Virtual Assistants (VAs) are becoming more and more prevalent in today’s market, especially within smaller businesses. However, there are still individuals and businesses out there who don’t fully understand what a VA is, how they can add value to them and their business, or, indeed, why they should hire a VA. As such, we have put together what we feel are the top benefits of hiring a Virtual Assistant.
The simplest way to put it is that VAs are typically self-employed business and secretarial support professionals, who work for a client (or multiple clients) from a remote location. There are some VAs who solely work for one company, taking on various different projects and tasks for that company, and there are other VAs who work with multiple clients and focus on a number of different projects at any one time. In addition to this, due to the rise in people wanting virtual support, there are now Virtual Assistant companies, such as our Virtual Assistant offering, who will match you or your business with an appropriate VA to assist with tasks, such as administration, research, project management, social media marketing, data entry and management and bookkeeping, to name but a few.
1. Reduced Costs
Rather than hiring a full-time employee to undertake duties which may not always be necessary on a day-to-day basis, you could hire a VA. Typically, VAs are paid by the hour and, as such, you only pay them for the hours it takes them to complete the tasks at hand. Furthermore, because VA’s work remotely this will negate any operational costs, such as internet, devices or any other office space expenses. In addition to this, the training costs would also be lessened considerably, compared to bringing on-board a full-time office-based employee. As VAs only work on the specific tasks that you set for them, which they should already be extremely well-versed in, you don’t have to worry about training them and therefore don’t have to concern yourself with the costs involved in that training.
2. Pass Over Non-Core Duties
It was found by Jennifer Maffei of VEA Services (an assistant placement and training firm) that the average entrepreneur spends at least two hours per day undertaking non-core duties, such as going through emails, answering phone calls, scheduling/re-scheduling appointments and undertaking research. Looking at the bigger picture, that’s approximately 10 hours per week and 520 hours (almost 3 months) of a year that is spent on tasks which ultimately take the focus off making more money for your business. A VA can take all of the non-core duties off you and allow you to focus your time on the core aspects of growing the business and connecting with new clients.
3. Help Streamline Your Business
It is important, when running or growing a business, that you have effective and efficient processes in place. If you don’t have these processes in place yet, or you simply want a fresh pair of eyes to look at your current set up and suggest ways of streamlining them, then this is where a VA can come in handy. Typically, VAs will have worked with several different clients on various projects using differing software. This therefore makes them extremely knowledgeable about the processes and systems on the market for you to utilise. Bringing a VA on-board can really help to streamline your business, as they will recommend and suggest ways to make processes run more smoothly, different technologies to use in order to strengthen communication, as well as new programmes which may help to speed up tasks such as accounting, payroll, social media posting, etc.
4. 24/7 Availability
For many companies, especially those who have international clients and customers, the standard 9-5 hours don’t suffice. If you do have customers and clients who may need your support outside of the normal working hours/days, then one solution would be to hire a Virtual Assistant who is in a different time zone. This means that when most of the workforce is sleeping at home, you have a VA in place who is working during their daytime. This can also be important for any bank holidays that you have in your specific country, where most people will be off work. Having a 24/7 VA will ensure that productivity doesn’t drop off and that there is always someone at the end of the phone/email, both out of hours and at the weekend.
5. More Free Time For You
This may well be the overriding benefit of having a VA. Most business owners and senior management teams spend their free time undertaking the administration tasks and non-core duties that they aren’t able to get through during the normal working day. Hiring a VA to take these tasks off you means that you are able to manage your time more effectively and, thus, be able to get through your core duties more quickly and easily. This results in you have more time, not only to focus on the core aspects of your role that will generate success for your business, but also to relax, do the things that you enjoy and spend time with your friends and family - it's a win-win situation in our opinion!
To find out more about Lily Shippen and hiring a Virtual Assistant, contact the team on 0161 711 0767 or click here to book a call.