on February 22, 2017
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO WORK WITH A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT?
One of the challenges we face when educating folks about what we do is answering a seemingly simple question: What, exactly, can a virtual assistant (VA) do for my business?
Talk about a loaded question.
We’ve gotten to know a lot of colleagues in our industry over the years. So, in the spirit of education, I’ll make a giant generalization and speak on behalf of most firms like ours.
The point of working with an administrative or virtual assistant firm is to get help with arguably the biggest, ugliest, most out-of-control item on your desk.
Your to-do list.
Our job (collectively speaking) is to be your virtual team, helping you get your administrative, marketing, and project work under control by either tackling those projects for you, setting up processes and systems to get them done, or most often, a combination of both.
To put it in context, think about all the tasks you would want to hand over to a high-level project manager, skilled marketing coordinator or executive-level assistant. That’s the kind of stuff that’s fair game for an experienced virtual support staff.
Professional virtual assistants are, in effect, a tactical team that is exceptionally knowledgeable in areas such as business process development, project management, strategy implementation, marketing lifecycles, communication strategies, and general operational administration.
What we do is manage your projects, develop and implement processes, teach you how to delegate, help you grow by holding you accountable to your time, and plug ourselves into your operations to make sure your business life is running as smoothly as we can make it while you focus on taking your company to the next level.
Reputable VAs and VA firms are experts, partners, sounding boards, and sometimes, cheerleaders. That is the value established firms provide, and what almost every business owner needs.
“But, why wouldn’t I just hire an employee to get some of this stuff done?”
That’s a good question, and I’m glad you asked.
Sometimes, hiring employees is exactly what you need to do. If you have the budget for employees and related expenses, if you have a plan for onboarding and training, and your business depends on having on-site team members, then that’s the route you should absolutely take.
But, if you require a bit more flexibility as you scale your business, or if you need to buy yourself some time while you’re looking for the right employees, or if you need expertise to develop and manage specific administrative, operational, and marketing processes, adding virtual support to your team could very well be the solution you need to take things to the next level.
Each administrative consulting/virtual assistant firm is different, with different core competencies and different areas of expertise, so it pays to spend time finding the right fit for your needs.