By: USource Team | Outsourcing
Virtual assistants are no longer just for big businesses or busy execs. Affordability, low cost, and convenience of connectivity via agencies and job marketplaces mean everyone can outsource and have their own personal assistant.
First, let’s go through the common misgivings small business entrepreneurs have voiced about hiring virtual assistants.
Can they be trusted if I don’t meet them at all?
Yes. Some executives even give their credit card information to their VAs to book their flights, and hotels and handle their other purchases. 80% of large companies even plan to increase their virtual hiring.
You can always ask your hired VA for transparency. Utilize project management tools like Asana, Trello, and ClickUp. If you outsource your personal assistant from UpWork, you can use the website’s time-tracking features.
Every freelancer has a reputation to protect. If you go to Upwork, you’ll notice they have feedback scores that reflect how well they do their jobs.
And if you go through small, specialized outsourcing agencies, you can bet every virtual assistant is already screened– YOU don’t have to do the background checks yourself, or you can do it instantly via their profile.
They’d be like casual workers, would they? Disconnected from my day-to-day?
Your hired virtual assistant doesn’t need to work full-time. You can hire them part-time, freelance, or temporarily.
Depending on your needs, you can set up daily or weekly chats or calls. Your virtual assistant is like an in-house employee, and they will get to know you and your business to do their tasks well.
I’m not an executive yet. I don’t need one. What would I make them do? Won’t it just be a waste of money?
37% of businesses with less than 50 employees outsource at least one business process.
Humble entrepreneurs or professionals start their businesses alone with their feel-good intuition. But starting is easy–it’s during the upkeep that the tediousness rolls in.
Your excitement at opening, reading, and replying to emails peaks, plateaus, and eventually peters out until opening your email is your most dreaded hour of the day.
There it is. Think how much easier your days can be if you have someone doing these essential background processes for you.
Why should you hire a virtual assistant? Bring your focus back where it matters. All these tasks named here consume your time and overwhelm you, making you feel harried before the day even begins.
Outsource them.
Hiring a virtual assistant can reduce your operating costs by 78%. Remote VAs can increase up to 13% in productivity because work-from-home employees take fewer sick days, breaks, and leaves.
You won’t be leaking money at all, as opposed to time and money leaking while you struggle with these tasks when you could be expanding your business instead!
#1. Correspondence and social tasks
Hire a virtual assistant to screen your emails, and make or answer calls for you. Correspondence eats up too much time if you let it.
You might be surprised how much bigger your network could be when someone is dedicating their time to correspondence, leaving you free to focus on your business. And you’d also be surprised at how much can be ‘screened’.
Your email load goes back to being a ‘bunch’ rather than a load. Only those requiring your personal attention get to you. Your VA takes care of the rest, including follow-ups and confirmation of appointments.
Your VA can set up your business’ social media accounts. If you already have one, they can filter messages and answer customer queries. After knowing who your business is, they can communicate to customers with your brand voice.
Entrepreneurs and professionals know they need to be social, but barely any actually have the time. Their VA makes it seem like they ARE social butterflies, however.
Your VA can also be relied upon to remind you of social events, like anniversaries of businesses and people in your network– and to go ahead and send cards or greetings for you.
#2. Online research
Do you spend your days running your business or doing your work, and your nights learning about how to better do them? A skilled virtual assistant can look up EVERY single one of what you’re looking for.
For example, if you want to automate your bookkeeping (which is another task you can outsource to a freelancer, of course!), your VA can research the best options for you and your small business and report back to you.
It’s also important for EVERY sort of business to be informed and to show that they are knowledgeable in their social media feeds. Your virtual assistant can keep you abreast with the latest trends and events, timely and seemingly small pieces of news that nevertheless have an impact on your growing brand.
