The development of powerful devices with complex features and upgraded connection speeds have made it easier for people to communicate with others, even when they’re on opposite sides of the globe. These multiple technological evolutions mentioned, combined with recent events concerning the global health crisis, have changed people’s views on hiring virtual assistants.
Currently, a growing number of small to medium enterprises (SMEs) at the point of expansion are seeing how hiring a virtual assistant (VA) can help their companies flourish without overstretching their resources.
Here’s how virtual assistants can help your business thrive despite the tough competition.
What Virtual Assistants Can Do for You
Some self-employed virtual assistants specialize in specific tasks, and then some companies have a pool of skilled VAs that can perform a variety of services such as:
- Customer Support
- Administrative Support
- Executive Assistance
- Social Media and Digital Marketing Tasks
- Accounting and Bookkeeping Tasks
- Research
- Personal Tasks
- Content Creation and Management
- Human Resources (HR) Tasks and many more
Even if they are not in-office employees, virtual assistants can do a wide range of tasks as long as they are given clear directives and access to communication and productivity tools.
Why Virtual Assistants are Valuable Assets
Here’s why virtual assistants are assets that can add value to your company.
- Gives You Time for Core Business Needs
Having VAs means entrepreneurs and managers can veer away from repetitive and non-core tasks, giving you and your core team the chance to work on business growth strategies. This is why many startups with minimal resources bring virtual assistants into the fold as soon as possible.
Once you clearly explain your needs to a skilled VA, you can start to focus on tasks that play on your strengths and drive overall business growth. You can relax knowing that the detailed day-to-day tasks are taken care of, so you can expend your energy on crucial matters like creating or revamping your company’s offerings, building strategic partnerships, and much more.
- Reduces Overhead Costs
Hiring full-time employees to do small tasks may be counterproductive, as this will incur company expenses. Aside from paying wages and benefits, having in-office staff on the clock will use up resources that add to your costs. You will have to provide office space and equipment or shell out funds for training programs and bonuses for each full-time employee, and these costs add up in the long run.
On the other hand, if you hire a virtual assistant, you won’t have to worry about such expenses unless you choose to. It really is up to you if you want to send them a dedicated computer or laptop for their work or provide them with bonuses if you deem they are deserving of it.
VAs charge their employers either hourly rates or on a per-project basis. Outsourcing work to virtual assistants can help your company make great savings on operating costs because you will only have to pay for hourly salaries or output-based rates.
In addition, when you find the right kind of virtual assistant for your needs, you will not have to pay for additional training. They can get started on tasks right away since they already excel in their field.
- Higher Efficiency Rate
When you hire a full-time employee, you have to pay them for an 8-hour workday. However, that does not necessarily mean that they will be productive the whole time they are at the office.
Many SMEs and startups do not have enough tasks to keep a single full-time employee busy the whole workday. There may be times when a company will only need assistance during busy seasons. Sometimes, an additional workforce is required only when there are specific projects to complete.
Virtual assistants increase productivity and efficiency since you can exclusively hire them to accomplish specific tasks at a set timeframe. You have the power to adjust work hours and dictate, for example, whether you need them for 4 hours per week or 4 hours daily. You may choose to hire VAs during your peak season and scale back once it’s over.
- Boosts Your Online Presence
Did you know that over 88% of consumers who search for local businesses online either call or visit stores within one day? You probably have a website or business pages on socials, but are you truly maximizing these powerful platforms?
Effective social media strategy implementation is incredibly time-consuming. If you have the desire to do so but lack the time for it, hiring a VA who can take care of social media tasks is the ultimate solution for you.
Outsourcing social media work to a virtual assistant skilled in the field will strengthen your brand’s online presence and improve customer handling efficiency. VAs will not only promptly respond to consumer comments or questions on your social media platforms, but they can also plan and create strategic content to help you meet set brand objectives.
In Conclusion
Having dedicated, skilled VAs on your team gives you more flexibility in terms of business operation costs and task management and increases team productivity. With the right communication tools, clear directives, and proper delegation, VAs can take care of essential non-core tasks and add more productive hours to your day wherever you are in the world.
