“How much will hiring a virtual assistant cost me?” This is something you may have asked yourself if you are an entrepreneur who is seriously thinking about outsourcing some of your mundane, time-consuming tasks.
Hiring a virtual assistant will cost you anywhere from as little as $2 to figures as high as $100 an hour. However, you have to keep in mind that the saying, “You get what you pay for” isn’t always true in the outsourcing industry. That means you don’t necessarily have to pay over $100 an hour for the best virtual assistant available. How much they charge will depend on several factors, and each one will be discussed in detail in this article.
Virtual assistants with years of experience in their field will always cost more because they already know what they have to do to fill in the gaps and help your business run smoothly. On the other hand, virtual assistants who are just starting are willing to charge much less. However, you may have to invest some time to train them for the job, and they usually work slower. You have to keep this in mind because it may end up costing you more in the long run.
If you find you are lacking in some skills, getting an experienced virtual assistant who can bring new ideas and solutions to the table is vital. The more complex the job, the more competent the person needs to be. However, if you’re only going to ask your virtual assistant to do menial tasks like data entry, you may as well hire someone without much experience as long as he is willing to learn new skills. Who knows, you may be able to mold him into a very efficient virtual assistant.
All things considered, you have to determine what you want to outsource before you look for the right person who fits the role. Once you’ve identified what kind of work you want to be done, you’ll be able to match the virtual assistant with the job.
The cost of hiring a virtual assistant will depend on the technical knowledge needed for the job. Keep in mind that not all virtual assistants are the same, and each one may have a specific area of expertise. While virtual administrative assistants are there to take care of routine tasks for you, virtual assistants with specialized skill sets can take on various roles in your company and do so much more. They can take a lot of your workload off your hands. However, they are expected to be compensated at a higher rate, so you have to decide if you need their services.
For example, if you’re running an e-commerce website, you need to employ someone who already knows his way around e-commerce platforms like Magento, Shopify, eBay, etc. For businesses in the medical field, you will need a person who has extensive knowledge of medical terminology and the related laws and regulations.
Aside from the ones mentioned above, there are also virtual assistants that are skilled in essential business tasks like lead generation, search engine optimization (SEO), graphic design, web development, sales, accounting, copywriting, video editing, and social media marketing. Remember, different rates are charged for different types of services.
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Virtual assistants under pressure to deliver within strict deadlines are also going to cost more than those under less pressure. If you hire a virtual assistant on a per-project basis and ask them to produce quality results within a lesser time frame, you should expect them to charge more. After all, you’re asking them to drop everything to work on your task.
An area’s cost of living plays a major role in determining how much employing a virtual assistant would cost you. Virtual assistants in countries with a lower cost of living will have a lower rate than those in more developed countries even though they have the same skills and experience.
Accelerance, a consulting firm that helps companies look for the right places to outsource software development, published a report on the average outsourcing rates around the world annually, and their findings show that while rates are naturally higher for workers located in North America and some European countries, you can easily get a remote worker in Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Asia at a fraction of the price.
In the Philippines, you can even hire a skilled virtual assistant for about $2-$5 an hour.
Of course, the cost of employing a virtual assistant will depend on the frequency of work delegated as well. Is this going to be a recurring job, or is this a one-time thing? Do you want to hire a virtual assistant on a per-project basis? Do you want to pay him by the hour? Or do you prefer to pay a fixed price? Your answers to these questions should help you determine the funds needed to hire the right candidate for the job.
Once you’ve found the virtual assistant you want, the next step is to reach out and interview him. At this time, be sure to ask about his expected salary. Before appeasing the candidate and giving him the salary he wants, you should gather some information on the average salary for the position, so you will know if what he’s asking for is reasonable. Next, you have to analyze your budget and come up with the minimum/maximum salary you are willing to allocate for the job.
If the virtual assistant’s expected salary is reasonable, you can go ahead and welcome him to your team. If not, you should negotiate a pay rate that is acceptable for both of you. As an employer, it is completely within your right to negotiate. Just remember that he has the right to turn down your offer as well if he doesn’t think it’s good enough. After all, he has to make a living so don’t take it personally.
You can continue to negotiate until you reach an agreement, or you can step away if he’s asking too much. It’s up to you. Even if you failed to hire your first choice, there are still thousands of virtual assistants out there who may have the necessary skills for the job you have in mind.
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