8 Ways You Miss Out When You Don’t Have A Virtual Assistant for Business

If you’re an entrepreneur looking to hire additional hands to help your growing business, or if you’re a small operation in need of some specific expertise, a virtual assistant is a wonderful way to get the help you need to succeed and grow. We’ve talked endlessly in previous blogs about how cost-effective virtual assistants are and how much time they can save you, but a great virtual assistant goes beyond that.

As leaders of the remote working world, we have an extensive list of all the ways a virtual assistant can help your business. But, if that doesn’t convince you, maybe the list of ways not having a virtual assistant can cause problems in your business will.

1.   Overworking yourself

You’re super busy, and if you’re running a small operation on your own, doing everything from your own marketing to content creation to bookkeeping to shipping to customer service, etc., you’re overworked. That’s an unsustainable way to live. With any luck, your business is going to grow. By not expanding your team before things get crazy, you’re only setting yourself up to crash and burn under the pressure of trying to keep up with every single thing by yourself. A virtual assistant can help take things off your plate so you have more time and energy to focus on big decisions and processes that require more of you.

2.   Missing out on valuable experience

A virtual assistant can offer valuable expertise that will help you avoid mistakes and streamline your operations. By not having a VA’s help, you could miss out on ways to improve and grow your business. Not to mention, there could be bigger ramifications. For example, assuming you can handle all of your bookkeeping through QuickBooks, but you’re not an accountant or very tech savvy. You could make mistakes that cost you money or that will get you in trouble come tax season and not know until it’s too late.

3.   Wasting time

Many businesses had to make an abrupt shift to remote work during the pandemic, but not every business knew how to update their routines to a completely online platform. If you had to adjust the way you conduct business, you may have lost some time during the learning curve and figuring out which programs to implement. Virtual assistants are well-versed in a plethora of different project management applications that can streamline any task. Having a virtual assistant for business help you transition to the virtual space could save you a lot of time, money, energy and aggravation in the future.

4.   Spending more money than you need

Particularly if you’re a one-person show, hiring an in-house employee can be a conundrum. On one hand, you really need the help because you can’t keep up with everything yourself. On the other, you don’t need someone full-time and don’t want to pay them for idle hours. You’ve probably vacillated with this before. A virtual assistant is a cost-effective way to get the help you need and only pay for the hours they’re actually performing a task. Not to mention, you’ll spend less money on the lengthy recruitment or interview process, and things like office supplies, because your virtual assistant will be fully vetted and prepared to jump in.

5.   Training takes time

If you end up hiring a staff employee, then you have to take time to train them. Training takes time away from other tasks, and it can cost money getting a new employee up to speed. Not that a virtual assistant for business won’t need some training, but VAs have experience working with several clients at a time. Usually in different industries, jumping from one program to another, so this is familiar territory for them. You’ll still need to help them understand your expectations or how you like things done. They’ll likely have a quicker, easier time adjusting and getting to work right away without the learning curve.

6.   Hiring the wrong staff

Hiring in-house staff means you also risk bringing someone on your team that you’ll end up butting heads with. Or who ruffles feathers with other employees. Or who doesn’t actually have the experience they said they had when you interviewed them. An employee that isn’t a good fit for you or your business is an extremely difficult situation to navigate.

Virtual assistants give you peace of mind and freedom to be flexible with your team. If someone just isn’t a great fit, you can talk to their agency about getting someone else. No hurt feelings and have a new assistant ready to go the next day. You may find you only need someone to help with one project or you need a temporary fill-in. You don’t have to feel guilty about moving on or canceling services when the project is finished. If you love your virtual assistant and want to bring them on for another project or keep them on your team more permanently, you can do that too!

7.   Not as productive

If you’re too busy to respond to customer inquiries in a timely manner, or you procrastinate client needs because you’re too busy catching up with the tedious administrative tasks that keep your business organized and running, it can cost you money, time, and customers. You can’t do everything at once, so while you’re completing one task, another is being ignored, rapidly approaching a deadline. A virtual assistant can increase your productivity. They take on time consuming administrative tasks and responding to customers, freeing you up to do the work that only you can do. You’ll accomplish more and have more productive days. 

8.   Physical Space is costly

If you have a team of hired staff, you need a location for them to work in, where you can all convene to discuss strategy and procedures. Office rent is expensive, and that’s not including insurance, electricity, AC, internet service, computers, etc. A virtual assistant doesn’t require any modification to your company’s physical space. They work remotely, and you won’t have to supply any supplies. Especially for smaller operations, the difference between being in the red or being in the black can lie in overhead and employee costs.

Not having a virtual assistant can cost your business time, money, and aggravation. Small business owners are often between a rock and a hard place. They’re trying to figure out how they can keep up with their services and customer relations while keeping costs practical and low. Your business requires all of you. Yet, you can’t be everywhere doing everything at once, and it’s impractical to think you can. At some point, you have to expand in order for your business to grow. A virtual assistant can be the difference between an entrepreneur’s unsustainable work/life balance and one that thrives. No matter what area of expertise you need to fill in the gaps, there’s a quick-learning, impeccably organized, smart, capable virtual assistant waiting to help you and your business thrive.

Virtual Assistant for Business

Get your own virtual assistant for business needs by setting up a meeting with us.