How a Virtual Assistant Can Help You Boost Your Productivity

If you find yourself overloaded with work as a business owner or manager, the first thing that comes to mind is to hire an assistant. However, times have changed recently, with more than 36.4 million Americans expected to work remotely by 2025.

With trends like these, you can either embrace the changes or fall behind, and that should start with your closest role. Let’s talk about some of the benefits of hiring a virtual assistant in 2023!

What Is a Virtual Assistant?

Virtual assistants or VAs are assistants that work remotely from their internet-connected devices. Typically, VAs are freelancers who charge an hourly rate for their services. However, there are some exceptions to this.

While some virtual assistants may charge more than an employee per hour, you choose how many hours you need them for. Also, you aren’t responsible for paying liability insurance or benefits for them, like you would for an employee. This will directly save you money while still being able to complete the work you need.

Moreover, some VAs specialize in particular services. For example, virtual marketing assistants may offer digital marketing services like SEO, social media marketing, or similar services. So, if you need a specialized VA, make sure you look for their qualifications ahead of time.

Regardless of the services they offer, VAs can make a world of difference to the productivity of you and your enterprise. Here are some examples of how.

1. Organizing Your Business

Organizing is an essential part of every enterprise. However, as businesses move further into digital spaces, that organization can be lost. Businesses may be used to organizing their physical spaces, but not have the skills, time, or expertise needed to keep their digital spaces organized.

When this happens, you lose a lot of efficiency due to poor organization. Across your enterprise, these losses can add up.

For example, if you have 20 employees spending an extra 30 minutes every day looking for the right files, addresses, or other data they need, that’s ten hours of missed work every day. Over the course of a month, that’s 300 extra hours of work you have to pay for. On average, this works out to $1.7 million of wasted time for every 100 employees.

Fortunately, a VA can help organize your business, which will immediately boost productivity. While virtual assistants offer varying services, organization is a skill all administrative professionals should share. If you need to clean up your digital spaces, hiring a VA can help.

2. Lightening the Load

Business owners tend to be the busiest of anybody within a given enterprise. They have such a wide array of tasks to focus on, including:

• Staff management
• Bookkeeping or accounting
• Marketing
• Sales
• Scheduling
• Various licensing procedures

The list goes on, and it may include hundreds of other tasks, depending on the enterprise and more. Unfortunately, this is because most small businesses can’t afford to hire marketing departments, high-salary accountants, or other expensive, full-time services.

However, many virtual assistants offer specialized services that can help lighten the load. Many VAs specialize in bookkeeping, digital marketing, or general administration. The best part is that they don’t cost nearly as much as hiring full-time employees.

When you hire a virtual assistant, make sure they cover the tasks you need the most. This will help you lighten your workload. Ask about their experience in the specific task you need, whether it’s scheduling, marketing, or anything else.

3. Easy Onboarding

When you hire an assistant, you have to post a job, narrow candidates, conduct interviews, undergo background checks, call references, and so much more. However, freelancers aren’t employees, making it much easier to take them on.

When you choose freelancers from the right platforms, they’ll already come pre-vetted. For example, FreeUp’s platform deeply vets freelancers before allowing them access to available jobs. This ensures that you’ll only choose from qualified candidates with the skills, education, and experience necessary for jobs in their fields.

Not only that but once they have access to available jobs, they still have to apply and explain why they’re qualified to our staff. This further narrows the number of applications you’ll receive for each posted job, and those candidates will then reach out to you with their pitches.

At most, you may have to read through a portfolio and interview the candidate. From there, you can take on their services as soon as the next day if you find the right fit!

Also, your job posting will be perfectly transparent from the start. Freelancers who apply will already know your desired pay rates and will then offer a more specific price within that range. Meet with a team member to learn more!

4. Saving Time

Assistants are there specifically to save business owners time. This can allow you to focus more on the core aspects of your business, including meeting with important clients, planning expansions, and more.

Not only do you not have to conduct some of these tasks yourself, but a VA will likely complete tasks faster than an employee. They have to manage multiple clients’ accounts on top of their overhead tasks.

Consequently, freelancers tend to be quite efficient. This can lead to faster turnaround times and less time wasted while on the clock!

5. Less Staffing Work

Hiring a full-time employee requires a lot of paperwork, liability, and overhead on the part of the business owner and/or management team. However, a freelancer arrangement is simple; they offer the services you need; you pay them, and that’s about it!

Beyond that, you may have to send them a W9 or 1099 form at tax time. However, there’s no payroll, W2s, I-9s, or other essential paperwork to worry about!

6. Hiring Fewer Employees

Not only do employees come with more paperwork and hidden costs, but they can also change the status of your business. Often, the number of employees you have can determine your eligibility for funding, certain small business loans, tax exemptions, and more.

Therefore, hiring freelancers is a great way to reduce the number of employees you have, which can save you money in more ways than one!

7. Having a Happier Workforce

Freelancers tend to be happier than traditional employees, as they have a greater work-life balance, more control over their scheduling, and greater security with more diverse revenue streams. 68% of freelancers report higher happiness and optimism about their careers than traditional workers, which is another reason why work is trending in this direction.

Why wouldn’t they be? You both agree on the rates ahead of time; they make their own schedule for the most part (you can provide frameworks or deadlines), and they have more autonomy over their lives. It’s a win-win.

8. Specializations

Not a lot of specialist virtual assistants look for traditional jobs because, well, there aren’t a lot of full-time positions out there. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t highly qualified specialists entering the virtual assistant field. Some common examples of specialties include:

• Digital Marketing
• Specialized marketing (SEO, social media, etc.)
• Video creation or editing
• Voiceover work or voice acting
• eCommerce
• Typing or transcription
• Coding or software development
• Web design or maintenance

The list goes on. Essentially, if it can be done virtually, then there are freelancers available who offer these services.

If your business could use any of these specialized services, then a freelancer platform is the only place to look. Just remember to post your specific requests with your job listing!

9. Less Stress

Every business owner has tasks they dread doing. Fortunately, that’s created a market of virtual assistants who are willing to take on these tasks.

Any administrative tasks you have that stress you out every week can easily be placed onto a VA. You can even make it part of your contract for ongoing services.

Often, VA agreements will include a certain set of guaranteed hours each week, which you can discuss with your candidates, as well as flexible time for other tasks. For example, you may expect to pay a VA for 10 hours of work every week for those tasks you’re sick of doing, and then rotate an extra five hours for new product listings or other tasks as they arise.

Overall, this can take a lot of stress off your back. The hours don’t necessarily matter as much as the stress that comes with certain tasks, as any business owner can tell you!

Hire a Virtual Assistant Today

Now that you know some of the key benefits of hiring a virtual assistant, make sure you choose the right candidate for your needs. If you know what services you need, look for pre-vetted assistants on the right platforms, and interview qualified candidates, you can set yourself up for a long-term, mutually-beneficial relationship.

Keep reading our blog for our latest tips, and hire a virtual assistant today to set yourself up for long-term savings and success!