And what I really have discovered over the last you know decade or so is that businesses pay have face two two dilemmas. First is a gl a growth dilemma. They're really small businesses start as DIY businesses, but they don't get out of that DIY business. It's like I can just keep doing it myself.
And they're always looking at the cost and the finite capacity of humans as justification to just keep doing it themselves. And then as I know we've got a a number of people that are using AI today, which I'm a total fan of, but they r they wrestle with AI. Either it's too complex and they need help doing it, or it's impersonal, they don't know how to get the most out of AI. There's just so many different reasons that sap a business owner's time. And as a result, they really don't scale their businesses.
And they provide inconsistent service and a lot of frustration and they the balance of time between their personal lives and their business life lives get really mixed up. And so that's one dilemma they face. But when they when they're really looking for the talent they need to succeed, you know, they they face a time and talent fulcrum. They every business needs people that are skillful or they need skills in general. They need excellence, responsiveness, all these things in the above above the line there.
No you no matter how small a business is, it doesn't mean they they want to settle for lesser talent. But at the same time, the c the inverse pressure is is finite time of theirs themselves and people that they might hire, cost, making decisions between humans and AI. And frankly, many businesses just get overwhelmed with the options. And so that's what really led me to in all these conversations to think about how can I help business owners
Think about j generating a delegation engine, whichever what in in in any way that fits their business, because it's really going to be different. Just like the the question of assets versus you know owning an asset versus leasing it. It really depends. So it's really a thought process. And where I start with most of the businesses I talk to is really about the value of time. Because frankly, many have never really thought about it. And time is the most valuable asset that any business owner has. And I
break it down into two simple principles. Do you invest your time in the work that generates revenue and delivers value? Or are you spending your time, which is on running your business? And it's just those two buckets. And and I'm really all about how do people think about investing their time. And that to me is two buckets. The core work is what your client pays you for. And that's your front office that you invest in. The non core work is the stuff your client doesn't pay for, but you gotta pay you've got to
It's a cost to you. You got you gotta somehow fund it because it's what keeps your back office running. And that's the stuff that I'm really all about outsourcing to AI enabled professionals, virtual assistants, tools, whatever it is. But that's really the area that people can can change their lives by figuring out how to delegate this non-core work. And so I have a a a really quick tool here called the value of time calculator that you can
Click on the QR code if you want. But basically, I ask people what is an hour of their time worth. And many times they haven't asked that. And how many hours do you work a week? And if you multiply that two, that's the value, the time that you're putting into your work week. And I've had hundreds of people take this little survey. That's the QR code to it. It takes about three minutes to do. I don't use it as a marketing tool. I don't capture anybody's email address, but the net result.
is that people say their time is worth 166 hours a week, per hour, excuse me, $166 per per hour, and they work 58 hours per week. But the s the alarming thing is only 43% of their time is spent is well invested in generating value, generating revenue. So so if you do the math, 24 hour 25 hours times 166, it's four thousand dollars that they invest in their business each each week.
What's concerning is fifty-seven percent of their time is doing the work that doesn't it doesn't generate value. And that's the same math is fifty-five hundred dollars a week, US dollars. And my theme is all about how do you convert more hours of non-generate value generating work into generating value. And that's t that's really the equation. That's the opportunity cost of DIY and and why it's so important to get out of that mindset. And so
I do ask the question, it's strategy first, and then it's strategic execution, deciding how work gets done. So, where does your time create the most value? It's by being the CEO of your business. And that's really what I try to help people think about is what is the core work that delivers client value and revenue? It's strategic, or it's building your network or your community. And every after that point of identifying that core work, then it's Llen.
Let's build the execution plan for getting work done. And to me, the core work is the work that the business owner, the CEO needs to focus on, but everything else should be considered. How do I execute? How do I delegate that work? And to me, it's three things: process, tools, and I include AI as a tool, and then people. And I think it's that progression in that order that is so valuable that will help us a business owner become the CEO of the business by outsourcing the value.
the the work that that can absorb time but doesn't create value. So in scaling, process is three things. The reason I think process you can outsource to process is because if you can find repeatable ways of doing work, then that in essence is outsourcing to repeat repeatable way of doing work rather than doing it one way one day, another way another time. And that's really important. And in fact people find process boring
But you know, it's a business asset. It's something that you can sell when you sell your business because you have a repeatable proven way of doing work. So I think process is exciting, not a boring thing that you know cool people don't do. It is a cool thing. It's a business asset. And once, frankly, you've outsourced a process, then you have a standard way of doing things, then that sets the stage for for automation, tools and AI. And I think it's so important today, and a few of you mentioned it already.
How you basically can leverage the database of the world and world knowledge and tools that and AI that can help you optimize your processes. And I think that's a wonderful thing. But not everyone is equally skilled at that. And so I that's where people come in. Do what you can through process, tools, and AI, but in at the end of the day, I think people are important because people bring expertise, brand voice, authenticity, accountability, creativity, and critical thinking. And there's no amount
at least today, of tools and AI optimization that creates what humans can do. But you don't want to waste the the time and expertise of humans on things that tools and automation can do. So I thought I'd take a second and just talk a little bit about what virtual assistant looks like today. Because when I first got into virtual assistants, you know, it was really kind of the low end of the spectrum, tasks, clerical things that, you know, an offshore, particularly VA, could do.
That was very routine. And I've come to to to believe over time that virtual assistant is professional support because at the other end of the spectrum, it's more outcomes-oriented work. And that's where human beings, the creativity and the minds of humans really come into play. Critical thinking, the nuance, understanding what a prospective client is saying to you, not just typing in a message.
providing accountability. All these things are really important. And then humans tend to be self-motivated. These are all trend characteristics that really aren't true of virtual assistance. And if you lo notice down here I've I've labeled it HVA, so that's human virtual assistance. And before tools and AI, humans did all this stuff, whether it was the task or the outcomes-oriented work. But what what we're seeing increasingly is that D, and that's for digital
slash AI virtual assistants are is really is really taking over the low end of the spectrum. In fact,
Elizabeth (10:18)
And then.
Elizabeth (10:19)
if you just Google, tell me about virtual virtual assistants today, they're going to talk to you about digital virtual assistants, not the ones that are human. And so I really see the frontier, if you will, moving from left to right with digital tools, AI tools doing more and more, which is a good thing, but it's just
To me, it reserves space for the human to step in and provide value. So to me, the best solution is a hybrid solution, a digital virtual assistance plus human virtual assistance, because of all these reasons. It's the combination that really allows a business to scale. And I also think that virtual assistance is more than an offshore VA. I mean, if you think about it, long before there were offshore VAs, there were accountants and attorneys. Well, those were virtual.
assistant providers, but no one questioned that those were professions. And I just think that there's room today in this fractional world of resources where professionals are fractional workers delivering their expertise to the world. And it's just how do you harness it all to create the the the delegation engine that's right for your business. And so to me harnessing the power of virtual assistance is really the the way to to scale because it optimizes use of time and capital.
Because freelancers, whether they're
attorneys and accountants or people that just do do help you automate, you know, it's it's flexibility, skills, and availability. And so to me, there's a couple of reasons to think about outsourcing. One is outsourcing that non-core work that doesn't already generate value, but has to get done well if you're going to provide a quality experience for your clients. It helps you scale up or down. You don't have to employ people for 40 hours.
a week or on for really firm terms. You can go scale up or down as you need it. You can add really results oriented talent. Sometimes people get into kind of clocking the you know clocking the clock, you know, and not really thinking about am I delivering the outcomes that I was hired to do? And freelancers, because they are contract, they are very much focused on delivering outcomes because that's what high get causes people to hire them back. It also helps you add add really broad thinking and experience.
Because contractors work for a number of different clients in a number of different industries, and it can help re prevent recreating the wheel because you can apply something you learn in one industry to a new industry. And I think a lot of value is generated there. And there are tons of people that just aren't tech people. That these kind of things, tools are overwhelming. Just choosing the tool, knowing how to develop a prompt or or automate go high level.
You know, those are all really high-level skills, and not everyone's good at it. And honestly, for a lot of people, that's that's DIY work in an area that they're not skilled. And in leasing that talent rather than owning that talent can often really be a great option. The last thing is many solopreneurs or smaller employers have never really learned to delegate. They built a small business by doing it all themselves. And freelancers are really good at teaching people.
what they can do for you and how they can develop process for you, develop, find the right tools for you, and then ultimately have the human being that you can trust do the work that process and tools can't do. So basically just a qu a quick example of this is kind of a hybrid client, frankly, but almost everyone that comes to us wants more time on their core business. They want to be
Elizabeth (13:40)
Grow their revenue.
Elizabeth (13:41)
re and what they want is that additional revenue to cover
The cost of virtual assistance, whatever it is, plus any tools that they use. And so these are probably the most common roles that are executed by hybrid VA and AI to teams today. They help systemize operations, finding ways for work to get done in a more systematic way. A lot of daily admin and scheduling that either a VA can do, a human VA or tools, or building or setting up the tools that could do these things for you.
lead generation. That's such a common thing. You know, how do I how do I get more leads to generate revenue for my business? Any kind of personalized client support. That's not something necessarily that the business owner needs to do, but it still needs to be pot personalized to the client. And virtual assistant support can do that. Invoicing, bookkeeping, marketing is probably the biggest area, whether it's writing content, posting content, monitoring groups
that's just a really active thing. Then if you're not active, then you're not seen, you know, by SEO. And so that consistency of execution is really important there, but the business owner does not have to do it themselves. social media, newsletter, article cadence, those are all ways to be seen, in social media, which is so critical. And those are all things that a combination of AI and humans can produce very authentic material.
that that will be recognized as authentic by the tools that are out there. And I've really found that many times a VA can really be that accountability partner to help keep people on track. Like to remember that i whether they're mortgage honey or they're the the the VA then the the yoga service. So you know, that can that can really be important in helping people mind their time to make sure they're investing it in the stuff that's worthwhile and not in the stuff that A VA can do for them.
And so briefly, just to recap results resource and what I've built over time to respond to these problems, is really a unique approach. it's one-stop shopping for almost any kind of back office entrepreneurial support. So I provide a way to outsource work to vetted virtual support teams. And that's really important what that is, because I spent the first part of my life in results resourcing, matching to individuals, but I found that no individual was a unicorn.
And many small miss small businesses need so many things that one person, no matter how talented they are, can't provide. And one person is only limited to 24 hours a day. So instead, I migrated to US and Canadian-based talent that's in teams, pre-existing teams. They already work together. I'm not throwing together random people that do work differently. These are teams that are skilled in the practices, the culture, communication styles of these countries.
I I also partner with offshore companies for the work that can be done offshore. Doesn't matter to me, but there's things that have to be done by or should be done by someone that understands the culture. You can get an individual, but that individual's on the team. So the individual might be hired to do marketing work, but then suddenly the business needs a bookkeeper. Well, there's a bookkeeper on the team that already is integrated with that person. So you get comprehensive skill breadth, depth, and capacity through a team.
We also don't charge any minimums, which is a big issue with a lot of offshore companies, is they're gonna ask you to commit to twenty hours, ten hours a week, whatever it might be. We don't do that because I'm so automated, but also because I think it's affronting frankly, because it goes against the grain of focusing time on core work. Because if you give somebody a commitment, they're gonna fulfill it. And inevitably they're gonna be looking for non-core work.
which is not the stuff that drives their revenue, to outsource, to fulfill that commitment. So I was just felt strongly that that no minimums was important. And we have a team up and running in 24 to 48 under hours once I understand the needs. And so these are the most popular roles. And in every case, they're really broad roles that, yeah, somebody might get hired as an executive assistant, but they need a bookkeeper, we can provide it. And it's really one stop shopping to make it easy. And I'm all about results.
I name the company results resourcing because that's what I want to do. that's what I wanted when I was hiring freelancers. And so I guarantee that we're gonna make it happen. if there are bumps in the road, we're gonna fix them and get you what you need. And so basically, we are all about focusing on delivering results and helping businesses grow their businesses. So we focus on the value of time, core versus non-work, core work and delegating and outsourcing in a way that's that's durable.
And sustainable and we hope always investing in time that's invested in high value work, increased revenue with less effort, and scalable businesses, which no matter how small the business is, they want something that's gonna survive and be more successful. And that's what we do every day. And I've been doing it for plus ten years and I'm still as excited about it today as always was. And so we start with a jumpstart session, which is a free session just to talk about.
How can I scale my business? And you know that's generally when I do a session like this, anybody that would come from this session, I would do the call myself. And I explore how an AI employer freelance team can help scale you and your business. That's what we do. So thank you for listening.