subject: Small Business Scheduling Software: Virtual Staffing For Your Small Business [print this page] What's a Virtual Assistant? What's a Virtual Assistant?
Virtual assistants are independent contractors or entrepreneurs who provide administrative assistance to multiple clients. Unlike regular assistants, they work out of their homes rather than at your business' physical location.
There are several advantages to using a virtual assistant:
* Location. If you work from home, you don't have to find a place to put an employee. * No Overhead. They provide their own office supplies, desk, computer, software, and phone lines. * No Benefits. You're not responsible for paying social security or income taxes, holidays, insurance, vacation or sick pay since they're not your employee. * Lots of Flexibility. It's significantly easier to find a virtual assistant who can work evening hours or weekends-after all, they're working from home. And you can give them more or less hours as your needs change.
Virtual staffing companies also match up with small home-based businesses, especially when they need help running things.
Common Client Concerns
* How do I know that my assistant is actually working the hours I'm paying them for?
Many agencies have their staff send daily reports of their daily activities in order for them to track their progress. They may say how many inbound calls they received, how many outbound calls they made, how many appointments they set, what documents they worked on, as well as how many hours they put in for the day and their cumulative hours for the week. This can help you stay on budget-if you see they've already worked the total hours you planned to pay them for, you can push back other projects until next week.
* How hard is it to work with someone from a remote location?
Buske points out, "There's so much technology now that really facilitates working virtually." She contends it's as simple as hitting the speed dial instead of the intercom or attaching files to an email rather than walking them to the next room. Most of your communication will be via phone, fax, and email. You can also do demonstrations and presentations using online meeting programs, such as for training purposes.
And their skills run the gamut-everything from accounting to marketing to graphic design. Whether you need someone to answer incoming calls and do mailers or someone who can manage your entire business when you're away, you can find staff with all levels of skills.
