Hiring a VA? Your Questions Answered Here

Hiring a Virtual Assistant to help you in your business, is becoming increasingly popular. You’ve successfully transitioned from the initial start-up phase of your business and your focus generally shifts to your next challenge, which is growing your business. Hiring a VA at this stage of your entrepreneurial journey will help you quickly navigate your way to success.  Besides saving a ton of costs that you would otherwise incur with hiring a new employee, a VA can literally be your secret weapon. Let’s delve into some of the most popular questions you may have about utilising a Virtual Assistant for your business.

Q1 Why is it more beneficial for me to hire a VA, as opposed to a PA?

Hiring a Virtual Assistant versus a Personal Assistant depends on a few things when it comes to your business goals. Ask yourself the following questions to decide:

• Do you have an office? If so then perhaps you would need an in-house Personal Assistant so that she can manage your office for you.
• Do you prefer talking with your Personal Assistant face-to-face in order to delegate?
• Do you have the budget to pay your Personal Assistant the market-related salary of approximately  R25,000 per month plus benefits?
• Do prefer to pay the professional fees associated with finding the ideal placement?

If you answered yes to one or more of the above questions, then it may be more beneficial to hire a Personal Assistant.

But how do you know if a Virtual Assistant is the right fit for you? Here are a few questions for you to ask yourself:

• Do you work from home and travel a lot?
• Do you do most of your business virtually or online?
• Do you lack specific and critical skills in your business besides admin?
• Do you battle between balancing the growth of your business and administration?
• Are you missing out on building an amazing lifestyle because your business consumes a lot of your time?

If you answered yes to most of the above questions, then a Virtual Assistant would be an excellent solution for your business.

Q2 Besides admin and Personal Assistant work, what else can a VA do for me?

Usually a Virtual Assistant has the full administrative and Personal Assistant background. However, they usually have additional skills that could be extremely beneficial to your business. Such as:

1. Social media management
2. Blogging
3. Customer Experience management
4. Marketing
5. Systems and process management
6. Recruitment
7. Branding and design
8. Event planning and coordination
9. Project management
10. Client liaison
11. Many, many more tasks, just ask!

Q3 How does one go about working with a Virtual Assistant

We live in a world where technology is so advanced, that working virtually is convenient, cost effective and more efficient. There are various programs and systems that are used to run a business virtually, here are just a few examples:

• Communication: WhatsApp, Text, Skype IM, Skype call, Zoom.us and email.
• File sharing: DropBox, Box.com and Google Drive
• Time management: Toggl
• Remote access to your PC: Teamviewer or AnyDesk
• Task management: Wunderlist, Asana or Trello

Q4 How do I train my Virtual Assistant?

This might be the single most important factor to ensure success when working with a Virtual Assistant  –  training and on-boarding process. Your VA may be a specialist in her field, but has little idea about your company history, systems and goals. It is recommended to spend 1-2 hours and take your VA through your processes and goals. This will ensure that she can quickly start assisting you with your business administration and processes. Trust me, the time you take to train your VA will benefit you at the end of the day.

Q5 Where do I find a capable and dependable Virtual Assistant?

Finding and hiring your Virtual Assistant is key! If you are planning to hire a VA on a long-term basis, which is recommended so that she can streamline and manage your administration while you focus on growing it, you need to find someone who you can trust explicitly. This is not always easy to do, as the VA pool is rather large. Here are some key things to look out for in a good Virtual Assistant:

Your VA must be or have:

1. Honest
2. Accountable
3. Reliable
4. An administrative/Personal Assistant background
5. References and testimonials available for you to review

If you are looking for a VA for your business, please feel free to book a call with me, I would love to chat about your business. To book a free discovery call, click here.