In the old days of brick and mortar business, needing additional administrative help meant hiring a new employee. After a sometimes arduous application and interview process, the right person signs on to the company payroll and gets to work. These days when virtually every company is online in some manner or other, administrative virtual assistants who work on a freelance basis negate the need for a new hire while still completing all assignable tasks that keep the business running smoothly.
Companies still hire administration assistants all the time, of course. These people offer invaluable services including email management, scheduling, workflow organisation and even customer care. When these tasks are done however, they sit at their desks and keep drawing a paycheque. Administrative virtual assistants are paid for the tasks they complete according to their client agreement, without any wasted expense or downtime.
VAs Save You Time
The most obvious way a virtual assistant saves a company’s time is by handling certain tasks so the business owner or employees can set their focus in other directions. Many of the jobs handled by these freelancers include things such as organising, managing and answering email, addressing support requests, phone messages and the social media posts, maintaining a schedule or calendar programme so no important meetings or deadlines are missed and numerous other tasks that eat up a lot of time on a regular basis. Put simply, the entire company can run far more smoothly without unwanted interruptions.
VAs Save You Money
While a new employee means an additional pay cheque being paid out of the company funds, there are other expenses associated with hiring too. New tax situations can arise and insurance and other benefits need to be paid out as well. New employees also (in most cases) require equipment such as a computer, mobile phone, possibly a landline and/or even a chair and desk for businesses that operate with a physical location.
Virtual assistants operate from their own office or home, have existing computer hardware and gadgets as necessary to provide the services they offer. Since they aren’t salaried or hourly employees, they aren’t generally bound by the legal guidelines associated with providing health care and other benefits or insurance either for that matter. There’s also no wasted expense associated with paying for slow periods or times when there’s simply not enough work to go around. Freelance agreements should spell out clearly what tasks are being completed for the price paid.
VAs Save You Headaches
Imagine a daily schedule on your mobile phone, an appointment calendar in the cloud, multiple email accounts demanding attention, social media overrun with questions, spam attacking from all sides, the phone ringing off the hook and at least five other tasks that have been forgotten or pushed aside in favour of simply maintaining a company’s forward flow. Running a business involves a lot more than having a vision for the future, setting goals and making profits. A professional virtual assistant can do more than save you time and money, they can also reduce stress and alleviate the uncomfortable feeling that the company is a house of cards.
The right virtual assistant removes the day-to-day struggle to keep organised and on top of everything that needs to be done. Some administrative VAs begin by setting up your calendar, scheduling, email and social media accounts for easier management. They then remove the challenge of giving enough attention to each aspect of these tasks in order to make the business run smoothly. When the company owner feels confident everything is flowing smoothly in the background, he or she can truly focus on business growth and future development.