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Lately there has been a lot of press about the value of outsourcing. More and more people are beginning to understand what a Virtual Assistant is and what they do to help businesses. But if you’ve never heard of a VA, here’s some info on what one is and why you might ever want to hire one.

Ways a Virtual Assistant will help your business

* A Virtual Assistant isn’t usually as interested in a subject as you are, so they focus solely on the task at hand without becoming distracted. They do exactly as they are asked to do and, as freelancers, are more dedicated to working hard and providing a good service than an employee might be.

* If your services cost more per hour services than your VA charges, then you’re better off financially by not doing certain tasks. You’re also freed up to focus on other issues such as giving better service to existing clients, bringing in new clients, focusing on new projects and simply having more time to do what you do best… which is probably not paperwork!

* Because a VA is self-employed you don’t have to pay their Tax, NI, Holiday, or Sickness pay. You call them when you need them; they quickly understand how you like things done, and you only pay them for the hours they work. This means you can keep an eye on the budget.

* Many VA’s specialise in niche areas which usually correspond to their previous career. This results in you hiring someone who knows your industry, knows the terminology, so can get on with the job quickly without having it all explained to them.

* People become VA’s because they’re very, very organised. They’re super-organised multi-tasking admin machines who sort people’s businesses out for a living, and could probably do a job in half the time it would take you to do it.

* A VA doesn’t get bored by routine tasks as they’re not doing them all day like you are. Working on different tasks breaks up their day so aren’t routine for them at all. You can then rest assured that essential yet time-consuming admin is being taken care of while you get on with doing what you do best.

* VA’s usually work with lots of different industries so they’ve seen different business systems and methods in practice. Therefore they bring a wealth of experience to your business and can suggest more productive ways you can run your systems.

* The clue is in the name. Although most are happy to come to your office, a Virtual Assistant usually works from home. This means you don’t have to find them somewhere to sit or make them coffee!

So in a nutshell, a Virtual Assistant takes on tasks that business owners either don’t like doing, don’t know how to do, or simply haven’t got the time to do. They also save or make their clients money in the process - so everyone is a winner!

You can find Joanne Munro at
www.munro-pa.co.uk
www.brightoncvs.com