Gone are the days of dragging yourself to the office on a dreary Monday morning and being chained to your desk until 5 pm Friday when you finally break free 'Hooray'.
Instead, you can work from the comfort of your own home and keep up to date with your team through Zoom, Slack, WhatsApp or email.
If this is something you're doing within your business, it stands to reason that you can also remotely work with a virtual assistant (VA), and more and more business owners are starting to go down this path.
But...
Where do you start?
Finding the right virtual assistant (VA) for your business can feel daunting, especially if you've never worked with a VA before.
From their skillset, and experience to communication style and how you guys connect. These are essential considerations to keep in mind before hiring a Virtual Assistant.
After working with many successful business owners and being a VA myself I've mastered the steps you need to follow when hiring a Virtual Assistant.
If you're thinking about hiring a Virtual Assistant, think of this as your ultimate step-by-step guide to getting the support you need, to achieve your goals.
In this blog post, we cover everything you need to know about successfully onboarding and working with a Virtual Assistant.
Including...
What is a Virtual Assistant?
How can a VA help me with my business?
What tasks shall I outsource to a VA?
Establishing my budget
How to find my perfect fit
OK, let's get started...
What is a Virtual Assistant?
When I tell people I'm a virtual assistant, they either think I'm someone to pass their admin to or look at me blankly as they have no idea what I'm talking about. But after speaking with me, they often come away pleasantly surprised.
Essentially, a VA is exactly what it says on the tin: a self-employed remote worker that uses cloud-based technology (the “virtual” part of a VA) to assist your business using their expert skill set (hence the word assistant).
Yes, a VA can help you with your admin, but most of us are also skilled professionals in many other business areas. My expertise is in Executive PA/Admin Support and Marketing for UK Business Owners and the Neurodiverse Community.
Many people also forget that a VA is a business owner. They understand the hard work involved in running a business, and it is in their vested interest to help your business grow and succeed.
Without you, their business will fail, so they’ll always strive to provide superior service.
How can a VA help me with my business?
A Virtual Assistant can provide a variety of support to help you manage your business.
The list of jobs that a VA can help within your business is pretty much endless.
When you’re looking at bringing a VA into your team, take a look at all of your existing processes. What’s running smoothly? What isn’t? And what could you do with some extra help? Going in with a plan is a surefire way to ensure you’re getting the most cost-effective support for your business.
It’s all well and good to say that a VA can do virtually anything, but I know that’s not exactly the most informative statement in the world. I’m sure many of you are still wondering, “What does a virtual assistant do?”.
We provide professional business support in so many key areas that it would take ages for me to list them all here!
Instead, here is a quick rundown of the most frequently requested tasks that my team and I are hired to do:
Inbox and diary management
Event planning
Travel arrangements
Document formatting and proofreading
Neurodiversity business support
Body doubling
Accountability
Start-up business support
Presentation design
Online research
Social media and email marketing
Blogging and content repurposing
Systems set up and support
What tasks shall I outsource to a VA?
This has become your reality...
You constantly feel overwhelmed trying to juggle everything
Important things are falling through the cracks
Staying organised is a constant struggle
You're struggling to meet deadlines
You recognise you need support
BUT...
What the hell do you outsource?
OK let's break it down.
Determine which tasks you need help with, such as email management, scheduling, data entry, social media management, etc.
To help identify these tasks follow these simple steps…
Step one
Write down...
Every task you do over the next few days
Every task you do that takes you longer than half an hour
Every task on your to-do list
Step two
Mark in red everything only you can do
Step three
Mark in orange things that you keep doing for now but might pass over at a later date.
Hey presto, everything left on your list can usually be outsourced.
Establishing my budget
Perhaps the most beneficial reason for outsourcing work to a VA is that it can save you money!
Rather than pay an employee a wage for a job that only takes a few hours, you could hire a virtual assistant and only pay for the hours they’re actually working.
Not only that, you don’t pay for coffee breaks, toilet breaks, appointments, or office gossip by the vending machine.
And you don’t need to worry about National Insurance contributions, holiday pay, sick pay, pensions, office space, laptops and other equipment.
It’s important that you figure out your budget. This stops you from wasting both your and any potential VAs’ time by enquiring about services you can’t afford.
Having a budget in mind also allows you to add additional hours each month if needed without accidentally spending more than your business can afford. This is something that most VAs offer when tasks unexpectedly turn up or take longer than initially thought.
Hourly Rate vs. Fixed Rate: Decide whether you want to pay hourly or a fixed monthly package.
Rates can vary widely depending on several factors, including the VA'S location, experience, skills, and the services they offer. Generally, though, UK VA rates can range from £30 to £45 per hour.
Determining your budget in advance of your call can help to narrow down your options. If your budget doesn’t cover all the services you would like to begin with, it can also help your VA to advise your top priorities to begin with until you can scale up your support.
How to find my perfect fit
Working alongside a VA can save you a lot of time. When it comes to business, time is money, so why would you want to waste it on tasks that can easily be done by someone else?
Not delegating gets your business nowhere, whilst outsourcing will help your small business grow, ease your workload, and give you time to work on the things that matter.
Plus, doing everything yourself is costing you money.
Ask to see reviews & testimonials - pay attention to reviews and ratings.
Check out their website & socials
Arrange a discovery call - Assess their communication skills, reliability, and cultural fit. Prepare a list of questions that gauge their problem-solving abilities and adaptability.
Are they GDPR Compliant?
Do they have insurance?
Background/experience before becoming a VA -Look for relevant experience and skills.
Trust your gut
Arrange a trial period
Sometimes a person can look like the perfect candidate on paper but something just doesn’t sit right when you’re talking to them in person. And sometimes you just click with people.
When you’re considering a virtual assistant, you want to know that you’re hiring someone who shares your attitudes and values, so that you can feel comfortable and confident in the work that they’re doing.
If you’re considering bringing a VA into your team and would like to find out more about how we can help, book a free initial call with us today.
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