For four years, actor Hugh Grant employed a fake talent agent named "James Howe Ealy" to handle his business affairs. It was actually just Grant himself using a different email account and once putting on a "pretty bad" Scottish accent over the phone. 

This story is one of many I've heard of people who made the same powerful decision I did early in my career: creating a fake assistant.

Today, I run a successful business generating about $18,000 in monthly passive income, according to my calculations from a recent month's deposits, and I work just four hours a day. But back in 2009, I was a college dropout with $50,000 in student loans, trying to build a social media marketing business from scratch.

I knew I needed help managing my growing workload, but I couldn't afford to hire anyone. That's when I discovered the fake assistant method.

It might seem unconventional, but looking back, it was the best business decision I ever made.

I was drowning in administrative tasks

In the early days of my business, I noticed a few patterns. Potential clients would try to schedule calls at all hours, haggle over prices, or expect immediate responses to every email. I was drowning in administrative tasks instead of focusing on revenue-generating work.

Saying "no" felt impossible as a new entrepreneur, but I needed boundaries. "If only I had an assistant," I thought.

I suddenly realized that because most of my work happened digitally, it didn't matter whether I replied to emails from prospective clients as myself or as someone else.

If I had someone else to reply to emails, I could start setting a new standard, charging more money, and holding myself accountable to growing my business. That's when I hired my fake assistant, Olivia.

Olivia delivered remarkable results right away

I created a professional email address for Olivia. Then I started cc'ing her on all client communications to handle tasks like scheduling calls and sending invoices. 

This small change had an immediate impact. When clients wanted to schedule a meeting, instead of the back-and-forth eating up my day, Olivia would step in: "Amy's calendar is booked for the next two weeks, but I can offer you Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET."

The results were remarkable. Clients respected my time more, readily accepted my rates, and treated my business more professionally. 

This method isn't about deception — it's about creating systems that allow your business to grow. 

The real power of a fake assistant

You might be thinking the obvious: "But Amy, you're still doing all this work yourself. What's the difference?"

Here's what I learned about how even a fake assistant who's actually you can transform your business:

• It helps set better boundaries. Having an assistant gives you a buffer to protect your time and energy. When a client wants to schedule a last-minute call, your assistant can politely decline without making it personal. When you're replying as yourself, you might feel a sense of obligation and find it harder to say "no."
• It positions your business more professionally. Clients treat you differently when they observe efficiency in action. That's what a great team can do for you. And even a temporarily fake one can help, leading to better rates and more respect for your time.
• It forces you to create efficient, transferable systems. When you're acting as if you have an assistant, you're creating, testing, and refining processes, workflows, and infrastructure that someone could easily step into and replicate on your behalf. This preparation made it infinitely easier to onboard and train real help when I could finally afford it.
• It prepared me to delegate. By the time I hired a real assistant, I had a clear understanding of exactly what I needed help with, how to delegate effectively, how to manage my time, and how to run my business smoothly. 

My top 3 tips for hiring a fake assistant

If you're considering this method, here are some pro tips:

1. Don't use it as a crutch. The goal is to build systems that will help you grow, not create extra work. Keep it simple and professional.
2. Remember the end goal. This is a stepping stone to hiring real help, not a permanent solution. 
3. Track your time in "admin mode." When you realize how much time these admin tasks take, you're getting a tangible idea of what level of assistant you need to hire in the near future and for how many hours.

It was my first step to success

Hiring Olivia meant more than just having a cheerful, organized persona with an email address. It was my first step toward building a scalable business. Today, I have real team members helping me manage my YouTube channel, books, and coaching business.

The fake assistant method taught me very real and crucial lessons about valuing my time, setting professional boundaries, and creating systems for growth. 

It also helped me discover firsthand that sometimes the best business decisions are the ones that seem a little unusual at first.

Amy Landino is a personal brand coach and the award-winning creator of AmyTV on YouTube. She is an instructor in CNBC's online course How to Earn Passive Income Online. Follow her on Instagram.

Want to make extra money outside of your day job? Sign up for CNBC's online course How to Earn Passive Income Online to learn about common passive income streams, tips to get started and real-life success stories.