If it seems like you are biting off more than you can chew, it’s probably true. Many of us wish there were more solid hours in the day – even an hour or two would be enough to take care of all that needs to be done in our business and personal life. If you are an executive or entrepreneur, you are more than busy – chances are, you are exhausted, too! But there is a solution that many people have already taken advantage of – especially in the UK. We are talking about virtual assistants who can help organise and make sense of your busy life. But what exactly can they do, and what are they, in the first place? Here’s everything you need to know about hiring a VA – and its clear benefits.
What does a VA do?
But let’s answer the most obvious question: what are they, and what do they do? A virtual assistant is much like a personal assistant, the only difference being that they work remotely. It may astonish you that the United Kingdom has approximately 1.9 million workers who all work remotely, which has increased by 25 per cent since 2010.
Many of the workers are fully qualified as VAs. Their skills include everything from administrative work to secretarial jobs. In addition, they are well-versed in other tasks, including transcription or translation, data entry, spreadsheets, managing appointments, marketing, graphic design and website management, IT, photo editing, accounting, SEO, blogging, and so much more.
The clear advantages of hiring one
There are numerous advantages to hiring a virtual assistant. They are listed as follows:
- You can decrease your labour expenses
With a VA, you can realistically decrease your labour expenses. Since you are not paying for a full-time employee and they work freelance, you don’t have to pay for their National Insurance, holiday and sick leaves, taxes, compensation, and medical plus dental benefits. They will settle all of their insurance contributions and taxes on their own.
You can hire a VA for a specific task, pay them for the time they have worked for you – and your responsibilities are done.
- You can increase the productivity of your workplace
Another clear advantage of hiring a virtual assistant is that you can increase productivity in your workplace in more ways than one. For example – on a typical workday from 9 am to 5 pm, your employees will only do ‘productive’ work for a total of three hours (even less!). Meanwhile, if you have a virtual assistant, they will be productive while working with you. In other words, there is no wasted time. They don’t have the distractions of a normal working environment, so it’s easy for them to focus on the work at hand. Since they are self-employed, they are concerned about your satisfaction with their job – if they don’t do their job well, then you’re not likely to consider their services in the future.
- You have better flexibility
Most virtual assistants can work when you work – which means that if you work from 9 to 5, they are available at that time, too, regardless of where they are located. But in the same vein, your VA can work whenever you don’t work – which means you have someone there whenever you’re not! If you and your VA work in opposite time zones, this can also be advantageous, especially if you’re trying to go global.
