Ever wondered why many companies are hiring virtual assistants to help them in various day-to-day aspects of their businesses? As a business owner, one of the best investments you can make is to hire a virtual assistant, and in this article, we’ll talk about the top 5 reasons why hiring one is in your best interest.
Reason #1 – Reduce Costs
The main reason why a lot of business owners and entrepreneurs prefer to hire virtual assistants is to reduce their operational costs. It just costs a lot less to hire a virtual assistant overseas than to hire an in-house employee.
In the US, the average hourly wage of an office assistant is around $14. It doesn’t seem like much, does it? Well, what if I tell you that you can hire someone who can do the same tasks as the office assistant for as low as $3 an hour. That’s the average hourly rate of a general virtual assistant from the Philippines. Would you still hire someone locally if you knew you could get someone for $3 an hour?
Here’s another example. The hourly wage for a copywriter in the US is around $24, but what if you can find someone with impeccable writing skills living on the other side of the world for only $5 an hour? Wouldn’t you jump at the chance to hire that person? If your business plan is to reduce costs and increase sustainability, then you should really consider getting a virtual assistant.
Aside from the lower rates, you also don’t have to worry about things like additional office space, equipment, and supplies since virtual assistants already have all of those. You’re also not required to pay employee benefits like sick days, medical and dental insurance, social security, and workers’ compensation. This is because virtual assistants are considered independent contractors. That means they are accountable for all of the expenses they incur.
Reason #2 – Save Time
You will likely find business owners who don’t like the idea of outsourcing work to virtual workers because they don’t want to spend money hiring someone to do something they can do themselves. Well, if they’re trying to keep costs low, then they’re doing it all wrong.
As a business owner, time is your most important asset, so you shouldn’t go around spending your precious time doing those tasks when you can get someone else to do it for you. If you’re spending several hours a day on tasks like organizing and managing your emails, then you won’t have much time to grow your business. Remember, you are better off focusing your time on revenue-generating activities. If you’re doing everything yourself, you’re only stalling your company’s growth.
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Reason #3 – Access to The Best Talent
What’s so great about hiring a virtual assistant, you ask? It’s having access to the best talent from anywhere in the world. Think about it. There’s a massive talent pool you can tap into if you outsource, and you don’t have to worry about geographical restrictions.
There are hundreds of job markets and virtual assistant companies online, so you shouldn’t have any problem finding the perfect candidate. Once you find that person, you can just hire him right away without having to worry about relocation. Freelance websites like Fiverr, Upwork, and Freelancer.com have millions of virtual workers available as well if you prefer to hire someone on a short-term basis.
Reason #4 – Bridge Skill Gaps
Most entrepreneurs are jack of all trades out of necessity. However, no one is good at everything. That’s where the virtual assistant comes in. Instead of running the risk of spreading yourself too thinly, you can hire a virtual assistant to handle the tasks you have difficulty doing.
Let’s go back to our example earlier with the logo design. If you don’t have a single artistic bone in your body, you really shouldn’t waste your time trying to do this by yourself. And if none of your in-house staff knows how to do it, who will you turn to? That’s right. Why don’t you hire a virtual assistant to work on it?
This is one of the main reasons why entrepreneurs outsource. You’ll get access to virtual assistants with a wide range of experiences and expertise that can help you bridge skill gaps in your business. Of course, you can always choose to hire internally, but the option of hiring a virtual assistant that can hit the ground running is definitely appealing. Plus, they are more cost-effective.
Reason #5 – Scalability
It’s just so much easier to scale up or down when you outsource. While it usually takes time and money to scale up with a local workforce, you can easily expand your business by hiring virtual assistants.
Suppose you need additional manpower to handle a higher volume of work. In that case, you can simply employ virtual assistants on a project-by-project basis to manage the workload, so you don’t have to rush through the recruitment process. When things finally settle down, you can just end the contract with the virtual assistants.
Another advantage of scaling up with a remote workforce is that a lot of virtual assistants already have years of experience in their fields, so you don’t have to spend much time training them. That means you will have the ability to scale up with an experienced workforce who can respond to the increasing workload.
There are plenty of places where you can hire a virtual assistant. Here’s a list of the best sites available. Our go-to site is OnlineJobs.ph because at an average, employing a highly-educated virtual assistant from the Philippines would only cost you around $500 a month, and that’s for a full-time employee who’s working 160 hours a month.
Why are the labor costs that low? Well, it’s because the cost of living in the Philippines is also quite low, so it’s not like you are exploiting them in any way or manner. These virtual assistants are happy to work from home because it’s either hard to find a job, or commuting to work is a struggle that they don’t want to deal with.
So head to OnlineJobs.ph and create an account so you can post your job ad and see the resumes come in. You need to upgrade your free trial to a paid subscription, though, if you want to communicate with the applicants. It’s only for $69 a month, and you can just cancel it once you’re done hiring.
* Disclosure: The link above is an affiliate link, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. To find out more about our view on affiliate products, please see this page.
Okay, let’s keep this short and simple. The best time to hire a virtual assistant is right now, especially if you want to use your time more productively.
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