Disclaimer: I use the term “she” throughout this article to refer to both VAs and in-office support people. I do this for efficiency to avoid typing “s/he” and “him/her”. This does not mean that I think all administrative support people are or should be female (especially since I am male and have been both a traditional assistant and a VA).

Are you a business person looking to hire an administrative support person? Have you had a support person in the past, but ran into trouble or simply couldn’t afford her anymore? Are you thinking that maybe a Virtual Assistant might be the right way to go, but have reservations and aren’t ready to take the plunge?

Business has been around for millennia. The tools that make virtual administrative support possible (telecommunications, the internet, broadband, wireless networks, etc.), have only been around for a few decades. Thus, there are some ingrained ways of thinking about running a business that create “brain-block” and make it hard to decide upon hiring a virtual assistant over a traditional, in-office support person. Let’s take a look at some of that “brain-block”:

1. Price

Why would I pay a VA $45 an hour when I can get someone in my office every day for $13?
First off, don’t think of a VA in terms of hourly rate. Sure, when it comes down to it, a VA is going to cost you more per hour than an in-office assistant. But VAs do not work for you as many hours as an in-office assistant. What we offer are monthly packages based more on deliverables than time spent. But beyond that, really, it comes down to the fact that you get what you pay for. Someone who can work for you for $13 an hour, if they are competent, will not be with you for very long. And if they are not competent… let’s hope they will not be with you for very long.

2. Availability

An in-office assistant is available 30-40 hours per week for me alone while a VA works for 10 different people and I’m just another face in the crowd.
A VA is a business owner, just like you, who wants her business to succeed as much as you want yours to. The only way she is going to make that happen is if your business succeeds, too. While it may be true that no one cares about your business as much as you do, the right VA will care about your business as much as she does hers. The fact that she gets to decide when to complete your tasks has no bearing on your relationship as long as they are completed before the deadline. In fact, a VA who can take time out to take her son to the doctor and still finish your project that evening is more beneficial to you than an in-office assistant who needs to take that whole day off from work!

3. Working at Home

I expect my assistant to do extra work at home regularly anyway.
If your assistant is working at home a lot, you may feel like you are getting added value from her time. This may be true in the short term, but long term it is not going to work for either of you. She is going to suffer from the stress of being overworked. If she is truly competent and a good administrator, she is eventually going to realize this, and take a better offer or forge out on her own.

4. Extra Work

My assistant also shines my shoes/handles my dry cleaning/fetches me lunch!
A VA obviously cannot do these things for you. However, a lot of personal assistant tasks can be done remotely. If you find that you have a lot of personal assistance tasks that require a person to be in your office, then you really need a personal assistant who is dedicated to those tasks. Hiring a VA for your administrative support needs may free up enough cash flow to have a dedicated personal assistant in your budget.

5. Wasted Time

My assistant makes the most out of her time – and if I see her being unproductive, I give her something to do.
If an in-office assistant is getting all her tasks complete so that she has free time, then any work you do give her beyond that is usually just busy-work. From my personal experience in a corporate administrative environment, out of an 8 hour day, only around 2-4 of those hours were spent being productive. I was tethered to my desk often waiting for the phone to ring. Or, sometimes I would just get caught up in a conversation with someone from another office or even with my boss. You never have to worry about paying a VA for anything other than the work you want her to do. And while it is true that a good assistant will independently develop systems for administering your office that increase productivity, this is already part of a VA’s job description. When you hire a VA, part of the intake involves creating workflow processes for handling your administrative tasks. Right from the outset, a VA is looking for ways to streamline your business.

6. Paper Files

But I am surrounded by mountains of paper and need someone in my office to handle my filing!
Ok – no you don’t. You may think you do, but you don’t. We are living in an increasingly digital society, and it is now possible to run a business while using almost no paper at all. Documents can even be signed digitally. If you have documents that are sent to you regularly, you can have them sent to your VA instead, and she can scan them into your digital filing cabinet. There are many solutions to the paper problem – just remember that going paperless will make your office more efficient and save you money.

7. Paper Files!

No really – I have original documents that are critical to my business and I need someone to file them regularly.
If you really can’t see a way around your paper filing system, that doesn’t mean you can’t hire a VA. You can have critical documents sent directly to your VA for her to handle. If you have documents that come in and get directly filed, there are many services out there that can do this for you. They can work with your VA to determine which files need to stick around and which can go. With their help, over time you’ll hopefully be able to kick the paper habit and enjoy the freedom of a paperless office.

Hiring a VA could be the best decision you have ever made for your business, helping to save you money and increase your efficiency in ways a traditional in-office support person cannot. If you have questions about any of the items above, or can think of other things that might make you hesitate to hire a VA, we at YTA would love to talk with you about them. Leave a comment and let us know what you’re thinking!

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