A Virtual Assistant is probably today’s “superpower” when it comes to getting things done without spending too much time and money.
With many service-based businesses, time equals money. Whether you bill per project or by the hour, your time is a driving force behind your company’s earning potential. Why not consider hiring a virtual assistant to reduce the pressure?
A virtual assistant is somebody who provides support services, including administrative, creative, and technical assistance, to a business or team from a remote location.
But first, look at four ways a virtual assistant can help you and your team to make every minute (and dollar) count.
Optimize Business Development
Most business owners wish they can find a magic pill that will suddenly bring in a ton of new clients. Generally, the sales team does that part of the work. Yet, they, too, can get overwhelmed with the daily demands of business. And not all businesses have a sales team. Small business owners, in particular, do not have the luxury of hiring a sales professional, so they end up doing everything themselves.
Hiring a virtual assistant to handle the administrative side of business development can help you find and secure new leads. Your virtual assistant can:
- Create a list of leads based on your target audience.
- Schedule calls and meetings with these potential clients/customers, and reschedule when necessary.
- Send a meeting follow-up email.
This greatly frees up precious time for you and your team so you can focus on getting clients’ projects done.
Reduce Labor Costs
Virtual assistants are typically hired as independent contractors. If your company were to hire a full time employee, you’d not only have to pay them a hefty salary, but also workers’ compensation, medical and dental benefits, sick days, paid vacation days, and others required by law.
As an independent contractor, however, a virtual assistant will handle all of their expenses. You simply hire them to complete their specific job duties, either on a regular basis or on a per project basis, and you pay them only for the time spent working. For small business owners who are trying to free up time while sticking to a stringent budget, hiring a virtual assistant could be the ideal choice.
Boost Productivity
According to statistics published by Apollo Technical, an average employee is only productive 60% of the time, but becomes more productive when given the option to work from home (which basically is what a virtual assistant does). This is across all industries and in some, the productivity rate may be even lower than 60%. This means the business will eventually suffer and growth may slow down.
Virtual assistants are more productive because they own their time. They treat their work as a business so they can’t slack off, otherwise, they’ll lose clients.
Stress Management
Business owners are risk takers. And during the first six months of your business, the risks are especially high as your organization seeks to gain traction. This can be a stressful time. Juggling all aspects of your business, including getting new clients and seeking out investors, and other small (yet important) details, can get overwhelming.
When you hire a virtual assistant, you’ll be able to re-purpose your schedule and find more time for other more important aspects of your business or time for your personal care. As someone building a business, you can’t afford to be in poor health. Self-care is a must, not an option. You can only have time for that when you know you have someone working behind-the-scenes to keep your business running.
Hiring a virtual assistant will not only help you and your team to work smarter, but will also free up time for you to enjoy life again. It’s a solution that’s cost-effective and efficient.