5 things to know before hiring a Virtual Assistant
Have you ever wondered why hiring a virtual assistant (VA) can make a huge difference in your life, particularly if you’re a solo entrepreneur, a sole proprietor, or simply a busy worker?
Finding a Virtual Assistant for the very first moment can indeed be difficult because you have no idea of what to anticipate from this new cooperation or how to get coordinated with others in the virtual environment outside of a common workspace.
Hence, here are the things to know before hiring a virtual assistant.
Who a Virtual Assistant is.
A virtual assistant is a self-employed individual who works from a remote location, generally a home office, to provide administrative assistance to customers. Arranging appointments, making phone calls, arranging trips, leads generation, and managing email and social media accounts are all common chores that a virtual assistant would accomplish.
The task and the responsibility of a Virtual Assistant.
The fact is that a virtual assistant’s specific responsibilities differ considerably on the client requirements and the contract’s parameters. Most of the virtual assistants undertake clerical and bookkeeping duties, whereas others may publish social media updates or create blog entries. Travel preparations, appointment scheduling, data entry, and online file storage may all be handled by a well-rounded virtual assistant. Additionally, some of the virtual assistant’s responsibilities may range from calendar management to customer service, project management, and general administrative work.
Skills to expect in a Professional Virtual Assistant
A Professional Virtual Assistant would have great communication, organizational, and learning skills to grasp and process requests with little or no explanation. This skill possessed by a virtual assistant (VA) would definitely help the target business by executing vital and growth-oriented duties at a lower cost and with greater flexible work hours than a typical worker.
Who to hire between an hourly Virtual Assistant and a full-time assistant
You only pay for the specific job done, not the time spent at the office, when you hire an hourly Virtual assistant. Why pay for a full-time assistant when a small firm or entrepreneur’s administrative workload is only 10 to 15 hours per week on average? Instead of hiring a full-time assistant, why not hire an hourly Virtual Assistant?
The amount a virtual assistant charge
Based on the nature of the work, a Virtual Assistant may charge anywhere from 5 USD to 50 USD per hour while some still goes below or higher than that. Full-time, project-based collaborations are charged a single, agreed-upon rate for the duration of the project. An invoice is sent out for payment in advance on a regular basis within agreed interval . The cost of the phone, electricity, equipment, and people are all included in the charge.
Final Thoughts
As small businesses and startups rely on virtual offices to cut expenses, and organizations of all sizes boost their use of the internet for day-to-day operations, virtual assistants have become more popular. A virtual assistant is an independent contractor; therefore, a company does not have to provide the equivalent advantages or pay the same amount as a full-time employee. Hence, while hiring a virtual assistant, you should ensure a more productive working relationship by writing specific instructions for the activities they need completed. In a remote working relationship, a written manual decreases the possibility of misunderstandings.