Google’s reasons to hire a virtual assistant,’ and you’ll be flooded with pages of articles and blogs praising the benefits of working with a virtual assistant. In The 4-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferriss outlined the benefits of hiring a virtual assistant for everyone from a solo entrepreneur to a startup or busy executive at a public listed company.
We have condensed our research, industry experience and client feedback into the top ten reasons why working with a virtual assistant will change your life.
1. Peace of Mind. Whilst this is a point that most people agree, it’s never emphasised as the first or most important reason. But to us and our clients, peace of mind is the single most impactful reason for hiring a VA. When your relationship with a virtual assistant has developed into a place of trust, you can send a WhatsApp with a task and rest in the knowledge that it will not only be completed, but also done well. The result? You’re rewarded with the time and clarity to focus on more important things.
My time with Outsourcery ultimately buys me peace of mind and that is priceless.Jennifer Troy, CFO, Troy Investments
2. Cost Savings. Many people would argue this is the number one reason for hiring a Virtual Assistant. VAs are a comparatively cost-effective alternative to employees, particularly when you factor in office costs, missed work days due to holiday and sickness, recruitment costs and the big one: all those unproductive working hours of in-house employees.
I used to have an in-office assistant in London as well as a few freelancers, and on a salary perspective alone I am saving around 35% a month. Combined with unproductive working hours, recruitment costs, IT support and equipment, I believe I am saving around 50% a month and the quality of service is higher!” Simon Motson, Founder, Ley Line Studio
3. Scalability. Lower employee costs and flexible packages allow businesses to scale safely. What’s not to love about building a team without the stress of more overheads like office costs, laptops and fixed salaries.
I started off with a VA for 40 hours a month and I now have 4 different VAs specialising in different areas totalling over 250 hours a month. I am not sure I would have had the courage to scale my business as fast as I have done without the flexibility Outsourcery gave me” Beech Boultbee, ARK Properties
4. Become a delegating machine. Every business owner and manager knows that delegating effectively is critical to success, but many people really struggle to delegate, creating barriers to their personal and corporate success. For most people, delegating effectively is about trust and building the right processes. Working with a VA allows the opportunity to delegate “lower risk” tasks while testing out processes and building trust in their VA. At Outsourcery, our free delegation on-boarding service allows an easy way to get delegating quickly.
I had always struggled with delegating, but Sarah, my Outsourcery VA, helped me put the processes in place so that I could delegate more effectively. The lessons I learnt have allowed me to delegate more effectively to my whole management team” Steve Gwenin, CEO, GVI
5. Administrative Tasks. A fairly obvious one, but critical nonetheless. Many admin tasks HAVE to be done, but in busy people’s lives, they either don’t or get done badly leading to less time and focus for key tasks. From calendar management to emails to travel planning, social media management and key contact planning these items can be easily delegated to a virtual assistant.
Arghh admin, I hate it and never did it. It wasn’t until I worked with Liza at Outsourcery that I realised how much NOT dealing with admin was causing me stress, my life really is so much easier now I have assistance in this area” Peter Evans, MD, Park House Enterprises
6. Personal Assistance. Most of our clients come to us for help with their professional lives, but they soon realise how a VA can help with their personal lives too. As our personal lives become busier and busier, there’s more and more admin that needs to be done. Having one person who knows you inside out and can balance your personal and professional life is of immense value.
The reason I started Outsourcery was because I wanted to spend more time with my children. I was working Saturdays to just get through my family’s management from car insurance to travel planning, paying bills and other household management activities, it was not the way I wanted to spend my weekend. A virtual assistant allows me more time with my family” Henry Walton, Founder, Outsourcery
7. Time. A recent article / study by Forbes magazine said the following:
“Take a minute to think about the most valuable things in life. If you are like most people, your list includes things such as family, friends, fitness and finances (money). Now, how would you rank these things on your list? It might surprise you to discover that many of those who are considered highly successful all rank the same thing at number one: time.
Put simply: a virtual assistant buys you more time.
8. Access to different skills sets. Working with one or a team of virtual assistants gives you access to a whole range of different skills, especially through a company like Outsourcery. Hiring one person in your office gives you access to only their skills, hiring a virtual assistant through Outsourcery gives you access to our whole team. So if a task you need doing is outside your VA’s skill set, it can still be done, while you only have to deal with one person.
I used to have 5 different freelancers, FIVE!! Now, I have just one virtual assistant.” David Benton-Jones, MD, Sopley Weddings
9. Increased productivity. According to a study by HR Grape Vine office workers are productive for less than three hours a day. Why pay employees to surf the internet and chat in the kitchen? Virtual assistants work differently: they are paid for each minute they actually work, using time tracking software to track every second of productivity.
When I signed up with Outsourcery I thought I would need 160 hours a month, I was amazed by the productivity of Carrie, it blew me away. She gets done in 50 hours what I thought would take 160!” Andy Woods Ballard, Founder, Momento
10. Self-Improvement. Working with a virtual assistant makes you better at what you do. It’s as simple as that. Combine all of the reasons above and think about how you would work and live your life with more time, the ability to focus on what really drives your business forward, peace of mind, increased work life balance and freedom to test out different ways to scale your business.
Working with Outsourcery has changed my life! A big statement I know, but honestly, it’s true. Having more time in my life has helped me in so many areas. I can’t recommend working with a virtual assistant enough. Thank you to the whole team at Outsourcery.” Zara Paige, Founder and CEO, Cutline Collective
