|
Do you want to increase your revenue and do more of the things you love to do in your business? Do you feel as though that next step in your business growth is just beyond your reach?
If so, then you could benefit enormously by hiring a Virtual Assistant (VA). A VA is someone that can assist and support you in running your business, by taking on a variety of roles including administration. This leaves you free to concentrate on increasing revenue and doing the things you do, and like, best.
However, a virtual assistant is not just a secretary or personal assistant – chances are they are a small business owner too. This means that they also have a good understanding of your needs and just what it takes to run a small business. Vital when you are delegating your work and responsibilities for the first time.
It also means that they normally have a wider range of skills to offer you than pure administration. Many VAs have marketing, finance and lots of other skills available to choose from.
If you are, as any diligent business owner should be, aware of your costs and wary of spending on unnecessary items/services, then hiring a VA could be one of the smartest moves you make.
Consider how much you earn from selling your products or providing services. If you don’t charge hourly then translate your revenue or wages you take from the business into an hourly rate.
VAs tend to charge by the hour, although there are some that charge by the half hour, offering a truly pay-as-you-go service to clients. The average rate a premium VA will charge ranges between £20 and £25 per hour. And you want a premium VA - we all know you get what you pay for and your business is simply too valuable to take a chance on isn’t it?
Compare this rate to what your hourly charge is – guaranteed your time is the more highly priced. Now imagine that a premium VA can complete your administration tasks in half the time it takes you and that this leaves you free to take on more work and charging your higher hourly rate to your clients. You are going to have more time to work on your business and you will be able to make more money.
So here are my top 5 tips on hiring a virtual assistant for you and your business:
Top Tip 1: Spend one week noting down how much time you actually spend on admin that you can’t charge for. This will 1) give you an idea of how much time you need a VA for and 2) approximately how much it is going to cost. Compare this approximate cost to what you would charge a client for the same amount of hours completed.
Top Tip 2: Ask fellow business colleagues, family or friends if they can recommend a VA they currently work with, or have used in the past. You want to hire a VA with a track record and plenty of glowing testimonials.
Top Tip 3: Have an initial consultation with any prospective VAs you have in mind, most will offer this as a free service. You can use this time to brief them on your business and ask them how they think they can help support you in running it. They will also be able to give you an idea of how to start delegating work and tasks to your new VA so that they work the most efficiently for you.
Top Tip 4: Check out any specialist skills the VA is offering. Assess, or ask, how these can help your business and take even more ‘unpaid’ work off your plate.
Top Tip 5: Ensure that any VA you do take on is not going to tie you in to a monthly spend commitment. It is also wise to confirm their charging process. Some VAs will charge a minimum rate for every job or project they do for you – but if you choose a VA that works with you on a partnership basis, they will often aggregate the time logged for you, saving you money and providing you with transparency on what and how you are spending.
So these are my top tips for hiring a virtual assistant that will help you gain more working hours in your day and make more money. For many business owners, working with a VA doesn’t just represent a burden lifted, but also an opportunity to increase their business revenue and to build a business they love!
This article was written by Alex Stone
Founder & Managing Director, Just Too Busy
If you would like to reproduce this article, please feel free, but please ensure that you include the above by-line and contact information
|
