The Significance of Outsourcing | Virtual Assistant Sydney
For a small business, outsourcing can be of great benefit projects if you choose to take advantage of it in your day to day operations. Through outsourcing, you can enjoy the freedom and mobility that other Australian businesses that have taken up outsourcing are enjoying.
There is no longer the need for a business to consume its valuable time and resources on administrative or routine tasks that can be delegated.
Small businesses are embracing the idea of hiring virtual assistants to do the work of a traditional employee, and the results are quite impressive. Hiring a virtual assistant does not necessarily mean that your employees are lazy or unproductive. On the contrary, it implies that you are finding a clever way of increasing your productivity at a lower cost. Increasing your productivity and ensuring you are one step ahead of your competition.
Who Is A Virtual Assistant?
Also referred to as a VA in business circles a virtual assistant is a solutions provider who remotely assists with your client's needs. Usually, they are entrepreneurs or small businesses owners working on contractual basis. They often communicate with the customer via virtual means such as the internet or VOIP. Small businesses find it sensible to delegate some of their most menial tasks to virtual assistants.
What Is The Difference Between A Virtual Assistant And A Traditional Employee?
A virtual assistant is different from a conventional employee in several ways:
· A company is obligated to deduct payroll tax from the employee's salary while a virtual assistant is required to remit their own taxes, superannuation and insurances.
· Since a virtual assistant works autonomously, there is no need to provide benefits such as annual leave, sick leave or rostered days off.
· Unlike an internal employee, a virtual assistant is supposed to provide their training, office space and tools for the job, which in the case of most registered virtual assistants this is the case.
Tasks That Can Be Obligated To A Virtual Assistant?
The tasks that you can delegate to a VA are quite many, but all of them fall into two categories.
1. Tasks that you can complete but lack an adequate amount of time
2. Tasks that you have to do but lack the skills.
In light of the above, you can see that virtual assistant services might include administrative, technical and creative support depending on their skill level, but can encompass almost all back-end tasks associated with a small business.
Reasons For Hiring A Virtual Assistant
1. Cost-effectiveness
As indicated earlier you are not responsible for any of the virtual assistant's costs like an in-house staff member. You have to provide neither office space nor office supplies and equipment such as paper, phones, computers.
2. Expertise
In choosing a virtual assistant, you can leverage on their skills and use them to the advantage of your business.
3. Market penetration
Virtual assistants can help you run business in other countries even if you are a small business that can't afford to hire permanent employees there. Most VAs have an extensive network of VAs of whom they utilise in order to effectively manage their clients, and as such, if your business requires the assistance to help you scale your business overseas, it is most likely that your VA can also assist in this area but seeking additional support.
How do you choose the right virtual assistant?
If you are convinced that getting a virtual assistant is the right move for your business, then you might be wondering what steps you ought to take.
The first step is putting down the reasons you think you need a virtual assistant. Do you need them because you are consistently not meeting your client's deadlines, or you need to offload some tasks so that you can concentrate on your core business? Make sure the reasons are realistic as they will keep you focused on your job when you finally get a virtual assistant on board.
Outline the specific tasks that you want the VA to handle. These provide clarity to both of you on your expectations. It can also act as the advertisement that you will post on different platforms. A typical list may be email management, social media management, event planning, transcription, reception and database management to name a few.
Determine the qualifications and skills you are seeking. This will hugely depend on your specialization. For example, real estate developers should be looking for virtual assistants who are experienced in real estate and so on. After you have completed the above, you can advertise for the position and find the most suitable VA for the post.
And if unsure as to how many hours you think you may be needing a VA for, audit yourself in doing the tasks themselves so that you can then give yourself an approximate idea of how much support you require from your VA. Do remember however, that most VAs do work quite efficiently, so the time it takes you, does not necessarily mean it will take them the same amount of time.
There is no longer the need for a business to consume its valuable time and resources on administrative or routine tasks that can be delegated. That is the reason you have to look for a virtual assistant.
Prepared to take the next step? Head to our website for more details on the services our professional team can provide you with.
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