One of the best investments you’ll ever make is hiring a virtual assistant (VA) to help you with any task you can dream of. VAs can be great assets to any business. You just need to find one that can be a good fit for your company.
Reason #1 – Save Time
A lot of business owners don’t like the idea of outsourcing work tasks that they can do themselves. But if you are sacrificing your personal time to do all that, then you’re doing it all wrong. Hiring someone to do those tasks is not a waste of money. Time is an entrepreneur’s most precious resource. Therefore, you should utilize your time as wisely as possible.
If you’re spending a number of hours a day doing tasks that you can pass off to someone else, then you won’t have much time to concentrate on what really matters – growing your business. If you’re doing everything yourself, you can’t focus your time on revenue-generating activities.
Reason #2 – Reduce Costs
Reducing costs is usually the main reason why business owners chose to hire virtual assistants. It just costs significantly less to hire a VA from overseas over an in-house employee. In the US, the average hourly wage of an administrative assistant is around $16. If you hire a VA from the Philippines, you’re only going to be paying them around $3 an hour. Think about it. If both of them have the same skillset, who will you choose? Would you still hire someone locally if you knew you could get someone for as low as $3 an hour?
Aside from the lower rates, you don’t have to worry about expenses like additional office space, equipment, and supplies because the VA is going to be working remotely. Since VAs are considered independent contractors, you also don’t need to pay the usual employee benefits. Of course, you can always give your VAs bonuses if you want.
Reason #3 – Global Talent Pool
One of the top benefits of outsourcing is the fact that you’ll have access to the best talent around the world. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of job markets and virtual assistant companies online, so there’s a massive talent pool waiting for you to tap into. And you’re not impeded by geographical restrictions.
Reason #4 – Bridge The Skill Gaps
Let’s face facts. No one is good at everything. No matter how hard you try to be a jack of all trades, you can’t be an expert in every facet of your business. That’s where a VA comes in. With access to VAs with a wide range of experiences and expertise, you should be able to bridge skill gaps in your business.
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Now that we’ve talked about why hiring a virtual assistant is in your best interest, we can move on to the next topic on our list – what to look for when hiring a VA.
1. Integrity – Integrity is one of the most important attributes for someone working remotely because there’s a lack of direct supervision. The VAs you pick should be honest and reliable. They should be able to manage their own time and workload, so they can complete their tasks on time.
2. Communication Skills – VAs should have excellent communication skills, both verbally and nonverbally. Otherwise, they’ll become liabilities instead of assets. Can you imagine the chaos it will cause if your VAs have a difficult time understanding your instructions?
3. Resourcefulness – Always look for a resourceful VA. While it’s true that your VAs can always message you to clarify some things, they should be able to figure out other things on their own without you spoon-feeding them the answers. Being able to find information on their own is a skill every VA should have if they want to work efficiently remotely.
4. Strong Work Ethic – You want to get VAs who take great pride in their work because they won’t mind going the extra mile to make sure everything is done professionally. There are always going to be people who would just do the minimum required to get by, so if you find someone with a strong work ethic, you should get that person on your team.
5. Multitasking Skills – Someone who’s expected to take on a wide range of responsibilities should be comfortable with multitasking. You want to get a VA who can stay calm when the workload gets heavy. Someone who will crack under pressure probably isn’t right for the role.
Don’t expect your VAs to hit the ground running on their first day of work. Even the best VAs need training. One thing that business owners have to remember is that VAs can’t read your mind. That’s what training is for. This is the time for you to communicate your expectations and to tell them how you’d like things done.
This is why we believe that every business should have a standard operating procedure (SOP) in place. This is to ensure that detailed instructions are there, so new employees will know exactly what is expected of them.
There are plenty of places where you can hire a virtual assistant. If you’re looking to hire someone on a short-term basis, check out Fiverr, Upwork, and Freelancer.com. If you’re looking for a long-term VA, OnlineJobs.ph is a great place to start.
OnlineJobs.ph has always been our go-to site. It is the largest online job board in the Philippines. Why the Philippines, you ask? Well, English happens to be one of the official languages in the country, so communication is unlikely to be an issue when you get someone from the Philippines. Since the cost of living there is low, it’s easy to hire VAs with affordable rates. In fact, you can get a full-time VA for around $500 a month. That’s just the average hourly wage for a general VA in the Philippines. Take a look at the chart below for the rates for specialist VAs.
So head to OnlineJobs.ph, post your job ad, and wait for the resumes to come in.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us. Perhaps we can help you find the best virtual assistant for your business.
* 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.
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