If you’ve ever felt like your business has gotten you in the grind for too long, and you haven’t gotten enough time on the clock to get everything done, you’re not alone. There are good reasons for outsourcing work, but it isn't until you're bogged down with work that you start considering it.
We’ve been there ourselves, and so have successful entrepreneurs we’ve talked to before. You’ve dreamt of running a successful business and getting to do it all as your own boss, but the reality is that when you finally have it, you become trapped in the daily grind, losing time for yourself and the things you enjoy.
On the other hand, you've seen successful entrepreneurs who seem to have it all together. What's their secret? Successful entrepreneurs are outsourcing jobs to virtual assistants (VAs)! Because if you have a business that is starting to take off, and you can’t find the time to get everything done, it’s smarter to delegate tasks.
Here are reasons successful entrepreneurs outsource daily tasks to VAs.
RELATED: 10 Reasons Why Successful Companies Are Hiring Virtual Assistants
Why Outsource Work to Virtual Assistant for Entrepreneurs?
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What Is a Virtual Assistant?
A virtual assistant, also known as a virtual personal assistant or a virtual staff, is a professional who provides administrative, creative, or technical support to clients remotely.
The role of a general virtual assistant can vary greatly depending on the needs of the client. Some VAs may be responsible for managing schedules and making travel arrangements, while others may handle customer service or provide technical support.
In general, virtual assistants can manage many time consuming tasks simultaneously. They have specialized skills, as well as experience working in a wide range of industries.
What Are Successful Entrepreneurs’ Reasons for Outsourcing Work to VAs?
Virtual Assistants Can Help Tackle Overwhelm
There are definitely benefits of outsourcing to virtual assistants if business owners are constantly doing it. You can start the entire process by listing down the outsourcing pros and cons for your business, and how getting a virtual assistant service can help you.
Tackling overwhelm is usually the first step—you need to identify all the tasks you have in your business, and pinpoint the ones that you can hand over to a virtual assistant.
Once you have all these things laid out, you will need to be savvy about who you’re going to hire and what role they will fulfill in your business.
A virtual assistant can take care of labor-intensive, often repeated tasks that bog you down and take up so much of your time. Handing over recurring tasks to a single virtual assistant can leave you space to focus on other things in your business, such as planning and strategizing.
Virtual Assistants Can Handle a Variety of Tasks
One of the best reasons for outsourcing work to VAs is that they are highly-skilled and competent. Some examples of virtual assistant tasks are:
General Administrative Tasks
A virtual assistant can perform a variety of administrative duties, from email management to file management and preparing PowerPoint presentations.
In many cases, a virtual assistant can take on all of the same responsibilities as an on-site administrative assistant, with the added flexibility of being able to work remotely.
Calendar Management
Managing a calendar can be a full-time job in and of itself. Fortunately, VAs are experts at managing scheduling and can take on this task for you.
They can start by scheduling appointments with your clients or customers. This can include initial consultations, follow-up appointments, or even regular check-ins.
Social Media Management
A virtual assistant can help create content for your social media accounts, engage with your followers, and monitor analytics.
In addition, a virtual assistant can help to create a social media marketing strategy and implement marketing campaigns.
Sales and Customer service
Your virtual assistant can be in charge of lead generation, follow-ups, and closing deals. They can also provide a high level of customer service, sales, and support by handling phone calls, tracking customer service requests, and collecting customer feedback.
Furthermore, VAs can help you develop systems and processes to streamline your sales funnel.
Online research tasks
Need someone to do some research for you? An experienced virtual assistant can help you with competitor analysis, market research, and finding data and information.
web design
If you have a website, a virtual assistant can help you with web development tasks such as installing updates, backing up your site, creating landing pages, and troubleshooting errors.
data entry
A virtual assistant can help you with data entry and database building, whether it’s for customer data, client invoices, inventory, or financial records.
Video editing
If you create a lot of video content, a virtual assistant can help you with tasks such as creating graphic design, transcribing audio files, and editing videos.
content writing
If you need help creating blog posts, articles, or even eBooks, a virtual assistant can be a big help. They can also help with tasks such as proofreading and editing your content.
management of systems and processes
As your business grows, it becomes more important to have systems and processes in place to keep things running smoothly. A virtual assistant can help you develop and implement systems for tasks such as bookkeeping, project management, and human resources.
Though we shouldn’t expect VAs to be a jack-of-all-trades, a dedicated virtual assistant is adept with systems and processes for ensuring that those important, repeated tasks get done, and you don’t find yourself chasing your tail.
Virtual Assistants Can Free Up Your Time
Have you ever longed to take that much needed break or vacation? The benefits of outsourcing work to virtual assistants do not only cover the tasks they can do in your place, but also the time they save you in the long run.
Successful entrepreneurs who have their business properly systematized can trust their dedicated assistant to take over when they step away for a trip or a weekend break. Because a virtual assistant can handle the things that used to occupy almost every moment of your day, you can now have a chance to take a breather, no matter how brief it is.
Disconnecting from work every now and then helps you recharge and at the same time, it gives you a fresh perspective on how you can move forward with new concepts and strategies that can benefit your business.
Virtual Assistants Are Cost-Effective and Efficient
When you ask business owners and companies for their reasons for outsourcing work to virtual assistants, the first thing they might say is that hiring a virtual assistant costs less than getting an additional on-site team member.
Because most virtual assistants work remotely, companies and small business owners don’t have to worry about providing them the workspace and office equipment they need. Not to mention, the pay rate of a virtual assistant is considerably less than a full-time office employee.
Virtual assistants are also efficient in the way they work and are proven to be more productive than their office-based counterparts. They have fewer office distractions and most are paid by the hour, so the more they do, they more they earn. Imagine getting more bang for your buck!
“If your business depends on you, you don’t own a business—you have a job. And it’s the worst job in the world because you’re working for a lunatic!”
- Michael E. Gerber
While hiring a virtual assistant is a great option when considering your reasons for outsourcing, it would be naive to think that things will be smooth sailing right off the bat. There are some common traps in outsourcing jobs that it pays to avoid, especially when you’re handing over key tasks that are crucial in your business.
RELATED: Entrepreneurs: It's Time To Stop "Doing" And Start To Delegate Effectively
What Are the Common Pitfalls in Getting Virtual Assistant Services and How Can You Avoid Them?
We often come across entrepreneurs who will say, “Yeah, we tried that, but…”
What usually follows are tales about how they struggled with finding a dedicated virtual assistant, or they didn’t have the time to go into onboarding, training, or activities that ensure success. Sometimes, they’ve struck a really “bad egg” and have had to fire them, then mop up a mess.
You see, there are a few common pitfalls when it comes to outsourcing jobs to a virtual assistant. Fortunately, we’ve come across most of them at The Virtual Hub, so you can put strategies in place to avoid them!
Finding Good Help
One of your reasons for outsourcing is that you need someone to hand over work to. Everyone wants to avoid the dreaded situation where the person you hire is simply no good or not trustworthy.
Many virtual assistants often have responsibility for valuable assets in your business, like your client list, and you need to have confidence that they can be trusted.
Here are a few tips that can help:
Treat the Virtual Assistant Role as Vital to Your Company
With that in mind, you wouldn’t make snap decisions for key roles, right? Go about your hiring process as though your company depends on it.
consider your budget
If the hourly rate of a virtual assistant is going to give you pause before sending work their way, then this will defeat the purpose of getting help! At The Virtual Hub, our policy is for a virtual assistant to do a minimum of 20 hours of work per week, so that you can really see benefits from having them.
look for someone who communicates well
The foundation of making any outsourcing relationship work is good communication. Red flags should include things like being slow to respond to messages (within reason) or a poor grasp of English (or the language you communicate in).
Look For Someone Who you can work with
If you’ve read any outsourcing pros and cons list, you’ll often see ‘incompatibility’ as a point under the cons of outsourcing.
Just like with hiring office employees, it’s important that you find someone with a work style that suits yours, as well as values that are compatible with your company.
The best way to gauge this is often through a trial period, where both you and the virtual assistant can decide whether it’s a good fit. If it’s not, it’s better to know sooner rather than later!
Training and Communicating
Another common pitfall is training and communicating with a new virtual assistant hire.
We cannot stress enough the importance of communication when hiring a virtual assistant. Most entrepreneurs have fallen into a similar trap: “My virtual assistant completed what I asked them to do, then they came asking for more work. I was spending half of my time finding more work for them, but I didn’t have time to train them on the systems we use.”
The second part of the problem is having good systems of communication.
Communication is a key part of both training and the overall running of your business. This shouldn’t turn into yet another “job” for you!
Here are some tips for smoothing these things out:
have documented processes
Sure, it might take you a little time to prepare, but this saves you a lot of time in the long run!
For example, let’s say you set up and edit a podcast basically the same way every time. Try making a screen-recorded video so that you can easily share the process. This avoids situations where you have to repeat yourself, which can take up even more time.
have clear platform for communication
Sometimes email isn’t the best, right? Messages go missing in the pile, and information gets lost in the back and forth. There are platforms available (such as Asana, Trello, or Slack) which help to keep communication in one clear, searchable spot.
How Do You Get Started with Hiring a Virtual Assistant?
Now that you know some of the advantages of outsourcing work to virtual assistants, you may be wondering how to get started. Here are a few tips:
Define the Scope of Work
The first step is to clearly define the scope of work that you will be outsourcing to a virtual assistant. This will help you determine the specific skills and experience that your ideal candidate should have.
Write a Detailed Job Description
Once you have defined the scope of work, you can write a job description that outlines the tasks and responsibilities that you want your virtual assistant to handle. Be sure to include any specific requirements or qualifications that you are looking for in a candidate.
Find Virtual Assistants
There are a number of ways to find qualified candidates for your virtual assistant position. You can post the job on online job boards, or get in touch with a virtual assistant company that specializes in finding virtual assistants.
Final Thoughts
Successful entrepreneurs have various reasons for outsourcing work to a virtual assistant--the most notable of which is that they help with the overwhelm. If you’re looking to hire remote staff, it’s best to weigh the pros and cons of outsourcing work, avoid the common traps, and make sure you get the right people.
A productive working relationship with your virtual assistant or anyone else you outsource to means that you don’t make extra work for yourself and you find people you’re comfortable trusting.
If you're still unsure about why you should get virtual assistant services and how you could get one, our Ultimate Guide to Virtual Assistants is here to help you. This guide will show you all the ways that a good virtual assistant can help you grow your business and all the steps necessary for having one, like how you can hire a virtual assistant and how you can successfully manage one.