Industry Expert Sheds Light on How the Rise of the Virtual Assistant Will Impact Small Businesses in 2020 — and Beyond
As many small and home-based business owners can attest, it can be difficult to recognize when it’s time to transition from doing everything yourself to enlisting the support of a virtual assistant to lessen your load.
Here are some questions to consider if you’ve been on the fence:
- Do you feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work you have to accomplish?
- Are there things you are not doing that you should be doing?
- Do you work long hours regularly?
- Are you losing out on the chance to onboard new clients simply because you can’t respond promptly?
- Do you spend several hours a week doing repetitive tasks?
If you answered “yes” to any of the above, it might be time to consider how outsourcing can help you streamline your home-based business.
Virtual Assistants: A Deeper Look
Small businesses can outsource virtual assistants to help with everything from customer support and email management, to updating social media content, and pretty much any task that doesn’t require them to complete in the office.
Some virtual assistants specialize in a specific industry or specific task. For example, while one home business owner might hire a virtual assistant to focus solely on technical support, another might prefer help with outreach and marketing efforts or perhaps bookkeeping. Of course, general virtual assistants can handle numerous projects and work and are generally familiar with all industries.
Many virtual assistants work on a contract or freelance-basis and frequently work from their own homes. If you are wondering how to get started, the process begins with carefully thinking about which workflows you want to outsource and which ones you want to keep in-house.
It is crucial to figure out why you want to outsource some of your work — and why it will be advantageous for your home-based business. In general, the most successful tasks to outsource are repeatable and low-impact, such as accounting, but that also consume a lot of your time and resources.
Here are three benefits of working with a virtual assistant:
1. They make your business more efficient. Hiring a virtual assistant that specializes in a specific area can streamline your business processes and get your daily and weekly tasks accomplished faster.
2. They provide a great ROI. When you hire a virtual assistant, you can see the cost-effectiveness. If the assistant understands you and your business, he or she can help you grow and increase your overall profits.
3. They free up your resources. Hiring a virtual assistant opens up your time and energy from having to carry out tasks that you are proficient in (or don’t like doing), leaving you more time to focus on accomplishing tasks that need your specific attention as a business owner. It can also improve self-esteem as you will be able to devote more time to development and self-care. As a result, it will strengthen your business relationships. A virtual assistant can also help increase your brand’s visibility leading to more clients and more opportunities.
Freeing Up Your Precious Time = Priceless
At the end of the day, having someone to whom you can dependably delegate tasks is the cost of your overall sanity and peace of mind. The reality is that being “everywhere” is simply not possible for a home-based or small business owner, let alone profitable — which is why hiring a virtual assistant could be the answer to your stress and headaches.
A virtual assistant can save you valuable time to invest in growing your business, allowing you to streamline your processes, and even get some of your personal life back.
