Is It Really Worth Hiring a Virtual Assistant?

• Using a VA can take your concentration away from mundane business tasks.
• Using a VA can increase manpower without the expense of a full time employee.
• Using a VA can increase sales and productivity.
• Using a VA gives you time to provide clients with better customer service.
• Using a VA can provide you and your business, specialty services in niche areas such as Social Media, Article Writing, Web Maintenance and Blogging without having to pay Specialty Fees.

One main reason for many business owners and individuals outsource work to a virtual assistant is because they have more work to do than time to do it. If you are a business owner that can adapt to an ever changing environment, and wants to remain competitive and grow your business to its full potential, hiring a virtual assistant might be a good strategic solution.

There are many freelance sites that are setup to help the business owner who is new to the process and help them find the right person for their needs. Many sites like Elance and Odesk have “escrow” accounts that will allow you to approve the payment beforehand. This ensures that you get what you paid for. Also many Virtual Assistants usually allow a short “try before you buy” trial period. This also allows the business owner to test the Virtual Assistant before a full commitment is made.

If you are using a Virtual Assistant from another country, it is important to make sure there are no language or time zone issues. For many companies, having an assistant in another time zone allows the business to serve its clients’ needs 24 hours a day at minimal expense to the business. But it is also important to know that they person you are hiring can speak the languages that you need. It is recommended that you interview the person beforehand either via phone or via Skype. This will ensure that the person can properly represent your company and can address your clients’ needs.

Using an Assistant can save time and resources on the lengthy recruitment process. The process on many of the freelance sites is as simple as picking one and then starting the work process. There are no complicated HR forms to fill out and keep on file. In most cases, the freelance site even takes care of the tax forms for the business.

Another cost saver is that you do not need to check in on them like you would on full time employees. A Virtual Assistant only changes you for the hours that they are actually working on your business file. This is usually a major cost savings for many small businesses that do not enough work for a full time employee, yet still needs help now and again.

Another use is to provide support when your employees are ill or on holiday. This allows office productivity to continue to rise without the need of hiring a “temp”. In most cases the assistant can continue to be used as an “on call” basis.