6 Benefits of Hiring A Virtual Assistant

6 Benefits of Hiring A Virtual Assistant

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Opinions expressed by Kaya Services contributors are their own.

OK, let me start this blog by asking you several questions.Have you ever experienced growing your business and working day and night just to realise you’re not even halfway through your to-do list?

Have you ever wished for more than 24 hours in a day, the ability to operate with 8 arms and 9 brains to handle all the pressure and stress that comes into your day, just so you could finish everything and spend some time for yourself or for your family?
If the answer is yes, or you find yourself shaking your head in agreement, then you classify as a business owner who believed they could do it all. Superman or Wonder Woman might be able to get through it, but the reality is you can’t.

Admit it, building and growing your business is a tough job, that even if you transform into an octopus, you won’t be able to succeed on your own. It would eat up all your energy, time and sanity.. That’s the reason why virtual assistants are here to help. They’re cost effective lifesavers that give you your life back.

Yes, there are still businesses out there who aren’t aware of the numerous benefits they can gain from hiring a virtual assistant. They’re still trying to prove to themselves that they can do it entirely on their own, at least for a while longer (good luck with that), but I think that one of the reasons why they’re reluctant to hire a virtual assistant is because it’s hard to trust someone else with your business.

Of course, I won’t deny it. I would have a difficult time trusting strangers too with running my business because I might end up letting the wrong person take over. But here’s the thing, if you want your business to succeed, you need to stop working on every task yourself. No, you’re not a superhero. You have to outsource the rest of your business, and you have to trust other people. You just have to, and it’s as simple as that.
So what are the numerous benefits of hiring a virtual assistant?

1. Focus on More Specialized Tasks
According to Sumit Bansal, “For me, the main benefit of using a virtual assistant is that it takes the routine work off my plate. I use my VA to manage tasks such as posting and engaging on social media, handling emails and creating simple graphics for blog/social media. While this work is quite straightforward, it still needs to be done. Giving this work to a VA allows me to focus on more specialized tasks, such as creating content, recording videos, and building relationships with influencers. Since hiring a VA, I have witnessed a higher RoI on the time invested in my online business.”

Yes, hiring a virtual assistant can increase your business efficiency. Rather than spending your resources on hiring a full-time employee, coupled with some doubt in your mind about the work he/she will be doing, you can easily hire a virtual assistant for these non-critical business tasks, and achieve the same positive outcome.

2. Work Efficiently at Lesser Cost
“There are many benefits to using a virtual assistant. I run a travel business so having virtual assistants in different countries throughout the world allows us to have a global footprint. My company is embracing the fully remote team structure so having virtual assistants allows us to work efficiently and effectively without having to spend money on physical office space. The virtual assistants on our team play a crucial role in our community team. They are incredibly smart and have a great eye for content. Our virtual assistants never complain about tasks being too large or too small. They never ever complain about tasks being too hard or too monotonous. Having virtual assistants has allowed us to start a company and stay lean to keep costs down. Our virtual assistants are extremely educated and reliable. They infrequently ever miss a shift.” —Chase Dimond

You read that right. Having a virtual assistant on your team reduces your business costs. The cost difference of hiring a virtual assistant versus a regular employee may come as a surprise, and only make you wish you that you had 3 hearts right now. In the Philippines, you can hire a general virtual assistant for around $3-$6 or a highly skilled VAs such as system administrators for around $14.

It’s budget-friendly, right?

But do you know what the best part is?

A VA saves from renting additional office space. You’re not required to buy new equipment like computers or telephones. Consider the arrangement with your VA, like that of a contractor/freelancer. You just pay your VA for the hours worked. No work means no money! It’s that simple.

3. Help You Grow Your Business
Kevin Vandenboss grew his business operation by hiring a virtual assistant.

Let’s be real, once you hire a full-time employee you can’t just fire him/her when there is less, or no work. Quite a hassle, right? One of the reasons why hiring a virtual assistant is a great alternative, is because of cost, and the flexibility this brings to arrangements. However, once you find the right VA, you’re more than likely to continue to build on this journey, and irrespective of peak and off-peak periods in business, you will find ways to keep them on board.

“Hiring a virtual assistant helped me grow my business before I was able to commit to hiring any staff in house. It allowed me to get the help I needed with the tasks that were taking away from me being able to generate new business. I had my virtual assistant putting together reports for clients, bookkeeping, posting listings on different websites, research, and spending the time looking for the best deal from vendors for things I needed to purchase for the business. I even had them responding to certain emails while I was out of the office. Some weeks I would keep my assistant busy for 20 hours while other weeks, when money was tight, I would only have three or four hours worth of work for them. Being able to delegate the tasks that took up a large chunk of my time without the stress of figuring out how to pay them during long stretches between commission checks was exactly what my business needed.” —Kevin Vandenboss

In some cases, you can get access to VA’s that can support you 24 x 7. As VAs come from all over the world, their ability to support you in your local time zone is important. Depending upon your arrangements, many VA’s can work on public holidays, which would further drive enhancements in operational activity and pave way for other activities tied to growth.

4. Strengthen Weak Area
Nowadays, virtual assistants can help you bridge skill gaps in your business. They’re highly skilled, and they can do a wide range of tasks such as simple administrative tasks to marketing, social media, etc. But that’s not all. Generally, they always strive to provide exceptional service beyond your expectations. Yes, they are wholeheartedly dedicated to the tasks you assigned to them.

“I have used a virtual assistant and she helps me with all sorts of tasks doubling my effectiveness and stretching my time two fold. Over the course of three years I have managed to offload the following tasks to her:

Bookkeeping
Research for email and contact information for sales prospects
Social media monitoring and interaction
Excel spreadsheet data entry
Each of these skill sets I had to take the time to instruct her how we wanted them done, however once we have them in place it has been a tremendous time saver for me.
Utilizing Skype and screen share services I can instruct her to do any remedial tasks to offload from my day to day workload.

This enables me to focus on high leverage activities such as product development, strategy, and planning. It’s quite possible we wouldn’t be where we are today without her.” —Bryan Clayton

5. More Time for Your Family and Friends
You started a business because you want to provide a brighter future for yourself or for your family, but what happens when your work is consuming all of your time?

Answer: hire a virtual assistant, find some free time, and spend it with your family and friends.

Always remember this: you should run the business and never let the business run you.

“I can go home 30 minutes earlier every day to be with my family before the kids go to sleep.” —Cristian Rennella

6. Peace of Mind
So let’s go back to one of the reasons why entrepreneurs are hesitant to hire a virtual assistant; trust.

But let me tell you this, once you’ve found that perfect VA for your business you think and look back to wonder how you ever survived without one? VA’s make life easier, leaving you with a peace of mind because your business is in good hands even though you’re not always available, because your VA is capable and trained.

Anyhow, it’s almost similar to finding your next great employee (if you decide to offer him/her something more permanent). You both get to test the waters before settling to work with each other permanently.

Now, that you know the benefits you can achieve from hiring a virtual assistant, let me ask you another question. Will you stick to your one-man show and be able to pull off your work, or will you choose to hire a virtual assistant? Think about the scale and impact to your business in either scenario.

Hiring a virtual assistant is not just about adding an assistant on your team. You’re investing into building a strong work relationship with your VA to establish trust, Only in that way, you will be able to see all of the benefits you’ve read and much more. In a nutshell, your virtual assistant could be your secret weapon.

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