What is a Virtual Assistant Aka VA?

A virtual assistant is a relatively new industry which has evolved over the last couple of years and is becoming more and more popular. However, it is still surprising that so many business owners, entrepreneurs, and individuals have not heard about virtual assistants or they do not understand the positive benefits and value a virtual assistant can bring to a business.

A virtual assistant is also known as a VA or even a virtual PA.  For this blog, we will use ‘virtual assistant’ or ‘VA’. A virtual assistant is an administrative professional or personal assistant who is usually a self-employed independent contractor either as a sole trader or a Limited Company.

A virtual assistant is a highly-skilled professional who provides remote administrative, technical or creative business support to clients in any location. A few virtual assistants provide on-site administrative assistance to local businesses on an ad-hoc basis in the event of your in-house PA or administrator taking holiday or sick leave.

As VA’s are not employees, clients receive all the benefits of in-house staff, without the downsides of hiring full-time employees. By hiring a virtual assistant, you would immediately save on the cost of office equipment, NI contributions, workplace pension, holiday and sick pay and more.

A virtual assistant can work independently or may work alongside other virtual assistants as a team to be able to provide more specialised services. Virtual assistants are not in competition with each other as you may have thought. VA’s usually provide help, advice and mentoring support to other VA’s by passing on their knowledge, experiences and specialised skills to other VA’s.

What are the benefits of hiring a Virtual Assistant and how can they help me?

  • As a virtual assistant is self-employed and not an employee, you would save on the cost of office equipment (desk, computer, telephone), NI contributions, workplace pension, holiday and sick pay, recruitment costs and more
  • Besides saving you money a VA can also save you time, by outsourcing your admin to a VA, allows you time to concentrate on your business, time with your clients, time with your family or even on leisure activities. Do you fancy a round of golf?
  • Consider your hourly rate, a VA is cheaper than you completing the task yourself.
  • 4 hours VA support = £140, you have 4 hours to work on your business (your hourly rate £85 x 4 hours = £340) you earn £340, you pay £140 and make £200 profit
  • A VA has the professional skills to be able to complete the task to a higher standard
  • You have the flexibility to hire a VA by Pay as you go/per hour, purchase a package of hours per month, or a bespoke package can be created for you for those one-off projects
  • VA’s use time recording software, so you only pay for the time used whilst your VA is working on your business
  • A VA can work with you to build and grow your business. Someone to talk to discuss business ideas
  • A VA wants your business to succeed
  • Outsourcing your overwhelm reduces stress and worry – improves your health and well-being
  • Outsourcing is also the key to growth
  • You can delegate the jobs you hate

 

What tasks can I give a Virtual Assistant to do?

A VA can help with all general administrative needs and specific project work, they can also help with:

  • Managing your email inbox
  • Managing your diaries and appointments
  • Taking orders, dealing with bookings and enquiries
  • Arranging meetings
  • Making meetings and travel arrangements
  • Document creation; letters/reports/presentations/databases
  • Document formatting
  • Writing and sending letters and contracts
  • Data processing
  • Expense management
  • Business card management
  • Social media management
  • Website management
  • Blog and media research
  • Online research
  • Invoicing
  • Credit control
  • Project management
  • Proofreading
  • Copywriting
  • Transcription from audio or note taking
  • Call Handling and Answering Service
  • Gift shopping
  • Writing cards
  • CV/Résumé writing
  • Ordering flowers
  • Personal shopping
  • Lifestyle management
  • Sourcing third party suppliers and services

This is not an exhaustive list of the services provided by a Virtual Assistant like YourEVA. If there is a task not listed above please contact YourEVA to discuss how we can help you with your overwhelm, save you time and money to allow you to concentrate on the things that matter most.

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