In depth benefits of using a virtual assistant
I'll speak mainly of small or micro businesses as they are the ones that have become wise to virtual assistants already, as opposed to bigger business. Because a virtual assistant performs her work from her own office set up, I've mentioned before that you do not need to provide hardware or space for her. This can add up to thousands of dollars in equipment that you do not need to purchase. The major benefit for small or micro buisness is that you as the business owner is not wasting your time on non income producing tasks. This can't be stressed enough. It's hard enough running a small business as it is and you really should be spending your time on generating your income, seeing clients, building your buisness, whatever it may be, not on tasks that you are not getting paid to do. So many small and micro businesses fall behind with their accounts, paperwork in relation to taxation requirements, bill paying, etc, because this is either not their area of expertise or they do not have the time. Or worse still they make mistakes when undertaking these tasks. Outsourcing to a virtual assistant is critical. She is specialised in these areas and saves you time and money. Time that you spend on these tasks is not earning you more money, it's losing you money. Also the issue of employing staff is scary. The amount of paperwork to deal with and time spent on payrolls, payroll tax, income taxes, superannuation payments, leave benefits, insurances, etc, etc, are insurmountable. A virtual assistant is an independent contractor, so all you do is pay her invoice and that's it. No other requirements to worry about. A virtual assistant can teach you new things, work with you to grow your business more efficiently, she can recommend changes where she sees necessary, you name it. The in depth benefits of using a virtual assistant are endless. She is very knowledgeable in what she does and can assist in many ways. A virtual assistant doesn't need to be micro managed as staff sometimes are. You can be comfortable knowing that the job is being done quickly, efficiently and properly.
In depth benefits of using a Virtual Assistant as opposed to a temp...... Temps are exactly that temporary. A temp has not got a real interest in your business and helping you succeed in your business. In depth benefits of using a virtual assistant are that they are always there for you on an ongoing basis and a virtual assistant has a vested interest in your business. The more you succeed the more she succeeds and she will do her best to retain you as a client. She does not want to lose clients, this is her job, she is a dedicated professional. The better she performs for you, the better word of mouth is about her services, you may provide her with a testimonial, hence helping to build her business too. The virtual assistant is also more skilled as a temp normally is. After working for years in the corporate world I was sent countless temps who could not perform the basic function required of them. You will find yourself a virtual assistant that has specific experience and knowledge to perform that specific task that you want her to undertake. If you have tasks at different ends of a spectrum you may be able to find a virtual assistant to perform both tasks or you may be better served using the services of two virtual assistants. For example one virtual assistant can undertake your secretarial letter writing administrative tasks and the other virtual assistant can undertake the website building project. In this instance you are getting the best possible service out of your virtual assistant. Although you may be lucky enough to find one virtual assistant for all your needs. So using the same virtual assistant on an ongoing basis saves you money as well as you are not retraining new temps every time and the time you are paying them to get up to speed with your work is wasted time and money. Time spent getting up to speed with your systems as well is a waste of time and money. A virtual assistant uses her own home office, so she is comfortable with her systems applications already. You also do not need to purchase special equipment or workstations as you would for a temp. If you need transcription done via tapes for example, a virtual assistant can have her own transcribing machine, so you do not need to purchase one. You do not need a PC set up as obviously your virtual assistant has that set up already. Big and medium sized businesses still prefer to use temps, but that's only because they have been around the longest and we know that temp agencies exist out there. Also that's the way it was always done, but that's not necesarily the best way going forward. Ok you may need a temp for onsite jobs that must be performed on site, such as a receptionist work, but secretarial overload, report formatting jobs, accounts jobs, website creation, data input, etc, etc, can all be outsourced to a virtual assistant. One great example is a research company that produced huge microsoft word reports that incorporated a lot of formatting and importing of excel spreadsheets and graphs. The researchers had to spend hours reformatting these documents, whereas their time could have been better spent on their research aspect of their jobs. That's what they are being paid big money for, to research, not to format documents. So they use a virtual assistant to reformat these documents remotely and it's a massive time and cost saving to the business. If they hired a temp she will take up desk space that they didn't have, she would be paid for time spent having coffee breaks, chatting, etc. She may also expect to be there the whole day, but actually can get the job finished in three quarters of a day. A temp also has no incentive to finish the job in a quick, efficient and timely manner. A new temp may be needed in a few week's time, therefore more wasted training time. A good virtual assistant knows time is money and a slow virtual assistant is not good for your business or hers. In depth benefits of using a Virtual Assistant as opposed to a permanent staff member..... If this business hired another staff member for such a job, they may not necessarily need her there all day, so this is a waste of money. Also again there is the issue of creating more desk spaces and more hardware purchases, new computer, phone, etc for this extra staff member. Small and micro business are much wiser to using virtual assistants. I don't think they would consider hiring a temp these days. They understand virtual assistants too are small and mostly micro businesses. Small business does not have the resources or space and set up to provide to a temp, so a virtual assistant is a god send. Remember virtual assistants can get work completed out of hours, so a business owner may knock off at 5pm, but the virtual assistant can get their work done in the evening ready for the business owner in the morning. This works particularly well if you outsource to say Australia and you live in the northern hemisphere; when you are sleeping the Australian virtual assistant is working for you. You have work going on in your business 24 hours a day and that can only be good for your business.
So I hope the above gives you more in depth benefits of using a virtual assistant. Take the plunge and give one a go. If she is not suitable, then try another. All good virtual assistants are members of virtual assistant networking websites and they may have their own websites that advertise their services. Check out their testimonials as these provide great insight into their work and work ethics. If they do not have a website this does not mean that they are not worth pursuing. I never set up a website as I have too many clients and do not wish to have anymore. In my circumstances I don't see the need to set one up. Some virtual assistants may have accreditation or certification. Just because one might not have these, it does not mean that she is any worse. So don't place too much emphasis on this when choosing a virtual assistant. However having said that, a virtual assistant that receives accreditation has had to show she is capable in her job and this further proves to a client that she is a dedicated virtual assistant.
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