Can Big Business Find Big Value with Virtual Assistance?

Virtual assistance work is usually associated with Small Business Enterprises or SBE’s. These are businesses which typically have less than 50 employees and limited sources of funding.  As the enterprise scales up to accommodate business growth, SBE’s look for ways to achieve productivity at the least possible cost. Acquiring assistance services from virtual assistants is an effective option for accommodating growth without significantly compromising tight budgets or set cost parameters.

Big businesses have the advantage of adequate resources for business expansion purposes. Can these large scale enterprises still find value with the use of virtual assistance?

Yes.

All businesses regardless of size will always welcome strategies that contribute to the following areas:

1.       Cost Management
2.       Productivity
3.       Commitment
4.       Flexibility

Cost Management

Being assisted virtually is associated with cost savings because the cost of acquiring these services is much less than hiring a full-time employee. But most people are not aware of the actual comparative cost advantage a Virtual Assistant has over a full-time employee.

Once you add up the components that cover the total compensation of a full-time employee, the actual cost is two to two and a half times the total salary. If a full time employee has an annual salary of $50,000, his or her total cost is actually $60,000 to $70,000 per year.  A Virtual Assistant is only paid a fee computed at a fixed rate per hour generally without benefits and other incentives. In addition, there are no incremental expenses for Internet usage, power and utilities as virtual assistants are responsible for covering these expenses.

Productivity with a VA

As mentioned, a Virtual Assistant is only paid a fee computed at a fixed rate per hour. The fee covers productive hours or the actual hours spent at work. A full-time employee is paid a fixed salary plus benefits for an entire month.

Even if a full-time employee is required to render service over a fixed period of eight to nine hours, the truth is once you deduct time spent on meals, restroom breaks, water cooler small talk, social media and other distractions, total work spent on the job will be less than eight to nine hours. A Virtual Assistant or VA will maximize the time allocated for your business because he or she will not be paid for unproductive hours and there may be other clients to whom they are contracted to. A virtual assistant knows that time is a precious commodity and if squandered will translate to foregone earnings.

Commitment

While a VA is a contracted person, the occupation of VA is considered a private enterprise. Hence, a VA understands what it means to own a business and what it takes to make it successful. The level of commitment that differentiates a VA and a full-time employee is far and wide.

An analogy would be the act of owning and driving an expensive car. A full-time employee who is given a set of responsibilities will approach performance like a paid driver. If the driver crashes or damages the car, he or she is not accountable for its repairs especially if the vehicle is covered by insurance. The worst case situation for a full-time employee who under-performs or does poorly on the job is to be terminated. But he or she can look for another job and get hired.

A virtual assistant looks at the car as if it were his or her own asset because the profession of virtual assistance is his or her enterprise. Its success would be contingent on the level of success and satisfaction realized by the client. If the VA under-performs, fails or falls short of expectations, not only will the contract be terminated but the reputation will be tarnished.

Flexibility

A regular full-time employee is recruited and hired to perform only the tasks specified in the scope of work. A VA does not have clearly defined roles and as the title prescribes is designated to provide assistance to the client for the purpose of contributing to the success of the enterprise. It is not surprising to note that a common outsourced service to VA’s is personal assistant services.

Thus, regardless of size, scale or industry any entity that aspires to be efficient, productive, committed to consistent performance with the flexibility to improve value added will find valid reasons for acquiring virtual assistance service.