Dawn, I’m not really sure I understand how a virtual assistant helps to save my business any money. Assuming a VA and an employee have equal skills, won’t it take the exact same time to complete a task? If that’s the case, I think I’d be better off paying someone less money to work in my office where I can keep an eye on them.
-Sarah, Port Stanley, ON
Thanks for the question Sarah. It’s a fairly common one that’s asked here in the office. You are absolutely right in your assumptions that if a VA and employee have the same skill level, tasks should be able to be completed in the same amount of time. The big difference comes from what you WON’T pay with a Virtual Assistant.
Let’s assume for a minute that your employee works full time 8 hours a day and can stay 100% productive during their work hours. You still have things such as the office space, equipment, and utilities that need to be paid in addition to their lunch hours and breaks. When you think of the amount of productivity that can realistically be accomplished, you’ll realize that there is much more down-time that you must still pay for than you may have expected. Things like washroom breaks, chatting with a co-worker, or taking a few moments to surf the internet.
While a Virtual Assistant often costs more per hour than a typical in-house employee, you are only paying for the time they spend on that task. Imagine what you would save if your employee had to clock out to answer a phone call from home, or when they restocked their desk from the supply closet. Because we’re business owners and not employees, we come fully prepared with our own equipment, software, and training.
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