Ask for Referrals: Talk to other small business owners to see who they use. Finding someone who others enjoy working with is always one of the best ways to find help for your business.
Software They Use: Find out what software they have available and are able to use. Again, people can be trained, if they are willing. You can also purchase software for your assistants. You may find this more cost effective than paying a new assistant a higher rate to use the same software.
What Types of Tasks Do They Do? Again, a willing VA can be trained to perform tasks in the way you specify, but do look for virtual assistants with experience working with online business owners and who has some understanding of their needs.
What Are Their Rates? Rates vary with virtual assistants. Some may charge per project, while others may charge per project. If you plan on working with a VA on an ongoing basis (as you should), an hourly agreement simplifies the process. Ask if there are any discounts available if you keep your VA on retainer.
Test Them Out Before Agreeing to a Retainer: Ideally, you do want to work with a VA on an ongoing basis, but be sure you are a good fit before doing so. Give him/her a few projects and make sure he/she responds in a timely manner, takes direction well, clarifies any details that need clarifying and complete projects on time.
A Virtual Assistant in Business vs. a Freelancer: When looking for a VA, this can become a tricky thing. Generally speaking, a virtual assistant who is solely in the business of being a virtual assistant, should be able to provide dedicated service to your business. Freelancers are generally individuals who are simply looking for steady administrative work from home. The latter also often charge less but there are greater risks involved as they may not have the professional experience required from the modern day VA. There can also be tax implications if you hire a freelancer and they are not working for other clients. In many jurisdictions this makes the freelancer your ‘employee’ which could see you liable for payroll tax and other associated costs of hiring an employee.
What you should beware of is VAs who do VA work on the side while trying to build another type of business of their own or to fill a gap between jobs. That is where you run into trouble with consistency, meeting deadlines, etc. You want to find a VA that is committed to providing support to your business, not someone who is trying to pay the bills in the meantime.
Check References: Because your virtual assistant will have access to so much personal and business information, it’s important to check on any references provided. You should also search on Google for any reviews of their service.
Certification Isn’t Necessary: Although certified VAs may disagree, certification is not necessarily an indicator of an exemplary service provider. In addition, the lack of certification is not necessarily an indicator of poor service.
Gut Instinct: A good VA will be very involved in your business – how do you get along with them? Is their personality suited to your own and can you see yourself working with them in the long term? This is where your own instinct comes in and if it doesn’t work out there’s no need to rule out the idea of working with a VA – there are plenty of amazing VAs out there (including us of course!)
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Nikki Mulcahey, Licensee VA Middlesex & Greater London
Nikki Mulcahey has joined the team of Versatile Assistant as Licensee (Middlesex and Greater London) today. Nikki has over 12 years experience at senior PA level and has worked in a variety of different companies ranging from city banks to digital tv, media & advertising and music entertainment. Nikki has a BA Hons degree in Humanities (English/American Studies) from Crewe & Alsager College (now Manchester Metropolitan University) which means she is both adept at research and is committed to producing work of the highest of standards, paying close attention to detail and accuracy before any submission. Nikki’s long and wide ranging experience in these diverse industries means she is highly adaptable and capable and will ensure that any task requested of her will be dealt with professionally and efficiently.
Nikki is based in Staines, Middlesex and her territory covers both Middlesex and Greater London.
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“In our busy lives, it’s sometimes too easy to lose sight of the fact of how fortunate we are! During a recent visit to a fundraising event for the Hollybank Trust, Sam and I were amazed at the care and compassion shown by the staff of Hollybank who work with some of society’s most vulnerable members, children and adults with complex physical disabilities, sometimes coupled with severe learning difficulties. It made us re-evaluate our own lives to realise that despite the day-to-day setbacks, we are actually extremely lucky to be able to live our lives as we wish. We felt humbled and decided that we would like to do something for Hollybank – and came up with the idea of a sponsored fire walk challenge! If society’s most vulnerable members can overcome such hurdles in their day to day lives, then we can certainly overcome our innermost fears to face such a challenge! May we thank everyone to date who has sponsored Sam and I, and if anyone else out there would like to sponsor us, please just follow the link below.” Many thanks, Anne & Sam, Versatile Assistant Limited, Tel 0845 299 0408
http://www.sponsor-me.org/anneandsamfirewalking
http://lisaclifford.co.uk/Firewalking/tabid/374/Default.aspx
http://www.hollybanktrust.com/
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We are delighted to announce that our Northern England Licensee, Anne Johnson, has taken the plunge and now has office space in Wakefield – just ten miles up the motorway from Leeds. This is an exciting development for Anne, her VA business is going from strength to strength and the new office premises will enable her to expand her business even further. Anne now has a team of talented VAs worki
ng for her with diverse experience to suit each client’s specific needs.
Anne can be contact on 0845 299 0408 to arrange a quotation or meeting to discuss her Virtual Assistant services.
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In tough economic times business owners often think that doing mundane tasks for themselves will save them money, but in actual fact it may be costing them… big time!
Let’s say you decided to set up a new blog for your business, you’ve never had a blog before and you’ve heard it can be good for connecting with your prospects. As a newcomer to blogging you need to research the different blogging platforms, the limitations of each and how they can work with your existing website. Before you know it you’ve probably spent a good few hours on research alone. It’s then time to choose a host for your blog and then design the blog from a template (unless you are a CSS expert of course!). Of course the design is the fun part but it can also be an amazing time waster – it would be very easy for you as a blog novice to spend up to 10 hours on the research and design phase alone. Now think about how much you are worth as an hourly rate… would you pay someone else this amount to design a blog for you – of course you wouldn’t!!
This is where a Virtual Assistant steps in, your VA is experienced in completing these tasks and a Virtual Assistant with blogging experience could have your new blog up and running within an hour or two. When talking to potential clients we always discuss the value in our Virtual Assistant service, it is not only in the work we carry out for you but the true value is in the time you save yourself and therefore can spend on making your business more profitable.
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Our UK Virtual Receptionist Service is growing in popularity – but why I hear you ask?
What happens to your calls when you are in meetings, can’t get to the phone, want to take a holiday or just need to put your head down and get on with the job at hand? You could hire a receptionist to sit in your office and answer the phone… but that comes at a price which most small businesses are unable to pay. A virtual receptionist service like ours works by diverting your calls to a special number, which is then answered by a professional receptionist in your company name and they handle the call in the way you instruct. You may like to receive a text message or email or even have important calls transferred through to you. All of this is possible for a low monthly cost plus call handling charges as you incur them.
We are so confident that you will love our Virtual Receptionist service we are now offering a FREE one month trial – so sign up today and stop worrying that you might be losing important business!
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I’ve just come back from my annual holiday, one week away with my family to a remote beach house – no laptop, no checking mobile email, no online networking, no work at all… and it felt great! I think life balance is so important for small business owners yet many entrepreneurs find it impossible to switch off or give themselves a true break. My argument is that if you have good systems in place your business will continue to thrive while you are away, you will return to your business feeling recharged and raring to go!
A few easy to implement strategies will give you that all important time away and ability to relax while you are away from your business.
1) Out of office on your email – very simple to implement and important so people know when they can expect a response.
2) Phone answering – if your business is serviced based and cannot rely on a voicemail advising you are away then you should investigate ‘virtual receptionist‘ services.
3) A good assistant whether it be ‘virtual’ or in your office – knowing your business is in good hands is the key to being able to relax and unwind while you are away.
4) The confidence in the knowledge that the world keeps spinning even when you aren’t checking emails every few minutes or checking out Facebook updates regularly.
So go on and treat yourself to a break at least once a year, both you and your business will benefit and be better for it!
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With the recent economic downturn many businesses are assessing their outgoing expenses and office space can quickly swallow up a large proportion of your income. If your lease is up for renewal soon why not consider going ‘virtual’? Many people dismiss the virtual office concept because they don’t understand how it can work for them.
When you consider that buildings consume 20 per cent of the world’s resources, 12% of its water and 40% of its energy it makes sound environmental sense to consider setting up a ‘Virtual Office’. The financial savings can be paramount to business survival in difficult times, when you add up rent, rates and insurance you soon discover that your physical office takes up a significant part of your expenditure. Then there’s the added expense of parking or public transport, electricity, heating and maintenance. A virtual office is also looked upon favourably by employees as it offers them greater flexibility and enhances their work-life balance.
So how does a ‘virtual’ office work? Your team works from home with the option of renting meeting space for team meetings in serviced offices or local buildings. These spaces can also be useful for businesses that need to meet with clients as you only pay for the meeting room when you need it. You can even set up a mail forwarding service so you have a physical address in the city or town of your choice but the mail can be sent to your home address. Your business can have a central telephone number that diverts to a particular team member or you may choose to utilise a Virtual Receptionist Service for your telephone answering. Your team then works from home, connected by the internet and depending on the size of your organisation this can be your own networked system or smaller enterprises may use a file sharing service provided on the internet. Team members communicate via email, phone, fax and Skype as well as face to face meetings when required. A lot of business owners worry about staff productivity if they go down the virtual office route as they can’t watch their staff however if you have trustworthy staff you should find that their productivity increases along with their job satisfaction.
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Versatile Assistant currently has several licence opportunities available in the UK and Australia for high-calibre PAs.
If you have at least 5 years experience at a Senior PA level and would like to be your own boss, consider this opportunity knocking.
How would you like to be part of a dynamic and well-respected brand which provides all the support you need to ensure your VA business is as successful as possible? Our licence opportunity is ideal for PAs wanting to make the transition from paid employment to running their own business. Visit our dedicated Virtual Assistant website to learn more and download an info pack.
You’ll be supplied with Versatile Assistant-branded marketing materials including a website, client intranet system, monthly newsletter for distribution to your contacts, business cards, brochure, flyer and even an online marketing strategy. You do the local marketing, networking and client work, Versatile Assistant takes care of the rest.
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