Why a VA might be the right fit for your business!
Years before I started managing Virtual Assistant companies, I remember thinking that outsourcing work was something only wealthy business people could afford to do. The usual route of advertising a job and hiring staff seemed ‘normal’ to me, which inadvertently left me thinking that anything else was a bit, well, ‘out there’ to be frank! (Little did I know at the time just how wrong I would be proven to be!)
Speaking to a considerable number of business owners over the years, I discovered that many people held the same misinformed beliefs that I once had. They would tell me they’d love to use a Virtual Assistant, but couldn’t afford it, or that they were unsure of the benefits over hiring someone part-time, or just doing it themselves.
Although my job now involves demonstrating exactly how smart it is to use a VA for your business support and admin tasks (and we have hundreds of clients who get it!), I’m aware that many people still have questions. “Why should I consider using a VA service instead of hiring a permanent employee?”
For those of you on the fence about outsourcing work to a VA business, I’ve sat down and had a good think about how to illustrate using a VA service is the hassle-free, cost-effective solution you’ve been seeking. The following ‘versus’ table aims to answer all your burning questions!
Virtual Assistant vs. | Permanent Staff |
Hourly rate or flexible service plans mean you only pay for what you use. | Pay an annual salary (including KiwiSaver, Holiday Pay, Sick Leave) |
Flexible working hours to suit your needs (only need someone between 1pm-4pm one week, then 10am-11am the next? Suits us!) | Harder to find a permanent staff member able to work super flexible, responsive hours that can change from week to week. |
Get access to VA's with a range of specialty areas, while still working through one dedicated VA to keep things consistent. | Skillset limited by the extent of employee knowledge/experience. If you need a specialist skill, you need to invest in training or find someone else to do the job. |
Cancel your service plan without any fuss, bother, or hard feelings. | Can be difficult, stressful, costly, and time-consuming to navigate the employee redundancy/termination process. |
No cost for equipment, office space, software, or training. VA's work virtually and cover all those expenses themselves. | Need to pay for building maintenance/rent, desk, computer, chair, software, subscriptions, induction training, vehicles, phones, tea and coffee etc. |
Using time-tracking software, we can ensure every single second of your service plan/hourly rate is spent on completing your set tasks. | With a permanent staff member, a huge percentage of their salary is spent on dead, unproductive time such as breaks, and chatting with other staff. |
Off-load your time-consuming admin busywork and spend your new free time on activities that grow your business and those that you will get paid for! Doing your own business admin won't pay your bills. | Hiring an admin person (part-time or full-time) incurs an HR process, contracts, PAYE, paying for downtime, equipment etc. Making the cost outweigh the benefits in many cases, especially for a small business. |
A VA is not situated in your office, so there is a far reduced risk of drama and personality clashes with your other staff. Conversations stay professional as all chat tends to be focused around the task at hand. | Hiring a perm staff member can be a real risk when it comes ot 'team fit' (something you can't always work out until a person starts working for you). It might be a few weeks or months down the line before the employee clashes and dramas kick in. Before you know it a toxic culture seeps in and you have a mass exodus on your hands. Dramatic, maybe - but i'm sure you have experienced it/seen it unfolding yourself in an office environment. |
Need holiday cover? A VA service can be a fantastic solution if all your staff have decided to take annual leave at the same time. Rather than burst their holiday bubbles and hold them back from a well-deserved break, why not call on a VA? They are highly skilled and ready to hit the ground running, which means they can keep things trucking along in your business while everyone is out enjoying some fun in the sun. | If the same situation pops up in your own business (despite your best efforts to prevent it), it can be very stressful to hire someone to cover for a short period. You will need to go through the induction and training process to get them up-to-speed with your systems and methods. Alternatively, you could close the business completely while everyone is away on holidays? But that is not great for cash flow! |
If you find yourself in a situation where you need admin cover immediately, a VA service is a great solution. Depending on what you need, we could have someone available same day to help you with an urgent task! | If you need urgent admin cover or find yourself in a situation where you urgently need help with something, what do you do? Take other staff away from their roles? Do you stop your job to do it? Getting cover in a hurry is not always possible. |
Now, please don’t get me wrong; there are some instances where a permanent staff member is absolutely the way to go! If you need someone in your office for a client-facing role, or to fill a highly specialised, niche position; by all means, hire away! But in many cases, small business owners are looking for a skilled assistant to leverage their time, to make all their admin busywork disappear, and to help them employ intelligent automation systems and more efficient processes into their business. In those situations, a Virtual Assistant can genuinely be the solution of their dreams!
If you think a Virtual Assistant might be precisely what you have been searching for, get in touch! Having a chat about your business requirements is a great, free way to confirm whether using a VA will help take your business to the next level.
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