Here’s how small businesses can benefit from virtual assistants

Running a business comes with a suite of tasks and responsibilities. Those in leadership positions can find the role to be draining and overwhelming at times, which can lead to burnout and stress. Virtual assistants, however, can offer some respite.

Virtual assistants work for their clients as and when needed, from a remote location. Their tasks depend on their skills; they may serve multiple clients at a time, or take on projects in different fields. 

There are several reasons why hiring a virtual assistant can benefit you and your business. Here are three reasons:

Save time and energy on recruiting

Hiring new staff has its challenges — hours are spent narrowing, interviewing and testing candidates. Once the right candidate has been selected, time and effort are spent training new staff. If you need help with basic administrative tasks, following the traditional route might be a waste of your time.

Conversely, hiring a virtual assistant can be much simpler. Companies that offer these services have a broad range of specialists with different expertise and backgrounds. They can do most of the work for you by selecting the most experienced candidates across the nation or globe. They are usually well-versed with basic skills and the professional ethics expected of an executive assistant.

This will save employers ample time and cost spent on recruiting staff.

Save costs

Virtual assistants are useful if you don’t need full-time staff. Companies often hire virtual assistants to help with administrative tasks on an ad-hoc basis, which saves business owners cost, allowing them to use their cash reserves on other areas of the business to facilitate growth.

Before hiring your virtual assistant, count the monthly workload and set up a time tracking software for accurate payment at the end of every month.

Gives you time to prioritise on the things that matter

Business owners hire virtual assistants to free up their time to focus on other things.

Virtual assistants can complement the skills that you — or your company –lacks. Or, you can get them to perform time-consuming, nitty-gritty tasks including creating spreadsheets to maintain databases.

You can find virtual assistants on websites like Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer or Hiremymom. These sites connect employers to independent professionals that are ready for hire on a project basis, part-time, or even full-time.