Many business owners are asking themselves whether they should hire an in-house employee or a virtual assistant. There are many good reasons why working with a virtual office assistant is more efficient than with a “real employee.” First of all, a VA is an independent contractor, so you won’t be responsible for payroll taxes or benefits. When you include insurance benefits, office space, vacation pay, training, and equipment, the total cost of a full time employee can be over twice their initial pay.
Even though the virtual assistant’s hourly rate is higher than the employee’s rate, you will save tens of thousands of dollars in the long run. When you hire a VA, you only pay for the time she spends working on your tasks. If you hire a regular office assistant, you pay for all of the costs associated with her employment. Your employee’s eight-hour day can be crunched into three or four hours with a VA.
Most VAs have a flexible schedule. Some of them are available on weekends. You can get help when you need it and pay online for their services from the comfort of your home. One of the most appealing aspects of hiring a virtual assistant is that you don’t need to provide office space and equipment. Virtual assistants usually work from home and have advanced software, Internet connection, computers, fax machines, and printers.
While a regular employee may waste time at work, a VA has the ability to stay on schedule. How many of these unproductive habits do your employees practice?
- Personal phone calls
- Prolonged Internet surfing
- Frequent socializing
- Late to arrive
When using a VA, you don’t have to pay for this unproductive time. Hiring a virtual assistant can save you up to 40 percent a year (compared to the cost of hiring a regular employee). You can get a highly skilled worker for less than $12,000 a year. A VA can halp you with whatever you need done from a remote location.
Although a virtual assistant can’t do everything that a real employee can, she has many skills that regular employees don’t have. Some VAs provide a wide range of services such as billing and accounting, web design, SEO, article writing, event planning, customer service, keyword research, and website maintenance. Almost any type of business can benefit from working with a virtual assistant, from real estate agencies and web based businesses to attorneys, physicians, and entrepreneurs.