Even with remote working becoming commonplace, many small businesses have difficulty understanding how a virtual assistant can possibly help them maintain and grow their business presence. In the last article, we discussed the different roles that a virtual assistant can fill in a business. This time, we’re going to look at from a purely operational perspective.
1. Reduced cost.
As we said before, virtual assistants can save a business up to 78% in operating costs. When you’re trying to stay afloat as a small business, one of the most valuable benefits a person can bring is saving you money. That’s exactly why so many people are using virtual assistants.
Look at it this way.
- If you hire a full-time employee, then you’ll essentially be paying them for any time they don’t spend working. However, a virtual assistant is typically on an hourly or per-task basis. That means you only have to pay for the time actually spent on the actual work.
- Also, there’s no training cost! A virtual assistant will already have the skills and knowledge to accomplish a given task, so there’s no need to spend money on training. Simply provide them with the job you want done, and that’s all.
2. Scale Your Business Operations.
When you’re trying to develop a business, things can move quickly. Often too quickly, in the sense that you won’t be able to keep up with hiring for new undertakings or operations. Once again, the virtual assistants come to the rescue! With virtual assistants, you can easily hire as the need arises.
- If you have a massive new project coming up and you lack the staff to handle it, then have a few virtual assistants help out. On the other hand, you won’t have to pay for their service anymore once the project is complete.
3. Reduce time eaten by non-core tasks.
A substantial amount of time is taken up by tasks that aren’t necessarily vital but nonetheless have to be done. If you hire a virtual assistant to handle these simple, time-consuming tasks, you and your staff can focus on achieving your company’s core goals. These tasks include:
- Sending emails
- Handling customer queries
- Internet research
- Scheduling meetings
All of these things can be delegated.
4. Offer 24/7 support.
There are times you will find that your customers span across different time zones but your staff doesn’t and that can create a gap in customer service. This may be the case when your customers are reaching out at 3:00 PM their time but it’s 6:00 PM your time, and everyone is out of the office. Since virtual assistants work remotely, you can enlist their help in different time zones across the globe, thus eliminating that pesky time difference.
Those are just a few of the benefits that come from entrusting some responsibilities to virtual assistants. You’re sure to learn more as time goes on.
Where can you hire a virtual assistant?
There are many sites that you can visit when you decide to start enlisting some virtual assistants. You don’t necessarily have to use these. You can find a virtual assistant through many means. However, we’ll give you some good ideas of where to start.
1. Upwork
Upwork describes itself as “the premier freelancing website for top companies to hire and work with the world’s most talented independent professionals”. That’s a very big thing to claim, but with over 12 million freelancers that are capable of doing so much, it’s not too far off the truth. You can post a job that people will respond to with resumes or you can interview after looking through someone’s experience. Another plus of Upwork is that it maintains its own internal way of tracking its freelancers’ time.
2. Vava Virtual
This is the ideal site for entrepreneurs looking to grow their businesses. Vava Virtual offers skilled virtual assistants in social media, bookkeeping, branding, web design, graphic design and more. They’ll even create a customized package for you by combining the services that you want to use.
3. HelloRache
This site is built by a medical professional for other medical professionals. It’s a platform for the busy, overworked healthcare professional, and it’s made to provide administrative assistance for doctors. Their virtual assistants are even trained and certified in HIPAA compliance.
4. Financial VA
This company specializes in helping financial advisors step away from the paperwork and concentrate on growing their business. Their virtual assistants have considerable experience in the field and are certified, so training by the advisors is minimal. This company offer business overview services, where they help you get your business ready to work with the virtual assistant, as well as onboarding new clients and servicing your existing clients.
4. KAFE Digital Marketing
Of course, we offer technical virtual assistance help, such as setting up new software tools, creating personalized how-to videos for training purposes and providing research and advice on the best tools to achieve your goals. We also offer generalized virtual assistance including transcription, proofreading, email marketing, landing page creation and generalized support. Send us an email or book a meeting to see how we can help.
The bottom line.
All in all, virtual assistants can be the key to the steady and consistent growth in your business. You can count on them for various tasks, all of which they are typically trained in and will accomplish quickly, saving you money.
There’s no practical excuse to ignore these benefits. So, when you need help that you can count on, but you don’t want the risk that comes with hiring a full-time employee, virtual assistants are the only option for you and your business.
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