Key Takeaways
Challenging tasks at work deepen interest in the job. Once you support your team with a VA for admin work, you will soon see a spike in employee engagement and job satisfaction.
When you partner with an outsourcing agency for hiring VAs, you don’t have to worry about paying for employee benefits, office supplies, Medicare, 401 (k) and other employment taxes.
Day one of starting a business does not feel as chaotic.
You’re handling emails, preparing investor decks, finding lead lists, designing your logo and looking for office space to rent all by yourself. It’s fine because you’ve got it under control; it’s not that much work and you’re excited about starting your business.
Then clients trickle in. Two. Three. Five. Seven. As work increases, you start hiring people.
But people need systems, guardrails, tasks and tools—all of which you never had time to prepare because you were busy doing administrative and assistant-level work. The business never actually got set up.
This is when it starts feeling chaotic.
For startups and small business owners, a virtual assistant’s back-office support can make a big difference from day one. When you’re not doing things that can be done by someone else, you focus more on actually building a stable foundation for business growth.
This article explores how virtual assistants improve businesses with their reliable support!
How Can a Virtual Assistant Help My Business?
All kinds of businesses have been benefiting from hiring virtual assistants ever since technology enabled remote collaboration.
Hiring them from offshore countries also enables companies to tap skill sets they’re unable to find locally. Here are some more reasons many businesses are opting for virtual assistants.
They Keep Costs Low
Your business needs a growing gap between costs and revenue to make a healthy profit. But growing revenue is a lot harder than cutting costs.
Countries like India provide admin and specialized professionals at much lower rates than the average in-house employee in the US.
So the next time you need support, go for an outsourced VA instead of a full-time employee.
This doesn’t just cut payroll costs. When you partner with an outsourcing agency for hiring, they’re the legal employer of the VAs. This means you don’t have to worry about paying for employee benefits, office supplies, Medicare, 401 (k) and other employment taxes.
You just pay for the work done, without stretching your budget.
They Handle Draining Tasks
It’s hard to stay motivated when you’re constantly working on repetitive tasks that don’t stimulate your mind.
How can a virtual assistant help? By swooping in for these routine chores, VAs allow you to preserve your energy for more interesting work. Their admin support makes time and space for you to create and innovate.
In the absence of chaos, you can take a breath and contribute to the business with more focus and concentration.
There’s a misconception that startups don’t hire assistants because they don’t want to spend their tight budgets on an admin role. At face value, this makes sense. But issues start popping up quickly without admin support.
While I’m passionate about being scrappy when you start and controlling your costs, I’m equally passionate about performance when you have a bit of cash. And I’ve seen way too many CEOs / founders get bogged down in minutiae because they were used to it from the scrappy phase. They’ve struggled to scale.
—Mark Suster, Venture capitalist
Think about it. Your single most valuable asset in the early days is your senior team and presumably nobody is more valuable than the founding team. And you’re bogged down in expense claims, booking hotel rooms, scheduling meetings, dealing with a leaky toilet, processing payroll, ordering computers, etc.
Some admin tasks of virtual assistants are email management, planning calendars, scheduling meetings, taking meeting minutes, data entry, managing the customer database and filing documents.
Read more: Executive Assistant vs Virtual Assistant: Who Is the Right Fit for Your Business?
They Offer Specialized Skills
It’s not easy for businesses to keep up with rapidly changing market trends. You can’t simply hire another full-time employee to fill new skill gaps. It’s not an economical decision and it’s definitely not a rational one.
How can virtual assistants improve businesses?
Specialized virtual assistants will deliver high-quality and cost-effective support. Whether it is graphic design, copywriting, social media, content creation, e-commerce, digital marketing or sales—different types of virtual assistants can work on your projects.
Some more VA skills are market research, customer support, outbound calling, photo editing, video editing, transcribing audio, social media management, lead generation and lead prospecting.
They Optimize Your Schedule
According to Asana, 52% of people are multitasking during virtual meetings more than a year ago!
Virtual assistants make it possible to achieve more in less time. Your team can maximize their productivity by removing fringe tasks from their schedule and prioritizing essential ones.
You can rely on the VA to keep your calendar updated, organize your daily to-do list and apply effective time-management techniques like:
- Using the Eisenhower matrix
- Implementing time-blocks
- Scheduling similar tasks during the same time block to minimize context switching.
- Using time holders to prevent clashes and make a flexible schedule that can accommodate changes.
- Scheduling high-energy tasks during your peak performance hours.
- Inserting ample buffers between tasks/meetings.
When the VA consciously schedules ample breaks, executives and employees alike can maintain a light workload.
Read more: How To Save Time With a Virtual Scheduling Assistant
They Streamline Processes
In their budding stages, startups and small businesses are fueled by chaos. This quickly turns into jumbled processes and slows the business. Founders instinctively try to push harder to get their business out of this slumber. This just creates further chaos without moving the business forward. Roland Siebelink, Entrepreneur, puts it like this,
The instinct says push harder. The dynamics say the opposite: Add foundation. Not bureaucracy or rigidity—just enough structure that the startup can get things done without the founder in every loop.
With a virtual assistant, detangling and simplifying your everyday business processes is easy.
They can help you assess your current systems, identify bottlenecks, improve workflow efficiency and automate operations. They can also document processes and create SOPs for future reference.
They Improve Communication Practices
Virtual setups force remote teams to be intentional, structured and clear while communicating. This is why virtual assistants (who have been working remotely for a long time) have refined digital communication skills.
They understand the best practices for conveying information. Their experience also allows them to anticipate roadblocks to efficient and respectful communication.
Real-time discussions may be required in collaborative projects. Virtual assistants understand how to use synchronous channels like Zoom video meetings for work to continue smoothly.
Read more: Essential Ground Rules for Virtual Team Meetings
Similarly, some projects don’t require your immediate attention. Nobody frowns upon response delays for these tasks as they’re not urgent. Here, a VA will know to use async channels such as direct messages over Slack or emails.
They Are Flexible
A virtual assistant with a schedule that moves with you is a lifesaver in unexpected business situations.
By hiring through an outsourcing agency, you can increase or decrease your VA’s hours as per your requirements. Thus, it’s easy for you to meet changing business needs and seasonal fluctuations. You can also either hire part-time or full-time virtual assistants.
You can even onboard VAs from time zones where people work during your off hours. This is one way to get things done in advance while you enjoy a restful sleep.
Read more: Virtual Assistant Working Hours: Time Zones, Shifts & More
They Solve Problems
Once they’re well-versed in your company’s procedures, virtual assistants can easily overcome roadblocks. They’re able to predict issues ahead of time and prevent disturbances to productivity.
As independent problem-solvers, they handle many issues and smooth their workflow without bothering you much.
Since there’s no need to micromanage VAs, you get uninterrupted focus to work on high-value work. In fact, after proper training, you can even get your VA to fill in when you’re unavailable.
They Let You Live a Balanced Life
When workload becomes heavy, when overtime becomes frequent and when there’s no knowledge work, burnout is bound to occur.
Don’t exhaust yourself or your employees. Seek a virtual assistant’s support.
Delegating mundane tasks to VAs allows your core team to focus on work that matters. They get to work solely on strategic tasks throughout their workday.
For many people, challenging tasks at work deepen their interest in their job. Once you support your team with a VA for admin work, you will soon see a spike in employee engagement and job satisfaction.
After all, healthier and happier employees all have one thing in common—work-life balance and a role they thrive in!
When To Hire a Virtual Assistant for Your Company
Entrepreneurs live exhausting lives. Hundreds of small tasks leave little time for high-impact initiatives with greater value.
There is barely any time for family and friends when you’re the sole point of contact for vendors, clients and your team.
In such a scenario, you must remember to ask for help.
Onboarding admin support is a wise decision for your business. You can even get a personal VA to help with family errands such as booking medical appointments.
If the signs below resonate with you, then it’s high time you hired a virtual assistant.
When You’re Sick of Repetitive Tasks
- You’re burdened with administrative tasks and can’t make time for critical revenue-generating duties.
- You’re not making progress toward your business goals.
- You dread working on some tasks that can be done by someone else.
- You consistently fail to meet deadlines.
- You are the only point of contact for everyone, from clients to teammates or suppliers.
When You Need a Specific Skillset
- Your schedule is chaotic and disorganized, so you end up missing important meetings.
- You need to streamline and improve internal operations.
- You’re unable to respond to emails or return crucial phone calls because there is too much on your plate.
- You want to offer better customer service but can’t afford an in-house team.
- Your team needs sales and marketing support.
- You need an affordable graphic designer to create stunning creatives for your website.
- You can’t find the best talent within the same city as your office.
- You want to explore the global talent pool to hire excellent workers.
When You’re Turning Down Clients
- Your business is growing, but you don’t have the manpower to take on more clients.
- Your business feels stagnant because you don’t have time to strategize for growth.
- You are falling behind your competitors in the market.
- Your clients remain unsatisfied as there’s no one to communicate with them or provide operational support.
- You disappoint your existing clients as you’re delivering rushed projects that are not top-quality.
- Customer questions and lead inquiries go unanswered frequently.
When You Can’t Afford a Full-Time Employee
- You need support but don’t have the budget to pay an in-house employee’s full-time salary.
- You don’t want to pay for the new hire’s benefits, taxes, overhead and office supplies.
- You cannot expand your office space any further to accommodate a new worker.
- You’re looking for flexible support which can be scaled up or down as per your requirements.
When You Need More Balance
- Your family complains about not seeing you enough.
- You miss your children’s birthdays, school plays and important milestones.
- You haven’t taken a vacation in a long time.
- You have to work overtime to get everything done.
- You are often running personal errands at work and taking work projects home.
- Your stress levels are shooting up as there is never enough time to do everything.
- You’re exhausted and have no energy for socializing.
Choosing the Right Virtual Assistant
So when should you hire a virtual assistant? There is no better time than the present.
After evaluating the pros and cons of virtual assistants, you can begin your search for the perfect worker.
Freelance virtual assistants can be hired from the gig economy as independent contractors. But don’t forget that they’re infamous for their high rates and shaky time commitments. It might be a long shot!
Instead, go for an outsourcing agency for offshore VAs. Companies like Zenius provide affordable and tech-savvy professionals for unmatched remote support. What’s more? You can even train them for your unique needs!
With us, you can forget about recruitment and day-to-day HR hassles. As the VAs are our legal employees, we take care of their payroll, employee onboarding process, benefits, overhead and statutory compliance.
Share your requirements with our account manager and relax. We will recommend the best candidates for you to interview. Don’t forget to ask direct questions to assess the VA’s suitability for your role. We make it a priority to ensure you hire a VA with exceptional qualities.
By using the best delegation practices, you can manage your virtual assistant effectively.
Read more: Virtual Assistant Skills Tests: Tips and Best Practices
FAQs
What can a virtual assistant do for my business?
A virtual assistant can handle administrative, operational and specialized tasks that free up your time for higher-value work. They often manage emails, calendars, scheduling, data entry, customer support, research, lead generation, content support and process documentation.
Are virtual assistants worth it?
Yes, virtual assistants are often worth it for small and medium businesses that need support without the cost of a full-time in-house hire. They can reduce overhead, improve productivity and help business owners focus on revenue-generating and strategic work.
What tasks would you delegate to a virtual assistant?
You should delegate repetitive, time-consuming and process-driven tasks to a virtual assistant. Virtual assistants can perform both general and specialized tasks depending on their skill set.
Specific examples include email management, taking meeting notes, document filing, social media support, graphic design, lead prospecting, customer service, market research and content writing. They can also do inbox management, meeting scheduling, calendar updates, travel booking, data entry, CRM updates, customer follow-ups and basic research.
What is the average cost of hiring a virtual assistant for business purposes?
The cost of hiring a virtual assistant varies based on location, experience and skill level. General administrative VAs are usually more affordable than specialized VAs in areas like design, marketing, or sales and offshore hiring is often significantly cheaper than hiring in-house staff in the US.
What does a virtual assistant do for office work?
A virtual assistant supports office work remotely by keeping routine operations organized and running smoothly. They can manage calendars, coordinate meetings, update records, prepare documents, handle correspondence, maintain databases and support internal workflows remotely.
How many virtual assistants should a small business have?
Most small businesses start with one virtual assistant and expand only when workload increases or new skill needs emerge. The right number depends on task volume, business complexity and whether you need only admin support or a mix of administrative and specialized help.
When does a small business owner actually need an executive assistant?
A small business owner usually needs executive assistant support when scheduling, communication and daily coordination start taking too much time away from leadership work. If you are constantly managing meetings, emails, follow-ups and logistics instead of focusing on growth, it may be time to get that support.
Final Thoughts
What can a virtual assistant really do for my business?
Virtual assistants can help you navigate through everyday chores. With such comprehensive support, you can focus on revenue-making with full force and grow the business.
Outsourcing companies like Zenius are champions of assistance. Let them take care of the hassles of VA hiring. You prepare for success!
