INSIDE LETTING-GO MENTORING
Scale Your Fractional VA With Clear Handovers
A composite client example, not a client story.
You have tripled your VA's hours and you still check every task before it goes out. Ivanka Menken uses the Step-Out Log inside Letting-Go Mentoring, a 6-month 1:1 programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, to move the checking from you to the VA one handover at a time. In the composite example, a fractional VA grew from 20 to 60 hours a month, about $75,000 a year. The hours scaled. The handover had not, until one task went to the VA for 14 days with no override.
The Step-Out Log is a tool inside the programme, not a separate product.
AN EXAMPLE VA
Hand over the checking, not just the hours.
- THENa month, every task checked20 hrs
- NOWabout $75,000 a year, still checked60 hrs
- THE HANDOVERone task with the VA, no override14 days
THE RULE
“More hours do not hand anything over. A written handover does.”
A composite example, not a client result. Your hours and tasks will differ.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
More VA hours, the same amount of checking
- 01You have added VA hours and you still check every task.
- 02Work waits for your sign-off before it goes out.
- 03You are about to add more hours instead of handing anything over.
THE VA'S MONTH, AS IT STANDS
- Hours: from 20 a month to 60
- Cost: about $75,000 a year, roughly $105 an hour
- Who checks each task: the founder
- What the VA owns outright: nothing written
- Next step on the table: more hours
An example. The hours grew; the checking stayed with the founder.
THE EXAMPLE CASE
One VA's month, read three ways
A composite client example, not a client story.
01
THE CLIENT AND THE MOMENT
Three times the hours, the same checking
A founder brought in a fractional virtual assistant at 20 hours a month. It worked, so the hours went up, and up again, to 60 a month, about $75,000 a year at roughly $105 an hour. The founder still checked every task before it went to a client. The founder came for help on the day of a request to add more hours, after a week spent reviewing the VA's work at night.
02
WHAT THEY HAD TRIED
More hours
The obvious fix was more hours. If the VA had more time, surely more would come off the founder's desk. It did not work, because every extra hour of VA work came back for checking. The checking had never been handed over, so it grew with the hours, and the founder's evenings went to review.
03
WHAT IVANKA NOTICED
The founder still owned the review loop
Ivanka noticed the business was paying about $75,000 a year, roughly $105 an hour, for help that could not finish anything on its own. The VA did the work. The founder still owned the review loop. Nothing on the VA's list was written as theirs.
THE DIAGNOSIS AND THE INSIGHT
A letting-go problem, not a capacity problem
It looked like a capacity problem: not enough hours, so buy more. The real diagnosis was a letting-go problem. The hours had scaled from 20 to 60 a month, but the handover had not. Every task still ended at the founder.
More hours do not hand anything over. A written handover does: one task, what the VA owns, the standard it is done to, and what still comes back to you.
More hours do not hand anything over. A written handover does.
THE COST OF STAYING STUCK
Stay stuck, and each hour you add to the VA adds checking to your week. You pay for the help twice: once for the VA's time and again with your own evenings.
THE TOOL
The Step-Out Log
The Step-Out Log is how Letting-Go Mentoring moves work off the founder: step out, log what still needed you, and hand it over in order. For a VA, the log starts from the checking: which tasks still come back to you, and which one goes first.
An example VA week. Tap a part. Your tasks and your first handover are yours.
Step-Out Log, for a fractional VA · a framework by Ivanka Menken
What it is
It is the log at the centre of Letting-Go Mentoring, used here for one VA's work. Each entry names one handover, what the VA owns, the standard, what still comes back to the founder, and 14 days with the VA with no override.
What it replaces
It replaces adding hours and hoping, the sign-off on every task, and the evening review of work that was already paid for.
It sits inside Letting-Go Mentoring, one handover each fortnight across the six months. The full Step-Out Log, a day out each week and what broke, is on the programme page. There is no separate checkout.
THE LOG ENTRY, ON ONE PAGE
- 01The week of VA tasks, and who checks each one
- 02The handover: the one task the founder reviews most
- 03What the VA owns: the whole task, start to finish
- 04The standard: written once, on one page
- 05What comes back to you: only what the entry names
- 0614 days with the VA, with no override
HOW IVANKA WORKED WITH THEM
Log the checking, then hand one task over
In the example session, Ivanka puts one week of the VA's work on a page: each task, who checks it, and what the check catches. Most checks catch nothing. She asks which task the founder reviews most and what would have to be written down for the VA to own it. The founder writes the Step-Out Log entry in the session. Before the next one, the VA owns that task for 14 days, and the founder logs every urge to step back in.
THE ENTRY, AS WRITTEN IN THE SESSION
- The handover
- The task the founder checks most. In the example, client onboarding packs.
- What the VA owns
- The whole task, start to finish: sending, chasing and filing.
- The standard
- Written once, on one page, so the check is not needed.
- What comes back to you
- A client complaint or a change of scope. Nothing else.
- With the VA
- 14 days, no override
A composite example. Your tasks are yours.
THE FOUR-STEP LOOP
- 1The one thingThe task you check most, out of 60 hours a month.
- 2The numbersThe hours, the cost, and the hours you spend checking.
- 3The storyWhy letting the VA send it without you feels risky.
- 4The commitmentOne Step-Out Log entry, and 14 days with no override.
THE QUESTIONS
- Which tasks still come back to you before they go out?
- What does your check actually catch?
- Which task do you review most often?
- What would the VA need written down to own it?
- What should still come back to you, and nothing else?
Before the next session, the founder hands the task to the VA, does not check it for 14 days, and writes down every time the urge to step in came up and why.
WHAT CHANGED
The VA owns tasks, not hours
By month 6, the VA's hours buy finished work, not drafts for you to check.
NOW
- 60 hours a month, and every task checked by you.
- Nothing written as the VA's to own.
- Evenings spent reviewing paid work.
- The next fix on the table is more hours.
BY MONTH 6
- A written list of what stays with you, and what the VA owns.
- One handover each fortnight, each logged on the Step-Out Log.
- A standard for each handed-over task, written once.
- More hours only once the last handover has stuck.
THE 12 FORTNIGHTS
- 1Call
- 2Call
- 3Call
- 4Call
- 5Call
- 6Month 3
- 7Call
- 8Call
- 9Call
- 10Call
- 11Call
- 12Month 6
The programme is the container: 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions, one handover each fortnight, and reviews at month 3 and month 6.
ILLUSTRATIVE RESULT
In this composite example, the founder logged one VA handover in the Step-Out Log and left it with the VA for 14 days with no override. The result was a clearer list of what stayed with the founder and what the VA owned. Illustrative, not a client result.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU
The next VA hour is a handover decision
Ivanka Menken built Letting-Go Mentoring for founders of $500K to $3M businesses who became the bottleneck by being good at everything. She asks which work still ends at you, and holds you to the handover you write down.
If you are about to add VA hours and still check every task, the decision in front of you is which task goes first. Write that entry before you buy the next hour.
“During our sessions Ivanka isn’t just talking theory. She is sharing her own lived experiences.”
Business owner
WHO IT IS FOR
It fits
- You run a $500K to $3M business with a VA or other part-time help.
- You have added hours and still check the work.
- Tasks wait for your sign-off before they go out.
- You will hand one task over and stay out of it for 14 days.
It does not fit
- You want open-ended coaching with no handover to show for it.
- You want a done-for-you VA service or someone to manage your VA.
- You want help hiring a VA.
- You are not ready to stop checking for 14 days.
THE INVESTMENT
AUD $1,500
per month ex GST
6 months · 12 fortnightly sessions
The Step-Out Log is part of Letting-Go Mentoring, a 6-month 1:1 programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. It is not sold separately.
- 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions
- One handover each fortnight
- A monthly one-page scorecard
- Reviews at month 3 and month 6
Three founding places in total, shared across all 1:1 mentoring, are available at AUD $1,000/month ex GST, in return for honest monthly feedback and a testimonial, which can be anonymous. Claim a founding place.
The Step-Out Log is part of the programme. It is not sold separately.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
Questions about scaling a fractional VA
Should I add more VA hours?
Only once the last handover has stuck. More hours without a written handover add checking to your week, not time back. Ivanka Menken works out with you which task goes to the VA first, inside Letting-Go Mentoring, a 1:1 programme that runs 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.
What should a fractional VA own outright?
One whole task at a time, start to finish, to a standard written once. Start with the task you check most and that your check rarely changes. Ivanka Menken writes that entry with you on the Step-Out Log inside Letting-Go Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.
What if the VA gets it wrong during the 14 days?
The entry already says what comes back to you, such as a client complaint or a change of scope. Anything else stays with the VA and goes on the log for the next session, instead of an override. Ivanka Menken reviews it with you in Letting-Go Mentoring, which runs 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.
When do I review the handover?
At the next fortnightly session, after the 14 days. You bring the log: what went well, what came back and every time you wanted to step in. Ivanka Menken decides the next handover with you from it, inside Letting-Go Mentoring. The programme runs 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, with reviews at month 3 and month 6.
Hand one task over before the next hour
If your VA's hours keep growing and every task still comes back to you, start with Letting-Go Mentoring. The Step-Out Log is inside it, and the 20-minute intro call is where you can see whether it fits.
Not open-ended coaching or a done-for-you VA service.