Computers and TechnologyFeaturedServices

What Does a Virtual Assistant Do?

Take a look at any business owner or high-ranking C-level employee, and you’ll notice one thing: they often need helping hands to run the show. And we’re not just talking about the employees under them either!

While traditionally, they’d employ the help of an in-person assistant, today, things are a bit different. Thanks to the internet, many are turning to virtual assistants instead.

What’s a virtual assistant and what do they do? How can they help you out so your job’s easier? Read on to find out!

What’s a Virtual Assistant?

A virtual assistant is also known as a remote administrative assistant or virtual executive assistant. There are small nuances to these 2 positions, but for the purposes of this article, we’ll treat all 3 roles as the same thing.

Basically, a virtual assistant is someone who you can delegate your work to. The “virtual” part means they’re remote, so they’re not in the same office space as you. While you can certainly hire someone who’s in the same city, many opt to hire virtual assistants who live elsewhere (either in the country or out!) for a better talent pool and more affordable rates.

What Do Virtual Assistants Do?

What a virtual assistant does is very broad since it’ll vary from employer to employer, and industry to industry.

Again, virtual assistants are there to take a great burden off their boss’s shoulders. Generally, this means taking care of repetitive and/or tedious tasks that don’t take a lot of skill, knowledge, or experience to handle.

For example, VAs might handle your emails, scheduling meetings with workers and clients, and planning any business trips you might have. They can also help with other admin and paperwork that eats up your time. Some people even have their virtual assistants take care of personal tasks (like booking doctors’ appointments and researching vacation activities) to make daily life a bit easier.

What Are the Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Assistant?

When you hire a virtual assistant, there are many benefits you gain in both your business and personal lives, some of which we’ve already touched upon.

But what else makes them worth every penny spent? Keep reading to see!

They’ll Save You Money

Speaking of pennies, what you pay virtual assistants is usually significantly less than what you’d pay a full-time employee. In fact, you can save as much as 78% when you opt for a VA instead of an employee!

So if you’ve been trying to delegate tasks to a worker but find that it’s costing you too much, you’ll definitely see improvements by hiring a VA instead.

Get a Bigger Talent Pool

When you’re hiring VAs in your local area, you’re restricted to the talent pool there, maybe a few towns over if you’re lucky.

But when you’re putting out virtual assistant jobs, you have access to a talent pool that’s literally across the world! This greatly increases the chance that you’ll get someone who’s the perfect fit for your company.

They’re More Productive

You might have some distrust of remote workers. After all, no one’s standing over them, making sure they’re getting things done. So how are you sure they’re actually working hard to get your tasks done?

The fact is, virtual assistants (and remote workers in general) are much more productive! A study showed that they have a 13% increase in productivity, thanks to the fact that they take fewer sick days and breaks.

Remote workers are also more efficient at their jobs!

There’s More Flexibility

With a normal employee, their hours are roughly from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday. What happens if you (or your clients) need support after hours? Usually, you’re just out of luck until the next business day.

Online jobs mean there’s more flexibility in working hours. You’ll be able to get VAs who can cover odd hours and weekends as well. This is because some of them like to work these odd hours (if they’re in your time zone) or they’re located elsewhere where working 9-5 translates to something like 3:00 pm to 11:00 for you!

Another way there’s more flexibility with a VA is you can hire and fire them at will. With a regular employee, you usually have to onboard and offboard them. But with a virtual assistant, if you’re not happy with their services, you can just end the contract immediately and find another person within the same day!

There’s Less Risk When Scaling Your Business

Because there’s so much flexibility with using a virtual assistant, this results in less risk when you scale your business.

For instance, your company might be growing, but you’re not sure by how much. You can hire one VA to see how things go at first.

If it’s just a temporary spike in business and things become slow again, you can end the VA contract whenever you wish. But if things keep growing exponentially, you can then quickly add another virtual assistant by starting another contract!

Either way, it’ll be a lot easier to stay within your budget.

Hire a Virtual Assistant Today

As you can see, a virtual assistant can greatly help with not just your business, but also your personal life. When you’re not busy juggling so many things on your plate, you’ll be able to have a better quality of life since you’ll have more time to spend doing the things you love and creating memories with your loved ones.

So now that you know what a virtual assistant is, isn’t it about time you hire one? You deserve to have a more fulfilling life!

Want to learn more about remote workers? Then check out our other blogs!

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button