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Gone are the days where personal assistants were only reserved for senior and upper management. With advances in technology and an increase in globalisation, virtual assistants have become an affordable solution for many business owners and this could not have come at a better time.
Increases in competition, increases in the minimum wage and the struggle to find local staff, have led to many businesses being understaffed and overworked, in turn leading to reductions in efficiency and profits.
The underlying reason for this, it is often hard to find the extra cash to hire local staff.
The solution for this? A virtual assistant!
What Is A Virtual Assistant?
A virtual assistant is a contractor that is typically trained in a variety of administrative tasks, or sometimes, in a industry-specific task. From admin, sales or accounting, right up to recruitment and marketing; virtual assistants are available ‘on demand’ to help businesses grow.
Whereas full time local employees require regular hours, at award wages and office space, virtual assistants generally work remotely, are able to work as and when required at rates lower than your local staff, leading to an overall reduction in costs, with up to 80% in savings – perfect for growing businesses with limited budgets.
Virtual assistants can either charge per hour or on an ongoing retainer.
Finding the right virtual assistant for your business can be tricky, but Integrated Globaltech are here to help. A global leader in the outsourcing industry, Integrated Globaltech have helped businesses find the right virtual assistants in many different areas and have a wide variety of virtual assistants ready to go at the drop of the a hat.
Adding Essential Skills
Running a small business can mean being everything from director to a marketing manager, accountant to secretary. Sometimes your skill base won’t be as strong in all of the required areas, and there will be areas of your business that could be enhanced with the help of someone more experienced.
A good way to determine this, is by doing an audit of the tasks you undertake for your business on a weekly basis and calculating how much time is needed to complete each task. This will provide you with a ‘road map’ of your time and a great way to audit your role in your business.
Once you know where your time is being spent, you can work out if there is someone out there that can better assist, and determine if your time could be better spent elsewhere. If so, you could then allocate those tasks to a virtual assistant, allowing you to focus on the more important tasks.
Growing the business
The general goal of running a small business is to be operating at full capacity, in order to maximise efficiency and profits. But, unfortunately, this means less time for getting more clients through the door.
There is no doubt that when you started your business, you had an idea of what you were going to offer your clients. As with most businesses, when clients start coming in, the focus switches from taking on new clients, to managing your current clients - leaving out the essential part of your business, which is growing your business.
If you're simply being weighed down by managing clients, you might find that adding a virtual assistant in the mix will allow you to focus on finding more clients and growing your business again.
Existing clients might also benefit from seeing you taking on more of a managerial role and providing a more personalised service, leaving the ‘back room’ admin tasks to someone else.
Long term business relationships are the key to success and having the time to nurture those is essential for business longevity and more stable cash flow.
Work/life balance
Finally, any small business owner knows the constant battle, of working 16-hour days, seven days a week just to keep everything afloat. Sadly, this type of working style is not conducive to a healthy work/life balance and can be bad for business in the long run.
A well-rested mind is one that makes better decisions and spots issues sooner. Hiring a virtual assistant to assist with the day-to-day tasks can free you up, allowing you to concentrate on yourself, whilst letting someone else sweat the small stuff.
Many business owners often feel guilty about hiring someone or concentrate too heavily on the costs, overlooking the obvious physical and mental benefits.
As Andrew Wilkinson, the founder of MetaLab says, “You don’t have to make yourself miserable to be successful, success is not about working hard, it’s about working smart”.
So if you feel you are being overworked, feel you need the added expertise and genuinely interested in growing your business, check out Integrated Globaltech's website to see if we can help, click here to find out more or contact our friendly staff via email at info@integratedglobaltech.com.