Let’s cast our minds back to 10+ years ago when a ‘‘Virtual Assistant’’ was pretty much unheard of. It made no sense, right? There was no need for them, right? Staff working remotely wasn’t feasible, right? Oh, how wrong we were! We just didn’t know it.
As companies around the world have begun to embrace remote working, Virtual Assistants are now in more demand than ever before. Prior to Covid, working from home was a bit like marmite – you either loved it (and were happy for your team to do it too) or hated it (and wanted your staff in the office with you). I remember when I was employed (several years ago!) and requested an afternoon working from home, but my senior stakeholder who I was Personal Assistant to declined because he ‘‘wasn’t keen on home working,’’ and that response was not out of the ordinary at the time. But in the digitally connected world we now find ourselves in, remote working (from home, your local coffee shop or travelling around Bali… I know a guy who does this!), is the new norm and as a result, the need for Virtual Assistants is rising rapidly.
Virtual Assistant Vs Employee
Why hire a Virtual Assistant when you could hire a permanent member of the team? That’s a good question…
When you hire a new permanent member of staff, you have to fund their IT and telephony equipment (desktop, laptop, docking station, desk phone, mobile phone and smart tablet… to name a few). You also need to think about where they will operate from and whether you need to purchase a new desk and office chair, and let’s not forget about their pension, holiday and sick pay. It can get very pricey, very quickly! However, with a Virtual Assistant hire you don’t have to pay for any of that! Not a single thing! Instead, you only have to pay for their productive time. And with the average UK office worker doing as little as 3 hours of ‘‘productive’’ work in a standard 8 hour working day, why spend more than you need to?
Save money with a Virtual Assistant
In recent years it has become apparent to business owners that they can lower their expenditure on staffing, rent for office space and IT equipment while simultaneously expanding their team and increasing the quality of work produced along the way by outsourcing business tasks. Many businesses outsource their IT support, others outsource their accounting, while some outsource their customer service; These are all quite common, but did you know you can also outsource your administrative and creative tasks to a Virtual Assistant?
Every VA has their own ‘‘niche’’ in terms of the industries they support and/or the type of tasks they undertake so it’s important to find a Virtual Assistant with the right experience and skillset for your business. For me, I work with clients within a broad range of industries including marketing, construction, commercial cleaning, food and international travel, predominantly focusing on virtual Personal Assistant support, general administrative services and marketing tasks – no two days are the same for me which is what I love about my job!
The average Virtual Assistant hourly rate UK is between £24.00 - £35.00 per hour, but this will vary (if you needed to hire a plumber to fix a leaking tap, they wouldn’t all charge the same amount per hour, would they?)
Outsourcing to a Virtual Assistant
As a VA, my main goal is to add value to my client’s day - this is something I talk about a lot both online and while onboarding new clients. Most Virtual Assistants are self-employed and so client satisfaction is key. For this reason, Virtual Assistants are a motivated bunch which is reassuring to business owners looking for cost-effective and savvy solutions to help achieve key business objectives.
If you have never outsourced your business before then introducing Virtual Assistant services can be quite daunting, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. Just because your Assistant isn’t sitting next to you or in front of your office, doesn’t mean they can’t provide the same level of support…
Case and point: I’m a UK based Virtual Assistant and in 2022 I undertook an Executive Assistant role for a company based in Germany. Not only that, but the Chief Operating Officer that I was providing virtual personal assistant services to often travelled worldwide meaning we were working together within multiple time zones and guess what… it worked! Thanks to remote working and the power of technology, I could manage and protect the COO’s time while I was in the UK and they were collaborating in Germany, Barcelona, Miami, New York and Arizona!
Save time with a Virtual Assistant
Virtual Assistants (VAs) are skilled, experienced and enable business owners and their teams to operate in an agile way. In today’s modern world, proprietors have access to a much wider pool of talent by hiring virtually. By outsourcing your business requirements to a VA, you can feel assured that the job will not only be done in a timely manner, but to the highest standards too because let’s face it, if high standards of work aren’t adhered to then you can quickly and easily replace them.
From reducing workloads to increasing productivity, business owners are recognising the benefits of onboarding a Virtual Assistant to their team. It’s no secret that proprietors need to use their time wisely and so by delegating tasks to a VA they can focus on driving their business forward, saving time and boosting productivity simultaneously… win, win! And this works for small start-up companies to growing international firms… I would know (I work for both!).
With a VA on your team, you can do what you love and not what you need. Virtual Assistants are in demand because they save businesses money and time whilst supporting productivity and providing high quality solutions and results. If you’re considering adding a Virtual Assistant to your team or would like to know more about how to hire a VA, please get in touch and start adding value to your day, every day.
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