Why use a VA?

Virtual assistants. You've heard the term mentioned all over the place. But what exactly do they do?!

A virtual assistant is simply someone who provides flexible support for your business while not being employed by you, and probably not working in the same place as you. VAs use the wonders of modern technology to work remotely and communicate with their clients.

The benefits of working with a VA

VAs are normally freelancers, and this can have a number of benefits for business owners:

• Overheads normally associated with hiring an employee are avoided (recruitment costs, cost of office space and utilities, sick pay, holiday pay, tax and national insurance, etc).
• Training costs are also avoided (although some business owners will choose to pay to train a VA they like and trust in a skill they might need to use in their business).
• You only pay for the time you use; if you go through quiet periods, you may choose to contract your VA for fewer hours than during busy periods, or for no hours at all. You're not paying to have someone sitting at a desk doing nothing.
• VAs will often have skills you don't have (no-one can be good at everything, right?), so they can get certain things done more efficiently and cost-effectively than you can.
• A VA can bring a much-needed fresh eye to your business, and may come up with suggestions to help you run your business more effectively.
• If your VA isn't up to scratch or just doesn't fit your working style then it's easy to part company.