The Virtual Assistant Advantage: Driving Efficiency and Growth for Small Businesses
Light speed is not a measure of speed. It’s a measure of distance that one would travel if one moved at the speed of light for a certain amount of time. This is just one of those freak misconceptions that people stick firmly to, never actually questioning its true meaning.
The same thing goes for being an entrepreneur. No, your days are not too short; the tasks you plan to handle in a single day are too much for just one person.
Even if you had 30 hours in your day, you wouldn’t be able to make it, but it’s not because days are too short – it’s because you’re overworked and understaffed. Fortunately, this problem can be solved with a virtual assistant. Once you realize that, you might start coming up with the idea of hiring an assistant or, better yet, a virtual assistant. Here are the top five reasons why you should do it.
Increasing Efficiency and Growth for Small Businesses Using Virtual Assistant
Cost-efficient alternative to hiring a full-time employee
Hiring a virtual assistant gives you an alternative to hiring a full-time employee. This is a much bigger saving than expected because you would have to worry about more than just a salary. There is also office space (if they’re not remote workers), equipment, benefits, and all the administration costs. Hiring a virtual assistant to help you out is more cost-effective.
Another major advantage is that virtual assistants are hired on a contract basis. This means you can pay for their services only when needed, as opposed to full-time employees who would work on a salary, regardless of the workload.
Also, in most countries, you have to handle payroll taxes when hiring a full-time employee. With a virtual assistant, this is not the case. Since they’re often either an independent contractor or already a part of an agency, they are supposed to handle their taxes. This makes your job a lot simpler.
Not to mention that you get to skip the cost of hiring and training (even with the revolution introduced by AI), which are significant and not something you should take lightly.
Scalability
Since you’ll probably work with an agency, you can always ask for more help from your virtual assistant services. This means that you’re already working with a trusted source of workforce, and all you have to do is communicate the current needs of your enterprise.
Keep in mind that someone can start as a virtual assistant and end up being a full-time employee. One of the main reasons you’re hiring virtual assistants is that you don’t believe that an increase in workload is permanent. If it does turn out to be more than just a fluke, you can ask them to assume a permanent position. This is superior to hiring freelancers since they’ll already know the company inside and out.
When hiring, you have a global talent pool. Let’s say you’re planning to expand to a foreign market. It’s quite easy to hire a local assistant to help you out.
You are also making no long-term commitments. If, in the future, you’re dissatisfied with their services, it’s a lot easier to choose someone else. Also, getting out of this arrangement is much easier if the workload drops.
Freeing up your own time
A virtual assistant is supposed to take on some of the tasks that were previously your responsibility. You see, many people can do entry-level jobs in your firm. You can even cross-train employees so that they can become interchangeable. However, as an executive, your position is unique, and there are some tasks that only you can do.
By hiring someone to do these tasks for you, you can focus on the tasks that can be done by no one else. You’re also preserving your mental capacity for where it’s most needed. You’re definitely in the wrong if you think you’ll be as creative and capable of problem-solving and critical thinking after six hours of data entry.
The key thing to remember is that every company works best when it directs all its efforts to its core tasks. This is why so many companies choose to outsource. In a way, this is exactly what hiring a virtual assistant is – you’re outsourcing menial tasks.
Lower administrative burden
Much time is spent on administrative tasks like checking emails, bookkeeping, and scheduling appointments. Since this is menial, does this mean you can easily avoid it? Of course not; these tasks are essential for the functioning of your enterprise, and someone has to do it. Sure, some of these tasks can be automated, but it’s still better when a human performs them.
Sure, there’s a lot of task automation in a modern workplace; however, these still need to be monitored by a human specialist. A virtual assistant can work on many different posts, and this flexibility of position means that they are technically qualified to handle most of these tasks.
The best part is that some of them hope to become entrepreneurs and use this as a jumping point to get enough experience. This way, they’re motivated to learn the game inside and out.
Access to specialized expertise
When we talk about virtual assistants, most people immediately assume that we’re talking about people without working experience who open and respond to emails. Nothing can be further from the truth. Some people are highly trained and motivated to grow within their respective fields.
Some virtual assistants provide services to real estate businesses, while others specialize in accounting. You would be surprised at just how solid of an accounting department you can make by hiring one accountant and several virtual assistants. Then, you just need to provide them with a good accounting platform, and the results will be amazing.
Same as with the last section, some of these virtual assistants hope to become certified accountants or realtors in the future. This way, they get some experience in the industry, as well as an opportunity to get some contacts. This way, they won’t lack intrinsic motivation to leave a good impression and won’t turn down any tasks in hopes of learning more.
Wrap up
At the end of the day, hiring a virtual assistant is a simple decision that yields positive results for years to come. Due to its scalability, the sooner you decide, the better. With these five reasons, it becomes a no-brainer.
