Advantages of Using a Virtual Assistant
A Virtual Assistant (VA) is a self-motivated independent professional working to suit your needs from the confines of their own office or home. These autonomous hard-working individuals tend to provide the same professional service a PA (Personal Assistant) would but at a much lower cost overall. However, this is not the only advantage to the use of a VA and there are many other benefits:
- No long-term commitment required.
- Much more affordable.
- Better choice of services and assistants.
- They are not restricted to working office hours.
- No extra office space is needed.
- No holiday, sick leave, pension payment requirements.
It is often the case that the commitment taken when employing a PA is unnecessary. Sometimes, their role is redundant and their services often go unused, especially within smaller businesses. This is where the use of a Virtual Assistant is preferential. When using the services of a VA, a long-term contract is not a vital requirement. You can approach a VA with as much or as little work as is necessary and not have to worry whether it is worth your cost. The price of a VA is based upon the amount of work in which they are set. So if you only need a Virtual Assistant to complete two hours worth of work per week for you – that’s all you have to pay for!
When it comes to sharing the workload, one of the most worrying matters you’ll come across as an employer is finding someone who is up to fulfilling the role of the job. Often when starting a small business, you tend to take on as much of the workload as you can. Whether it be dropping flyers, working behind the till, meeting potential business partners – no matter how “important” the role is considered, you tend to do this all yourself primarily to cut expenses but also because you want it done properly. After some success, running a business single-handedly is not feasible and will stop you from expanding and prospering. This is the time when job allocation and employment comes into play. It is often very hard to find someone perfect for the job you are offering – especially with the administrative side of the business! As the business owner, you know exactly how all of this should be run and you know what it requires. In your geographical area, you may be very limited with the array of Personal Assistants or Administrative workers available and suitable to you. If you chose to use a Virtual Assistant instead, you literally have the world to choose from. There are no limitations as you do not require your assistant to live within a certain distance of your business and they are not required to work a set amount of hours within your office. Using a Virtual Assistant allows you to pick from a huge selection of people from all walks of life of different levels of expertise and skill-sets. If you find a lot of business letters must be written or perhaps there is a lot of telephone work involved – you can find many professionals available for these roles specifically. With Virtual Assistants, there are no limitations or restrictions!
The more you expand, the more your overheads do too. As a small business, you’re very limited in what you require to get started and the continual running of the company tends not to require much investment (unless of course, you are niched in a very expensive industry). However, as you prosper and grow, you will find your company requires more to succeed. More staff will be required as will marketing and advertising schemes and other necessities. One necessity that often becomes overlooked however, is office space. With the use of a Virtual Assistant, you are not required to make office space for them. All of the work is done entirely from their own office or home and therefore it’s one extra overhead you need not worry about.
When offering someone a job, there are always perks to take into account. Even the simpler ones such as paid holiday, sick leave and pension plans. If you were to use a Virtual Assistant’s services, you would not have to worry about these extras since there is no contract of employment, just a contract of service. This means you’d get a great service with no hidden extras to worry about.
Overall, the benefits and advantages of a Virtual Assistant’s services far outweigh that of an Administrator or Personal Assistant. You get the same professional, reliable service for a much less cost with no added risks or overheads.