Virtual Assistance FAQs
Questions Frequently Asked by People Thinking
about Working with a Virtual Assistant
Q. What is Virtual Assistance?
A. Virtual Assistance is a new administrative profession, formalized by Stacy Brice, President of AssistU, to meet the needs of solo entrepreneurs who can use great administrative support but don't have the need or capacity to hire employees. What Virtual Assistants (VAs) do is no less than an art: working long-term and closely with a successful person (client) without needing to be physically in the client's office. First and foremost, it requires that both the VA and client fully understand, value, and desire a
collaborative partnership.
Once the partnership is established, Virtual Assistance works wonderfully well,
skipping over geographical barriers easily with the use and
immediacy of communications media (internet, fax, phone, and even snail mail).
Working virtually allows people to be in touch as easily as if they were
sitting in adjoining offices.
Q. What's the point? I manage everything on my own!
A. As you grow a business, sooner or later, you’ll find that you can’t do everything. And when you give away the things that don’t need your personal attention, you gain space and time in your business and life for an abundance of other things, which might include:
Growing your current business
Responding to new opportunities
Better balancing home and work
Q. If I wanted an assistant, why would I hire one who's potentially hundreds or even thousands of miles away?
A. Well, part of the benefit of having a VA is that you haven't hired anyone. When you work with a VA, you get a partner, not an employee. People work with VAs because they:
Don't have the space for someone in the office or
don’t want someone in the office
Don't have the equipment needed for someone else to use or don’t want to buy the equipment
Don't want the associated work and cost of having an employee:
»
Payroll
»
Benefits
»
Paying for someone else to administer payroll, benefits
If you want the benefit of working with someone who really wants to know you, your business,
and your markets/customers, and who really wants to be deeply involved in your success,
work with a VA.
Q. Isn't it more expensive than hiring an employee?
A. No. The cost savings is two-fold: financial and emotional.
When you hire an employee, on top of a salary or hourly wage, you have a ton of things you need to administer (payroll, benefits, etc.), many things to buy or lease (equipment, furniture, etc.),
and you have to share space as well. It's expensive and can be grueling.
With a VA, you might pay-as-you-go (giving her only the amount of work you actually have during any month), or you might have her on retainer (buying a certain amount her time each month). Your VA's time is 100% productive time as well: you don't pay for a second of downtime or Starbucks/ break-time.
Q. What kinds of work might my VA do?
A. The beauty of this work is that the only things that can't be done
are things which actually need to be touched in your office,
such as paper filing (and even that's possible if you're creative!). Otherwise, you and your VA are
only bound by imagination, need, skills and desire.
Q. Since I've always worked on my own, can you suggest how to think about what I could give to a VA and what to keep myself?
A. Here's what I suggest:
For the next week, keep a running list. Every single time you do something, think to yourself, "Did I really have to be the one to do this?" Be rigorous as you consider the answer - remember,
your goal is to find as much "stuff' to get off your plate as you can.
Everything that you didn't personally need to deal with gets added to your list. At the end of the week, you'll have a strong idea of just how much you do that keeps you from what you should be doing, and
just exactly the kinds of things you can turn over to your VA.
Assist U is the premier organization training, coaching and referring Virtual Assistants.
Visit AssistU at: http://www.assistu.com.
(Adapted and reprinted with permission of AssistU)
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