What are virtual assistants? This question has become one of the most searched terms on the web in the last few years. And there is a reason for it. Virtual assistants are the future of the workforce. With benefits like a cheaper workforce and reducing company procrastination, VAs are specialists in doing any task effectively and at a low price.
But what is the essence of a virtual assistant? What drives these professionals to excel at everything they do? The answer is quite simple: they want to help your company grow. And, as your business grows, they augment their knowledge so that you, as a small business owner, can enjoy the fruits of your labor without having to worry about who you are leaving your company with. Read below to learn more about virtual assistants and how they can help your small business.
What are virtual assistants: Definition
According to Investopedia, A virtual assistant is an independent contractor who provides administrative services to clients while operating outside of the client's office. A VA typically operates from a home office but can access the necessary planning documents, such as shared calendars, remotely.
As the definition mentions, all virtual assistants can access any tool remotely. Whether your company has its own dedicated server or uses other web-based tools, VAs are able to learn and perfect the use of these platforms. In addition, virtual assistants are the number one alternative to hiring employees.
What are virtual assistants: Most Common Jobs
Virtual assistants can perform hundreds of tasks and be trained quickly to do other duties that are not included in their resumes. These VAs have worked with countless companies, and their expertise is based on dozens of leaders from around the world who have specific ideas for companies to grow.
VAs use this knowledge to help their current employer understand different points of view, which might help a company expand its horizons to new ways of making sales, devising marketing strategies, and handling social media. Below, you will find a list of the most common jobs of a virtual assistant, but if you know where to look, you will find that finding the right virtual assistant is easier than it sounds.
Social Media Management
Copywriting
Bookkeeping
Medical Billing
Persona Assistant
Real Estate
Customer Support
Sales
Marketing
Web Maintenance
What are virtual assistants: Benefits
Virtual assistantship comes with a lot of benefits, both for the VA and the employer. Some include flexible schedules, better attention to detail, and an overall sense of accomplishment every time one of their tasks is marked down. Here are the three main benefits of hiring a virtual assistant.
Save Time
If you need more time to take care of your clients but always seem to find yourself out of available hours, then a virtual assistant is right for you. They can help you organize your schedule and improve your time management, or they can do those tasks that take a lot of time, like organizing stock products in a ledger or keeping in touch with the community via social media.
Save on Equipment
Every time you hire an employee, you need to consider many things—one of them being their equipment. Regardless if you work in B2C or B2B companies, all of your employees will handle a piece of equipment, and as you know, you are going to have to pay for that equipment. With virtual assistants, you do not have to worry about this costly asset. VAs already have the equipment and resources they need.
Save on Benefits
Tightly related to the point above, benefits are one of the most important things you will have to offer an employee, which can include health benefits, dental, holiday perks, etc. All of these benefits cost a lot of money, and maintaining them across an employee's work life is even more expensive. With a VA, you can leave all of these expenses behind. Most of their benefits are covered by themselves or by agencies that work with them.
What are virtual assistants: Small Businesses
Now that you know about virtual assistants and what they do, you might wonder, how can a VA help my small business? The answer is quite simple, but it may require a specific thought process. First, just as you thought about what customers need when creating a new product, you must ask yourself, what does my company needs? The answer is going to vary from company to company, but it will most likely be related to money, time, or workforce. All situations can be covered by a virtual assistant. Take a look at the examples below, each one is very particular, but they all have the same solution. Hiring a virtual assistant.
I need someone to take care of my social media channels, and it is very time-consuming.
Hire a virtual assistant
I need an expert in sales who can help me with a cold email campaign.
Hire a virtual assistant
My medical biller is no longer in my company, and all of the prospects I've interviewed are not right.
Hire a virtual assistant
I need more employees but cannot pay for an HR campaign or their benefits.
Hire a team of virtual assistants
As you can see, you can reduce all of these common business problems to the categories that we mentioned above. And, despite their differences, all of them have the exact same solution.
Virtual Assistants for Small Businesses
Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you are going to get. Fortunately, virtual assistants are their own candy themselves. When you hire one, you know you will get an expert whose knowledge and skills will help your company reach new levels of success. Moreover, you will get an employee who understands what your company needs, what it lacks, and what areas it excels at. Don't let fear take over your entrepreneur side, and hire a virtual assistant today.