What's best for you? A Virtual Assistant or an employee?

If you are reaching the point where you are at your capacity, firstly, congratulations as things are obviously going very well for you in these uncertain times!

Now is probably the point that you are starting to consider having an extra pair of hands to delegate some of the time consuming tasks to, so that you can go back to what you do best and start winning new clients/customers.  If you have been thinking of hiring an employee, but are worried about the cost, effort, and commitment, you may like to consider working with a Virtual Assistant.   

Certainly, employees are essential for some businesses - such as if  you need on-site support, but there are several reasons to choose a virtual assistant the majority of the time.

---

No Hidden Costs
When you hire an employee for a specific hourly rate, beware that isn’t the true rate you pay. In addition there are “hidden” costs, such as payroll taxes, employment insurance, holidays, sick days, and benefits such as maternity/paternity.

An employee’s hourly rate can half their true cost to your business! But a Virtual Assistant’s cost is exactly what they have communicated, and as they are self employed, they cover all of these costs themselves.

No Hidden Hours
A Virtual Assistant charges for the hours they work (or the service they provide).  You are not paying them to socialise or have breaks.  You are only paying for the hours they work and for the services that they have agreed to provide.  I use time tracking software to log the hours spent on tasks, which is visible to any clients if required.  



No Overhead
A virtual assistant has their own equipment and their own work space. Therefore you don't need to worry about where this employee is going to work if you hire them, and is particularly helpful for successful entrepreneurs who work from home.  I have regular calls, skypes and chats with my clients, and we work as productively as though we were in the same office.  



Commitment
As a fellow business owner, a virtual assistant understands the importance of your vision and big picture, and is there to support and help your business grow.  Even more importantly, virtual assistants rely on happy clients and great referrals to grow their business, and therefore (speaking for myself) they succeed when you succeed and will go the extra mile to ensure you are satisfied.

Flexibility
Employees work set hours that you need to schedule ahead of time, with no flexibility for more or less hours based on whether you are particularly busy or going through a seasonal lull.   This is where I believe virtual assistants come into their own.  We work flexible hours, often based on task deadlines rather than set hours. My clients know that if they have a sudden task which has to be completed within a set time, I will be open and flexible to helping them achieve this.

Experience
Choose a virtual assistant based on their experience and expertise. They already know how to do the jobs you need done (often better than you), you just have to show them the way that you like to work, and they will model their practices to suit your preferences.

If you feel ready to work with a virtual assistant and delegate some tasks in order to free up your to do list, please do get in touch. 

---