Many years ago, a virtual secretary is almost like a luxury reserved solely for big companies. Not only is it a concept that denotes additional expenditure, it also comes with the complications of recruitment and selection.
But as the internet became more available to regular folks, it has changed the landscape of business to make it more inclusive. Now, local businesses have an equal footing on advertising through social media. Now, the expanse of a small company’s market is only as limited as the owner’s marketing ingenuity.
No wonder the virtual assistance industry has also expanded to cater to small businesses.
If you are still on the fence about whether you should get a virtual office assistant or not, it’s time to review your business operations.
Here are some questions to help you reassess the situation:
● Are you frequently feeling burnt-out at the end of the week?
● Is there a pile of to-do lists on your desk you are yet to finish?
● Does your productivity suffer because you are swamped by mundane tasks?
● Do you find yourself missing more and more personal time because you need to bring your work at home?
● Is your company failing to meet its target ROI because you lack time to improve your products and advertising?
Many owners of small businesses have the impression that they are saving money by not getting a virtual assistant. Instead of delegating certain tasks to someone else, they would rather do most of the business operations to save themselves some bucks.This kind of thinking is limited and does not aim for long-term goals.
Just because your business hasn’t yet expanded to its full potential does not mean you must do everything on your own.
Here are the top 3 reasons why you need a virtual assistant for your small business:
First: You need an assistant for administrative and other day-to-day tasks but cannot afford a full-time employee.
A full-time employee will cost a lot – from the time you spend in the hiring process to training, to the money you allocate on salary, health insurance, and other fringe benefits. No wonder many small business owners shy away from hiring an associate. They have the notion that virtual assistance cost as much.
Fortunately, you can hire an online secretary through trustworthy virtual assistance staffing companies. You would know a company is reliable when they take care to find the best match for your business. Virtual assistants use their own tools and internet connection, and will only bill you per hour or project.
Second: You need a specialist to do a specific job.
Does your website need a makeover? Do you need blog articles to improve your search engine ranking? There are certain business tasks that require a specialist’s talent, experience, and knowledge if you want to get top-quality work. Although releasing some control over business matters may be difficult for many entrepreneurs, hiring an expert online to do a specific task is a worthwhile investment.
Third: Your business is expanding.
A growing business comes with more demands to keep and more clients to satisfy. You need someone to lift some of the weight off your shoulders. Hiring someone to do admin tasks and other errands you can afford to delegate will give you more time and energy to ease your business into expansion.
As an owner of a small business, there are investments you need to make if you want your company to grow big. Hiring a virtual assistant is one of them.
Catherine vanVonno, the author, is the President and Executive Director of 20Four7VA, a global Virtual Assistant (VA) Service Provider. She holds a doctorate degree in Applied Statistics, Research Design and Program Evaluation from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and has over 10 years experience in facilitating evidence-based strategic planning, product development, brand management, legislative communications, and medical policy. She is married and has four children. You can reach her at communications@20four7va.com.
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