As businesses of all sizes seek to optimize their operational efficiency and reduce business costs, there seems to be a huge demand for virtual assistance services and the popularity of the role keeps increasing. When quickly searching for terms like 'virtual assistant for small business' you will get thousands of results, all differing from each other based on responsibilities and experiences that often seem diluted with other similar roles. But, this increase in demand also sends a clear message: whether you are a small, mid, or large business owner, you too should make use of virtual assistant services being offered by a multitude of companies.

One of the biggest benefits of outsourcing virtual assistance for a small business is that it allows you to focus on the bigger picture. This can mean a few different things depending on your business, but generally speaking, when outsourcing VAs you can:
Increase productivity with VAs: they can help you to be more productive by taking on tasks that you would otherwise have to do yourself
Reduce business cost with VAs: It's important to understand the difference between outsourcing your VAs from a company or hiring them yourselves remotely. If you're outsourcing VAs then you save yourself additional time as opposed to hiring a remote virtual assistant and spending time providing training, onboarding etc. For further details on specifically outsourcing VAs, read here.
Increase the team's expertise through VAs: Again, there is a notable difference between outsourcing from a company and hiring remotely. A company that provides VA outsourcing also provides their own experience to the client, whereas hiring remotely might not always get you the ideal candidate that you're looking for.
Here are some specific examples of how VAs can help small businesses:
Email management and scheduling: Perhaps the most obvious of services that a VA provides, but nonetheless it's a very important one because it gives you time to focus on the core of your business. As a small business, this becomes increasingly important because your goal is to spend as much time as possible focusing on business growth.
Social media management: Instead of hiring a social media agency or even a virtual assistant agency, you can just outsource one singular VA from a BPO. Having a solid social media foundation ensures you're following the social platforms algorithms of consistent posting which in turn helps increase brand recognition.
Customer support: This is often correlated with administrative assistance, especially for a smaller business where different responsibilities can be handed out to just one VA. Anywhere from simple data entry to calendar management (if applicable for your business), a VA reduces the time you spend on smaller tasks and simultaneously helps build customer loyalty through professional replies.
Accountancy services: While a VA might not be able to perform the higher end of accountancy tasks like achieving financial health and compliance, they can still help with the smaller tasks that require manual work.
If you are a small business owner, hiring a VA can be a great way to save time and money, and to free up your team to focus on more important tasks. VAs can provide expertise in a variety of areas, so you can find a VA who can help you with the specific tasks that you need completed.
Here are some tips for hiring and working with a VA:
Be clear about your needs. When you are hiring a VA, be clear about the specific tasks that you need help with. This will help you to find a VA who has the skills and experience that you need, and if you're outsourcing the VA then this becomes very important since a BPO often has a large pool of VA resources to choose from. For example, take a look at our VA services and how they could align with your business needs.
Set clear expectations. Once you have hired a VA, be sure to set clear expectations for their work. This includes things like their work hours, communication style, and deadlines. More often than not, a BPO is already experienced with setting KPIs for whatever part of your business you're looking to outsource.
Provide feedback. It is important to provide feedback to your VA on their work. This will help them to understand what you are looking for and to improve their performance.
Build a relationship. The best way to work with a VA is to build a relationship with them. Get to know them as a person and understand their strengths and weaknesses. This will help you to work more effectively together.
If you are looking for a way to save time and money, or you're looking to improve the efficiency of your small business, then hiring a VA is a great option. By following the tips above, you can find and work with a VA who can help you to achieve your business goals while you focus on growing your business.
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