Why using a virtual office assistant may be more cost effective
Why using a virtual office assistant may be more cost effective
Consider the following example: You employ Mary as an Office Administration clerk to prepare your invoices; answer the telephone; type; collect and sort mail and do your banking. She works (or you pay her for) 37.5 hours per week. Her salary is $40,000 per year and she is entitled to 20 days annual leave. She also has 5 days off sick each year (she says she’s “entitled” to them and she’ll use them!) and needs 5 days training at an external training provider. She’s also entitled to 11 public holidays per year. You know that for 25% of her time she is not busy. On the face of it, you think you are paying her $20.51 per hour.
However, when you account for her absences and non-productive time, you’re really paying her $32.47 per hour…almost 50% more…and this does not include the overhead costs I mentioned; which may add up to several hundred dollars per year.…
Contrast this to using a virtual assistant (VA).In a conventional office, they are often called “administrative assistants” but to the ‘on-line’ world, they are called “virtual assistants”. They are both the same type of people but with one significant difference: a VA works usually from their own office and uses their own equipment instead of being physically present in your office to carry out the work. Alternatively, they can come to your office. As a VA, they are not expensive employees but self-employed professionals.
Generally, a VA will be well educated; hard working; have a proven range of skills; and use a wide range of computer software. This helps them to provide their clients with a tailor made service leaving their clients to focus on other business needs. Most VA’s will have previously worked as a secretary, personal assistant, clerk, etc and it is likely that they have worked at the highest level in their particular field of work. They are well trained and keep their skills up to date at their own expense.
When starting a new business, it is inevitable that small business owners tend to handle all aspects of their business. At some stage, a business will reach a point where too much time is spent on administration; rather than generating income. That’s a lot of valuable time spent on an area that may not be your expertise. By engaging a VA, you free up that time to focus on what you do best!
VAs provide a professional presence in foreign countries for international companies. If you use a VA abroad, you will have a mailing address and a phone number without the overheads involved in setting up an office. If you are away (holiday, business trip, etc), it’s possible to have incoming mail forwarded to the VA’s address.
The case then, is pretty straight forward for many small business owners.
I outsource ALL of my administration work to Karen and her team at Office Elves (www.theofficeelves.com). I do not have to employ administration staff; I know that my administration gets done professionally; within budget and on time. I recommend you consider using a VA; it may save yourself some headaches.
Why using a virtual office assistant may be more cost effective - To learn more about this author, visit Mark Gwilliam's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
The cost of employing full-time administration staff is costing you more than you think. Added to their salaries, you will have to pay them holiday & sick pay; other government taxes; training costs and they will have regular “down-time”. And don’t forget the overheads associated with it - a telephone; desk & chair; insurances; software; stationery and many more expenses.
Consider the following example: You employ Mary as an Office Administration clerk to prepare your invoices; answer the telephone; type; collect and sort mail and do your banking. She works (or you pay her for) 37.5 hours per week. Her salary is $40,000 per year and she is entitled to 20 days annual leave. She also has 5 days off sick each year (she says she’s “entitled” to them and she’ll use them!) and needs 5 days training at an external training provider. She’s also entitled to 11 public holidays per year. You know that for 25% of her time she is not busy. On the face of it, you think you are paying her $20.51 per hour.
However, when you account for her absences and non-productive time, you’re really paying her $32.47 per hour…almost 50% more…and this does not include the overhead costs I mentioned; which may add up to several hundred dollars per year.…
Contrast this to using a virtual assistant (VA).In a conventional office, they are often called “administrative assistants” but to the ‘on-line’ world, they are called “virtual assistants”. They are both the same type of people but with one significant difference: a VA works usually from their own office and uses their own equipment instead of being physically present in your office to carry out the work. Alternatively, they can come to your office. As a VA, they are not expensive employees but self-employed professionals.
Generally, a VA will be well educated; hard working; have a proven range of skills; and use a wide range of computer software. This helps them to provide their clients with a tailor made service leaving their clients to focus on other business needs. Most VA’s will have previously worked as a secretary, personal assistant, clerk, etc and it is likely that they have worked at the highest level in their particular field of work. They are well trained and keep their skills up to date at their own expense.
When starting a new business, it is inevitable that small business owners tend to handle all aspects of their business. At some stage, a business will reach a point where too much time is spent on administration; rather than generating income. That’s a lot of valuable time spent on an area that may not be your expertise. By engaging a VA, you free up that time to focus on what you do best!
VAs provide a professional presence in foreign countries for international companies. If you use a VA abroad, you will have a mailing address and a phone number without the overheads involved in setting up an office. If you are away (holiday, business trip, etc), it’s possible to have incoming mail forwarded to the VA’s address.
The case then, is pretty straight forward for many small business owners.
I outsource ALL of my administration work to Karen and her team at Office Elves (www.theofficeelves.com). I do not have to employ administration staff; I know that my administration gets done professionally; within budget and on time. I recommend you consider using a VA; it may save yourself some headaches.
Why using a virtual office assistant may be more cost effective - To learn more about this author, visit Mark Gwilliam's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
|||
Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
|||
John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
|||
David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to Mark's articles
 | |
|
|  |
 | |
|
| |
 | |||||||
|
 | ||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 Instant Flyers Hiring An SEO Expert Dismiss a Franchise Sample Credit Application Sale Systems |
|
 | ||
 |
Top 50 Business Plans
Top Business Plan Blogs | |
 |
Top 50 Blogs For Startups
Top Blogs To Watch In 2008 | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
| ||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||