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Article
Why Use a Virtual Assistant?
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A virtual assistant or simply VA, is usually an independent contractor who works for you from a remote location. In essence, this person telecommutes to work. There are a number of arguments for and against using VA's, However, the arguments in favor of VA's are more appealing, especially to small business owners.
The Cost Factor
There is no doubt that hiring a virtual assistant can considerably reduce the operating costs of a small business owner. When you hire in the traditional manner, you have to be prepared to incur a number of costs, namely:
? Office space for the employee
? Pension, 401k and other benefits
? Fixed salary which have to pay whether your small business turns a profit or not
? Incidentals, such as stationery?and even office coffee!
These costs can be drain on financial resources and stifle growth and expansion especially during these difficult economic times. As a small business owner you need capitalize on every opportunity to reduce your operating costs to the bare minimum without compromising on the quality of output.
When you use a VA, you get into a contractual arrangement where you only pay for work done. Thus, if you agree on an hourly rate of $15 and the VA works for two hours a day, you only pay $30. You need not lease large office premises to house your staff nor incur large sums to provide for employee benefits.
What Kind of Work Should a VA Perform?
There is no limit to the kind of work that can be performed by a virtual assistant, unless of course your client's demand personal performance. You may also be in a business where it is not possible to outsource some critical functions e.g. it would be difficult for an attorney to use a virtual assistant to represent a client.
As a general guide, the following tasks can be performed by a virtual assistant without any undue disruption to the business:
? Customer support e.g. responding to customer emails and phone calls
? Email marketing
? Bulk mailing
? Mundane data entry tasks
? Word processing
? Answering phone calls
? Writing letters, articles etc
? Research
? Coordinating meetings
? Event planning
The above are just a few examples of some of the tasks that a small business owner can outsource to a virtual assistant. It is by no means exhaustive. To determine whether a task can be performed by a VA, you should ask yourself the following two questions:
? Can the task be performed remotely?
? Will the worker maintain the same level of quality or provide better output?
If after some research your answer to both questions is in the affirmative, then, by all means, get yourself a virtual assistant.
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