Top Five Reasons to Hire a Virtual Assistant for Your Business
In the last couple of years, the virtual assistant (also called virtual offices) industry has multiplied by many folds. In this article, we will try to find out why virtual assistant services are fast replacing in-office assistance and how they help us in our business?
What is a Virtual Assistant?
Earlier, offices hired people for specific tasks like customer support, administrative chores, social media handlers, data entry jobs, accounting, bookkeeping and many more similar types of tasks in any organisation. Then came a time when many self-employed individuals specialised in such fields started doing such specific tasks. But, today, due to the growing need for such tasks, it has the shape of an industry. We now have virtual offices companies that provide us with virtual assistants for a wide range of specific services.
The role of virtual offices is to provide different services to businesses or entrepreneurs from remote locations. They are not in-office employees but are given access to companies’ necessary data and devices to do their job remotely or virtually.
So, now we can somewhat apprehend why to hire a virtual assistant.
Top five reasons to hire a virtual assistant and how to manage them effectively:
- Reduces Overhead Costs
Usually, companies and entrepreneurs employ virtual assistants to reduce their overall costs.
It can avail the same service at lower charges and operating costs. Companies can hire a virtual assistant instead of a full-time employee to do a small job. Virtual assistants charge either on an hourly or project/task basis. So, you pay them only for the work that is actually done.
Moreover, you are also saving the additional costs for their internet connection, laptop and other office expenses, as they are working remotely.
You also save on training costs by hiring virtual professionals, as they are already trained and skilled in their jobs.
- Increase Efficiency
Businesses can outsource their clerical work to virtual offices and concentrate on their core competencies. Some of the official activities that companies usually outsource are – sending emails and newsletters, attending to customer queries, internet research, data entry, scheduling meetings and many similar tasks. Though these are essential tasks, they are not the primary job that needs to be managed by an in-house team. Therefore, making your in-house employees not spend time on these tasks can increase their efficiency in core tasks.
- Scales Your Business
Virtual assistants also help you scale up your business activities. You can use a virtual assistant to serve your sudden requirement for human resources when there is an increase in scope in your business. You can readily hire talent on a project-by-project basis and easily handle increasing work demands without hurrying on your hiring process. Virtual assistants can deal with sudden requirements and allow you an opportunity to hire full-time employees slowly once you have established yourself.
- 24/7 Assistance
Today, maximum businesses have customer bases expanding to many parts of the globe.
But if your business and employees are based in one location, managing global requirements and time zones becomes challenging. And, you can serve your international customers only if your office works 24 hours a day. This is when virtual offices, based remotely, can cater to this demand. You can hire them anywhere in the world to work in different time zones. This will help you attend to customers 24×7.
- Save Time for Strategic Thinking
As discussed above, you can focus on your core tasks to grow your business, while virtual assistant companies can do your non-core tasks. This can save you time for strategic thinking as you are no more wasting time and resources in doing non-core jobs. Instead, you can invest your time in your business planning. This helps your company perform better and achieve long-lasting success.
