Ever feel like you’re stuck in a catch-22 situation where you would like to hire more people but don’t have money to do so? If you do, it may be the right time to get a remote assistant. Getting one shouldn’t cost much, and it’s one of the best investments you can make as a business owner.
What Is A Remote Assistant?
The role of a remote assistant is very similar to that of a virtual assistant. Both involve working remotely to support their employer, and the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably. A remote assistant’s responsibilities are of a primarily clerical nature, so administrative tasks like maintaining a filing system, responding to emails, answering and directing phone calls, scheduling appointments, making travel arrangements, and maintaining contact lists are all part of their duties.
Why Should You Hire A Remote Assistant?
1. Reduce Costs
It’s just more affordable to hire a remote assistant compared to an office-based assistant. Sure, you can probably find someone in the US who’s willing to handle all those admin tasks for around $14 an hour. But do you know that you can get a remote assistant to do the same tasks for as low as $3 an hour? Which one would you hire if you’re looking to reduce your operational costs? Would you still hire someone locally if you knew you could get a remote assistant for $3 an hour?
In terms of overhead, you pay practically nothing for a remote assistant because you don’t have to worry about renting a physical office space, or buying office equipment. Employers are also not required to pay employee benefits like sick days, medical and dental insurance, social security, and workers’ compensation. Since remote assistants are considered independent contractors, they are accountable for all of the expenses they incur. But if you’re planning to have a long-term relationship with your remote assistant, you may want to consider giving her bonuses or other benefits.
Check out our guide on how to keep a Filipino remote worker productive and happy.
2. Improve Efficiency
A lot of business owners don’t like the idea of outsourcing tasks they can do themselves. But if you find yourself sacrificing personal time to finish all the tasks on your plate, you’ll probably need all the help you can get because you’re only stalling your company’s growth. Hire a remote assistant to do all those tedious admin tasks. You shouldn’t be doing that yourself. Your time is better spent on growing your company and focusing on revenue-generating tasks. There’s a reason why the saying “work ON your business, not IN your business” is popular in entrepreneurial circles. That’s because when you are working in your business, you’re using too much of your personal time handling the day-to-day responsibilities that can easily be delegated to someone else. You’re limiting yourself by doing this.
According to a study by The Alternative Board, entrepreneurs spend 68.1% of their time working in their business, and they only spend 31.9% of the time working on their business. This is a problem because 73% of business owners in the survey prefer to work on their business. The survey also shows that the most common time wasters are email (33%) and administrative tasks (24%). These are two tasks that a remote assistant can handle.
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3. Business Flexibility
It’s just so much easier to scale up when you outsource. You can easily expand your business and hire more remote assistants on a project-by-project basis when you need additional manpower to handle a high volume of work. And once the busy season is over, you can end their contract. The good thing about this is that you can employ remote assistants who 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.
According to a survey conducted by market research firm Clutch, 33 percent of small businesses primarily outsource to access flexible resources, which indicates that these companies value short-term and seasonal workers.
Having remote assistants who are based on the other side of the globe can also be an advantage since they can help you keep your business running around the clock.
4. Access To A Highly Skilled Talent Pool
The best thing about outsourcing is that you get to access a vast talent pool of highly skilled individuals, and you don’t have to worry about geographical restrictions. There are hundreds of job markets online, so finding a remote assistant shouldn’t be that hard. Here at Awesome Outsourcing, we prefer to use OnlineJobs.ph because we have had a lot of success hiring from there. The rates in the Philippines are so affordable because of the lower cost of living. So for around $500 a month, you can already get a full-time remote assistant who is a bachelor’s degree holder who can speak fluent English.
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India is also a good place to look for a remote assistant. English is widely spoken in the country, and the average hourly rates range from $5 to $16, depending on the tasks. Check out this article if you want to know more about remote workers from India.
Freelance websites like Fiverr, Upwork, and Freelancer.com have millions of remote workers available as well if you prefer to hire someone on a short-term basis.
4. Address Skill Gaps
Entrepreneurs tend to wear multiple hats as they get their businesses off the ground. But no matter how skilled you are, it’s practically impossible to master and manage every business function on your own. Maybe you’re not good with marketing. Or maybe you feel that social media can be a huge time sink. If those tasks aren’t in your wheelhouse, just delegate them to a remote assistant who possesses the skills that you don’t.
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