So, you have decided to hire a virtual assistant who has the skills and attributes to help you grow your business. You are ready to negotiate the contract details, including the scope of work and terms of payment. However, you noticed that the virtual assistant you are considering is offering different packages for his services, and you can’t seem to decide which one is right for you. Do you want to pay per hour, per project, or on a monthly basis? Which will give you the best value for your money? Hopefully, this article will help you choose the package that is right for your business.
Pay-as-you-go packages are perfect for clients who want to use a virtual assistant on an ad hoc basis. All you have to do is to pay the hours you asked your virtual assistant to work. This is convenient for budgeting purposes, and you can purchase as little as an hour. Some may even offer you the opportunity to purchase a block of hours that can be used at your discretion. If it’s a simple one-off task, you can’t go wrong with a pay-as-you-go package. If you do not need them, you won’t be charged.
Of course, virtual assistants who charge by the hour will have to use a time tracker to track work hours spent on every single project and task. This is to assure you that they are working on the tasks you have asked them to work on. You can use a time tracking software like Hubstaff for this, and as an added bonus, Hubstaff also collects screenshots so you can actually see how your virtual assistant does his job. Don’t worry. The program is non-intrusive, and it shouldn’t get in the way of his work. Please note the above link is an affiliate link. If you choose to purchase something, I will make a small commission off of your purchase. However, when you use my link you will get 10% off.
A lot of virtual assistants start off charging hourly before eventually offering a retainer rate, so you have the option to start with a pay-as-you-go plan to see if the person you hired is the right fit before moving on to a retainer-based package.
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Retainer-based packages are quite common in the virtual assistant community because a lot of businesses like the idea of having their remote workers around for a guaranteed set number of hours each month. The pricing for a retainer package is usually based on the virtual assistant’s normal hourly rate with a discount ranging from 5% to 20%. The more hours you have contracted him to work, the bigger the discount.
For example, the virtual assistant’s usual hourly rate is $20. However, as a retainer client who signed up for 20 hours a month, you will receive a 10% discount. Instead of paying $400 for 20 hours of work, you will only be paying $360.
Aside from the discount, you’re only going to be charged a flat rate for the package even though you can assign any task to your virtual assistant. Another advantage retainer-based packages have over pay-as-you-go plans is that you will get regular support from your virtual assistant. This is good for business owners who want their virtual assistants around at certain times of the day. Similar to the pay-as-you-go packages, your virtual assistant will have to provide details of how he spent his time each day to assure you he’s putting in the time you paid for.
In retainer-based packages, hours are usually paid for in advance at the beginning of each month, and the hours are to be used in that month only. However, some virtual assistants do allow unused hours to roll over to the following month. This is quite rare, though.
Sometimes it’s just easier to set a fixed price for a particular project or task, especially if you want to make sure you get the best person for the job. In project-based packages, you are not paying for the virtual assistant’s time. Instead, it’s the virtual assistant’s expertise you’re paying for.
With project-based packages, you don’t need to use a time tracking software to monitor your virtual assistant since you will be paying a one-off fee for him to complete the task. However, you still have to keep track of project milestones to know how the work is going, and tasks need to be completed within a certain time frame. Make sure you discuss the start and end date with the virtual assistant during the negotiation phase.
The good thing about a project-based package is that you will know the fee beforehand, so you can plan your budget accordingly. The fee will depend on the difficulty and number of hours estimated to complete the project. Another thing to keep in mind is that it’s fairly common to make milestone payments along the way, especially if it’s a lengthy project. Virtual assistants usually asked for half of the payment up-front, while the other half is to be paid after the project has been complete.
Project-based packages are perfect for business owners who are looking for someone to help them with specific projects or services like setting up a website, writing a number of articles, taking care of Google AdWords campaigns, helping with online course creation, and other complex tasks requiring skills and expertise to complete.
So do you know which package fits your needs and budget? If it’s a simple task that you need to be done right away for a short period of time, go ahead and choose the pay-as-you-go plan and simply pay the hours your virtual assistant works.
If you prefer having regular support, working with a virtual assistant on a retainer basis is the way to go. It’s the most cost-effective package for small businesses that need someone to work a specific number of hours per month.
If the task to be completed has a well-defined endpoint, a project-based virtual assistant is the perfect choice for you. Just give your virtual assistant a task with a deadline and wait for the finished work to come back to you.
Have you decided yet? If you have any more questions, feel free to drop a message in the comments below.
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