Hopefully, you will have seen the first part of this mini-series where I outlined what a Virtual Assistant is (if not, please have a read here.. www.yoursavvyva.co.uk/what-is-a-va-a-blog-to-de-mystify-the-term/).
In this edition, I will define the benefits of hiring a VA, and there may be some things you might not have considered…
In essence, a Virtual Assistant offers business services to companies remotely; things like keeping on top of your email inbox and making sure your social media presence is tip-top.
So, why hire a VA?
There are a number of reasons why hiring a VA can help your business which we will talk about below, but the main advantage is it saves you TIME.
And it’s not just because you are delegating a task to someone else (although this is a major benefit).
Hiring a VA offers the opportunity to bring in skills that you or your team does not have. Virtual Assistants niche into services or sectors that they are expert at, offering a high level of service because of this. These niches may also be technical in nature, such as website building, that need knowledge to undertake.
Becoming proficient at a task or learning technical skills takes TIME which is in short supply whilst running a business. Hiring a VA to complete these tasks ensures you have the time to focus on your everyday business tasks, time that you can spend on winning new business and time that you can use to focus on revenue building.
In addition, the process of hiring a VA is usually quicker than the recruitment process of an employee. Advertising the role, interviewing and then training a newbie is a lengthy process. It also slows down the completion of the task while you go through the motions.
Pay for the task required- no hidden extras
Most VA’s are freelancers, not employees but self-employed contractors. The beauty of hiring a freelancer is that you do not need to pay anything other than their fees. No National Insurance contributions, no pension, no holiday or sick pay. Not to mention, no office overheads, internet connection fees, computer equipment costs etc that come with an employee. You pay for the work you have agreed upon and nothing more.
Catherine Gladwyn (fellow VA and VA coach) has written a very informative breakdown of the cost comparison of an employee versus a VA here www.catherinegladwyn.co.uk/verify if you would like to drill down into this further.
Flexibility
The pricing structure adopted by Virtual Assistants is usually you pay for the time you use or you buy a package where the VA will have worked out how long the tasks will take them and set the fee accordingly. No hidden extras and you know what you are going to get.
This offers you much more flexibility than hiring an employee. Say you need a logo creating to make your business look more professional. A VA can work on this until completion and say goodbye until the next project crops up.
Or you can hire them for a set number of hours per week to manage your email inbox to ensure you are offering your clients exceptional customer service. This gives you more control over what you are purchasing.
Virtual Assistants are self-employed business owners
This one is ‘out of left field’ and may not be something you have considered – a VA can help your business because a VA is a business owner themselves. They run their own business as a freelancer and will have an understanding of what this takes.
Any work they take on will be completed to a high standard because:
- They will want to protect their own business reputation and any future customers from bad reviews.
- And most importantly, they know how hard it is to run a business and will want to support you with yours.
Hopefully, the above has filled in some of the blanks as to how a Virtual Assistant can help you and your business. The final edition of my VA mini-series delves into how Virtual Assistants work with you remotely, keep an eye out for this!
If you are looking to gain back some valuable time in your busy day, please contact me on [email protected] and we can talk through how I can help.