How a Virtual Assistant Helps the Small to Medium Business Owner

Most business owners know that their time is valuable – so valuable, in fact, that the simple everyday tasks of running a successful company can quickly become the day’s biggest chores. That’s why hiring a virtual assistant is on the top of to-do lists everywhere. After all, whether you’re working from a small business that you run out of your home or a medium business that you’ve grown from the bottom up, virtual assistants are a great way to get the personalized administrative or clerical assistance you need without the additional overhead of hiring a full-time staff.

 

What a Virtual Assistant Does

 

The services offered by a virtual assistant vary depending on the skills of the individual or firm that you hire as well as your specific needs. If you need something as simple as help sending out thank you letters after a successful fundraiser, a virtual assistant can quickly and efficiently get the job done. If you need something a little more complex (for example, if you are launching a new campaign and need market research), you might opt for a temporary virtual assistant with a specific task in mind. A more permanent arrangement, such as answering emails or taking phone calls for a few hours each day, can also be accomplished through the services of the right virtual assistant.

 

Virtual Assistants are Designed for Small and Medium Businesses

While there are no restrictions on the size of a business that can benefit from a virtual assistant, small businesses and medium businesses stand to gain the most from the services offered by a competent, dependable professional. Unlike standard full-time help, virtual assistants are not employees – they are either independent contractors or part of a larger firm. This means that you – the business owner – do not have to pay the taxes, insurance, and fees associated with having your own staff. For small and medium business owners, this can mean the difference between bringing in a profit and falling short of your minimum fiscal goals.

 

When you factor in office space, vacation time, sick days, health insurance, breaks, and a lengthy training period, the cost of hiring an employee is almost three times the cost of a virtual assistant. These kinds of issues are even more difficult among small and medium businesses, which typically don’t have a Human Resources Department to handle all the issues of payroll and legal compliance with breaks and vacation time.

 

Choosing Your Virtual Assistant

 

Finding the right virtual assistant for the job can be a long, arduous process. When you hire just one person, you might not be able to get the right level of professionalism for the job, especially if you’re looking for a specific skill set. For example, an individual is typically limited in his or her level of experience and education, and may not be able to meet your needs for a brochure layout one day and typing the next. You are also at risk of finding someone who is new to the field or poorly trained as a virtual assistant.

 

This is where hiring a firm can make all the difference. When you turn to a company like IAC Professionals, you get all the help you need for a variety of tasks in one quick and easy location. You get incredibly diverse technical and administrative skills on board a competent virtual assistant team, as well as a company that understands what you expect from your virtual assistant. This way, you never have to worry about the level of professionalism you’re paying for.

 

Grow Your Business without Breaking the Bank

This is one trend that isn’t going to be going away any time soon. When your bottom line is at stake, you have to find a solution that meets your staffing needs without compromising your financial future. Whether you’re just getting your small business started or you are looking to expand but simply don’t have enough time, a virtual assistant is just the thing you’ve been seeking.

 

www.IACProfessionals.com

 

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Should You Become A Virtual Assistant?

32% of the virtual assistants surveyed charge $31-40 per hour for their services with the majority of virtual assistants putting in 31-40 hours of work per week. Amazingly, 43.6% of the virtual assistants surveyed normally work on weekends.

93.7% of the Virtual Assistants surveyed stated that their clients are found through word of mouth referrals with 80.1% of virtual assistants also marketing through a website online. *Source: The Media Virtual Assistant Survey

Many employees are working in the job market where they are being cross-trained to provide countless services. This is great for employers but takes advantage of the employee. Cross training is often presented to the employee as “team playing.” But this practice is what has caused many individuals to start thriving, part-time, Virtual Assistant businesses. Which is many cases blossom into full-time income!

What is a virtual assistant?

Virtual assistants often provide administrative and office support services to small businesses. Nowadays these services are being purchased by new entrepreneurs and home-based businesses owners who can’t afford to hire full time employees. The number of entrepreneurs entering the marketplace is exploding. According to Entrepreneur Magazine these new business owners are entering the marketplace at a pace of 8,000 per day.

Virtual assistants work from home with their own equipment, handling tasks that their clients don’t know how to do (or don’t want to do).

New business owners can concentrate on the parts of the business that make the money and leave the details to competent virtual assistants who enjoy the freedom of working from home.

This is a true win-win.

The entrepreneur doesn’t pay the virtual assistant to chat around the water cooler, instead virtual assistants only get paid when they produce. This means more productivity for both the virtual assistant and their client; the entrepreneur.

The obvious benefit to someone employing a virtual assistant is not having to deal with payroll taxes, vacations, sick days, or employee benefits.

Plus virtual assistants work remotely and fee up office space and computers.

Virtual Assistants provide many of the same services as onsite employees, without the added costs. Here are some of the tasks you might expect to delegate to a Virtual Assistant:

” Personal Assistance

” Website Maintenance and Updates

” Customer Service

” Answering Service

” Link Exchange

” Article Management

” Online Advertising

” Data Entry

” Accounting and Bookkeeping

” PowerPoint Presentations

” Database Management

” Word Processing

” Technical Support

” Transcription

” Travel Arrangements

” Reminder Service

” Writing, Editing, and Research Services

Below you will find just a few of the many benefits of hiring a Virtual Assistant over a conventional or temporary employee:

Cost of Work Space and Equipment

Virtual Assistants work from their own home or office and use their own equipment. You don’t have to pay for office space, equipment, maintenance, or addition utility bills. This is especially beneficial if you don’t have a lot of space of your own.

Cost of Taxes and Benefits

Since Virtual Assistants are independent contractors you don’t have to spend time or money dealing with taxes. Another benefit is you don’t have to pay health/life insurance or workers compensation. In addition, you don’t have to pay holidays, vacation time, or sick leave.

You’re In Charge

The relationship between you and your VA is based on a contracted agreement and you state the terms. You have the added benefit of paying by the project, by the hour, or on a monthly retainer. Since they bill for work completed you don’t have to pay for personal phone calls, tardiness, child issues, or sick leave. You choose which tasks to delegate to the VA and which tasks to do yourself or to keep in-house.

Professional Ideas

A Virtual Assistant is an entrepreneur that has their own strengths, background, and areas of expertise. They work from home and provide a service just like you do and have their own ways to market and solve problems that you might never have thought of. Having an experienced business person to bounce ideas off of will help you and your business grow.

Time to Focus on Your Business

Hiring a Virtual Assistant will free up your valuable time to focus on improving your business. Delegating administrative work such as bookkeeping, writing, research, customer service, and other jobs will allow more time for you to expand your business.

Virtual assistants can make as much as the job demands. There are cases where virtual assistants can make up to $100 per hour. Invisible workers offers this kind of pay scale for their workers.

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