The goal of this article is to debunk the myths and alleviate your fears. When starting up and growing your small business, you are going to need help at some point. That's a fact. No one can do everything alone and keep their steadfast growth trajectory. You've heard a lot about Virtual Assistants (VA's), however, you are fearful of whether they'll be worth the spend; that you'll have ROI - a return on your investment. Here are the Top 7 MYTH's about hiring a Virtual Assistant, and a little comment about each, that might help you with your decision to hire one. Hiring a VA will help your business grow. Of that there is no doubt!
MYTH #1: VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS ARE EXPENSIVE - Complete and utter myth. Although, on average, the hourly rate for a VA seems higher than that of an administrative employee, if you look at the big picture, they are far less! The going rate for a quality, top-notch VA is between $20-$30/hour. The going rate for an in-house administrative employee (that can do all the things a VA can do) would be about the same or slightly less. But (big BUT) with employees, you have to factor in everything else that goes along with that in-house hire. You'll have to pay for unemployment insurance, health/dental/life insurance, possibly a 401K, provide them with office space & equipment, provide them office supplies, give them paid days off...the list goes on and on. Thus, when all of this is added in, you are looking at an hourly rate upwards of $100/hour. Whew! What an big difference wouldn't you say?
MYTH #2: VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS HAVE TOO MANY OTHER CLIENTS - VA's do oftentimes handle many part-time clients at a time. If and when you "interview" a VA, be sure to ask about their availability to help you with your needs efficiently and in a timely manner. Luckily, most VA's are rock-star rapid task-switchers! They are the epitome of organization and have stellar project management skills. As long as you clearly communicate your needs regarding their time, i.e., if you need them to be available between 8am-5pm, Mon-Fri, or if you need a specific turnaround time on the tasks you assign. They'll be sure to pleasantly surprise you! At our company, you'd have back up VA's, as well as the Managing Partners to assist in a pinch.
MYTH #3: VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS ARE TOO EASILY DISTRACTED - VA's have chosen their profession because of the freedom it allows them to be present to raise their children, work from almost anywhere there is WiFi and have less stress in their lives, etc. This is true. But, in order to be referred by their clients, to be able to sustain their lifestyle and be able to do the things above, they have to have focus. There are many training tools online for them to learn mastery of tasks and how to eliminate distractions. As mentioned in MYTH #2, they are great project managers, are very capable of meeting deadlines all the while doing what they need to do for themselves too. That's the beauty of hiring a VA from us. We pre-screen each team member and contact their references. We have the recruiting skills necessary to be able to find business minded, servant-natured professionals! Each VA comes with a skills matrix we can reference, as well as the knowledge of their current time and hours availability.
MYTH #4: VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS DON'T DO WHAT I NEED HELP WITH IN MY BUSINESS - This literally makes us laugh. The biggest misconception is that VA's only perform administrative tasks like those of an admin assistant in an office. That's simply not true! Couldn't be further from the truth. Check out this list from our website that shows a sample of what they're capable of: 101 Things a VA Can Do. If what you need done is NOT on this list, just ask! They are very good at administrative tasks as you'd imagine, however did you know that they do project management, bookkeeping, social media management, graphic design, blog creation, website design, customer service, lead generation and personal assistance?
MYTH #5: MY BUSINESS IS TOO NEW; TOO UP AND DOWN TO KEEP A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT BUSY - Never fear. No job is too small for most VA's. Most VA's have many clients to keep them busy. There are VA's that work on an as-needed basis, as well as complete a single task or project in any given time frame. If you work with us, we do not have long term contracts and every contract detail is negotiable - a flat fee for project work completed; a one month block of 10 hours from a VA; so on and so forth. See our pricing examples here!
MYTH #6: I'M TOO BUSY TO TRAIN A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT - The amount of time you "invest" in your VA will be returned to you via the growth of your company. A very well spent few hours of your time. You should always provide training for your Virtual Assistant. They will need you to orient them on how you run your business and how things flow; how your processes work. Those VA's who have provided virtual assistance work for many years benefit from continued training and orientation. Training is important to ensure your VA is up to speed with changes in your industry and your business model. Rest assured, most are very tech savvy and project management focused. Thus, the time spent training them would be minimal.
MYTH #7: VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS DON'T HAVE THE PASSION FOR MY BUSINESS THAT I DO - NO ONE has more passion for YOUR company or business than you do! Why not exude that passion when on boarding your VA? Passion can rub-off on others if you want it to. VA's are very prideful in their work. Knowing your big-picture and what makes you happy will help them help you even better. Explain to them your story. Take the time to get to know them and their passions. You never know, having this new VA business partner may increase and recharge your passion to grow your business even more!
Tandem Resource Solutions (TRS) is a Colorado-based, Woman-Owned Virtual (Remote) Assistance and Administrative Recruitment firm specializing in EVERYTHING ADMIN! Our Virtual Assistants (VA's) provide a multitude of services to our clients remotely, coast to coast, especially start-ups, entrepreneurs and small businesses. They are all U.S. Based. We span across all US time zones to accommodate your business hours and needs wherever you may be.
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