How to become a great Entrepreneur with the help of a Virtual Assistant

What makes a great entrepreneur?

“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” –Helen Keller

The great entrepreneur is one who not only knows how to connect with people but also knows how to delegate tasks that he/she can’t manage.

A friend of mine who owns a great family restaurant came up to me one day expressing how stressed out he was. He said, “I don’t know how other people do it, I just can’t find the time to do everything. On top of that, I’m really sucky at admin.”

I asked him if he ever considered hiring an assistant for his admin and he went on about how employment costs are so high. He would have to prepare desk space for this person, let alone the salary as well as benefits associated with a full-time role.

When I told him about the concept of a Virtual Assistant, he was so surprised that labour could be so affordable.

Yes, Virtual Assistants are affordable, and in some instances, they are referred to as a startup’s secret weapon.

What makes a great entrepreneur is not that they can do everything themselves, but that they can delegate administration tasks to an assistant and focus only on the income-producing tasks.

The Rise of Virtual Assistants

A virtual Assistant or VA is usually a self-employed individual or a freelancer that offers their administration, social, creative or technical expertise to assist an entrepreneur in his/her daily duties.  These employees work remotely, usually from home.

Nobody knows for sure when VA’s were first established, but just like digitization, the concept evolved slowly until it became popular. It began when companies would set up call centre agents worldwide to manage time zones. Soon enough, entrepreneurs realised that hiring virtual workers has many benefits and there was no turning back.

When Should You Hire a Virtual Assistant?

If any of these are true in your life, you should hire one immediately:

  1. You hardly get through your to-do list
  2. Your mailbox leaves much to be desired
  3. You spend less time with family and more at work
  4. Admin annoys the living daylights out of you
  5. A flexible work environment will work for you
  6. You travel a lot and need someone to hold down the fort while you’re gone
  7. You can’t afford a full-time traditional employee

Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Assistant

People hire Virtual Assistants for many reasons:

  1. They are cheaper than normal labour, especially if you hire an individual who lives in a country with a weaker currency.
  2. You save on employee benefits as you don’t have to worry about pension, medical, tax and other related costs.
  3. There is no need for office space expenses as they work from their own home.
  4. There is a huge supply of professional Virtual Assistants and experts expect that 50% of the workforce will be virtual by 2020.
  5. Your productivity increases as you have more time to focus on more important tasks.

Where to Find a Virtual Assistant

There are many agencies that provide Virtual Assistants. We at VA Connect have an array of experienced Virtual Assistants as well.

To speak to us about hiring a Virtual Assistant for your business, click here.