As a business owner looking into what the best possible options would be to get your business organised and under control, taking into account cost, viability, skills and experience, it is of utmost importance that one knows the difference between hiring a Personal Assistant versus a Virtual Assistant. This is exactly what I will be covering in this blog today so that you can make an informed decision between the two for your business needs and requirements.
A Personal Assistant
Most of us already know that a Personal Assistant is someone that a medium-large enterprise would usually look at hiring. A Personal Assistant comes from a secretarial and administrative background, works inside a company’s office and assists C-level executives. A Personal Assistant usually earns between R25-R40k dependent on location. A company should also supply a Personal Assistant with absolutely everything that she needs in order to complete her daily tasks. Such as a desk, a PC/laptop, a printer, stationery, a phone, and any systems she needs in order to carry out the work.
But what if you are a business owner who works completely remotely or from the comfort of your own home and just need someone to assist you with your administration (even if it means a couple of hours a week) and require her to work from her own location, so that you do not need to fit the high salary bill, as well as provide her with all the other responsibilities that come with hiring a Personal Assistant based in an office, such as tax responsibility, annual leave, sick leave, maternity leave and other company benefits. Then read on to find out what your solution could be.
A Virtual Assistant
A Virtual Assistant is based at her own location (usually the comfort of her own home). She already has her own fully-equipped office, PC/laptop, WIFI and office stationery. A Virtual Assistant also takes care of her own office and business costs. A Virtual Assistant usually offers retainer packages to clients for example 20, 40, 60, 80, 120 hours per month, whereby a client could select the services and tasks they need assistance with and select a retainer package that suits their budget and admin load. All the client is responsible for is to process her retainer payment every month, while your Virtual Assistant takes care of the rest.
Why this is such a good solution in our current environment
There is no doubt that COVID19 played a phenomenal factor in absolutely everyone’s lives. Besides the threat of the disease, businesses had to quickly paradigm shift into new avenues, channels and ways of working. All of us were under lockdown and forced to work from home and the very good news in such a tragic time is that business owners realised the viability and the effectiveness of working remotely. The general consensus was: “it actually can be done”. And trust me it can. Paying for office space, no matter how small, can amount to a huge financial responsibility for a small business, that could be a cost that truthfully can be avoided entirely.
How a Virtual Assistant can transform your small business
A Virtual Assistant usually comes with a Personal Assistance, Secretarial or Administrative background. Which makes her perfectly able to assist you with precisely the same kind of Personal Assistance functions, remotely. The other bonus is that Virtual Assistants often come with added or niche skill sets such as marketing, events or social media backgrounds. This means that a business owner can only win by investing in a Virtual Assistant. Imagine being able to delegate those draining tasks to an absolute expert who specialises in organisation and administration? I bet you almost breathed a sigh of relief just by reading that sentence. Virtual Assistants are business owners in their own right and do not need any hand-holding when it comes to your work. (Especially those who are pros at what they do). This makes the money you are spending on her worth every cent, considering that she will be providing you with the ability to save time, stress and honestly needless tasks to be handled by the “brains” of the company (i.e. YOU), when she is more than capable to handle this for you.
Sound exciting?
I am a professional, International Virtual Assistant with many years of experience behind me in large (internationally recognised corporates), with many high-level clients on my books. You are more than welcome to book a call slot with me here so that we can discuss your business, your potential administration needs and how I can make your life a better place. I look forward to hearing from you!