The dynamic business environment brings a lot of new challenges and exciting opportunities for small business owners. But staying ahead is getting increasingly more challenging and more demanding than ever. It requires greater effort to keep your business on track, and you may need an extra pair of hands to avoid overloading yourself.

While technology has added complexity for business owners, like facing an era of social media marketing with its ever-changing framework, it has also allowed businesses to improve their processes and paved the way for Virtual Assistants (VA). One of the most popular ways to begin outsourcing is to help reduce the overwhelming feeling you get from running a business.

Below are ways a virtual assistant can help streamline your business:

More hours to your day

The significant advantages of hiring a virtual assistant are not financial but time-saving. By delegating and outsourcing daily, essential tasks, business owners get more time to handle the important stuff instead of getting bogged down by all the mundane tasks.

Online presence

As a small business owner, social media is essential to stay relevant and competitive in existing markets. But managing them is a time-suck most solopreneurs can’t afford – but your virtual assistant can.

Promote growth

Virtual assistants can help create content, maintain relevant websites, and other mediums to connect with your target audience. They can remove the more minor, time-consuming tasks and allow you to focus on more of the big picture stuff.

Reduce employee-related expenses

When you hire a virtual assistant, all you need to shell out is the agreed-upon compensation — typically an hourly or a package fee. Forget about health insurance, pension, and other employee benefits. And since VAs work remotely, you don’t have to bear the costs of an office space or provide their equipment.

Scale your business

If you temporarily need more hands for a rush job or seasonal demand, hire a VA. If you’re taking the first steps towards business expansion, hire a VA. And if you’re cutting costs to improve margins, it’s so much easier to let go of a VA than an employee. Hiring a virtual assistant is a sound strategy for scaling your business.

Value for money

A virtual assistant can take on the duties critical to your business — from planning and organizing your calendar to updating your blogs and handling your social media; there is little a skilled VA cannot do. The fantastic thing about working with a VA is that they quickly soak your painstakingly accumulated wisdom like a sponge, so they can adapt to how you want specific tasks completed.

Focus on core business areas

Growing your business doesn’t have to mean drowning yourself in a sea of (trivial) tasks. When you started up, little did you know you’d spend your days juggling entrepreneurial responsibilities with administrative errands. Be smart about choosing areas that need your attention and let your virtual assistant take care of the rest.

In today’s fast-paced business world, work and personal life can be difficult to balance as your day to day tasks can quickly start to pile up. When there are a lot of things bogging you down and you spend several hours each week on repetitive or menial tasks, it can be tricky to stay on top of everything. This is where a virtual assistant steps in.

A virtual assistant is an individual who provides support services to a business from a remote location. Many of them work as contractors, although some are hired as full-time remote workers. They are employed by companies of all sizes and across many industries.

The birth of the first virtual assistants began in the 1990s during the dawn of technology when reliable internet was brought to more homes.  And businesses realized employees can operate out of their homes and still get the job done. From then on, it has benefited many people in more ways than they could possibly imagine and it now has become one of the most prominent jobs developed by the IT industry.

Virtual assistants typically perform administrative tasks but they may also assist with any other elements depending on the business needs. Some of the most common tasks and responsibilities of a virtual assistant include:

• Manage calendar and appointments
• Organize meetings٫ travels and accommodations
• Email management
• Project management
• Manage social media accounts and content management
• Blog post writing, graphic design and marketing
• Online research for materials and sources for presentations
• Data entry
• Manage a contact list and lead generation
• Provide customer service as first point of contact
• Personal errands (e.g. purchasing gifts online)

One of the major advantages of hiring a virtual assistant is that they can often perform a variety of tasks on a flexible contract and you only have to pay for their time. This level of flexibility can save business owners thousands of dollars every year, while also giving them the opportunity to expand their contract as their business continues to grow and requires more services.

Time is your most important business resource. If you are struggling to grow your business simply because you are wearing too many hats and you’re finding it hard to juggle work and personal life, it may be time to outsource some of your tasks to a virtual assistant. 

In the end, having a virtual assistant can help ease your workload significantly and change the way you approach work and, ultimately, the way you live. And as working from home has become more accepted, and businesses find hiring a virtual assistant is more cost-effective, there is no doubt that the demand for virtual assistants will continue on a steady rise for many more years. 

You can send a thank you via many ways nowadays – email communications, social messages, and handwritten notes.  Reminding customers that you are appreciative of their business is one of the best ways to keep doing business. Trust me – you’ll be glad you did.  If you take the extra time and effort to send a hand written note, you may even get a customer for life or at least a brand-ambassador.  

Thank-You Cards Help Create Personal Connections

While many businesses send a thank-you email, sending a physical card will help you stand out from your competition. Taking time to handwrite your message demonstrates an extra level of care and includes a personal touch. 

Studies have shown that 38% of customers attribute a good customer experience to personalization, and a good customer experience is what will keep delighting your customers to continuing coming back to you.  You will be 50% more likely to get the best possible kind of new business…word of mouth referrals.

Make It Personal

If you want to increase profitability, get personal!  Be sure to include details specific to the recipient so they know that it is a personal message, not a generic one. Please – do not include any sales or promotions; the card should only contain messages of gratitude and thanks.  In a highly digital touch world, getting a handwritten thank you note is very meaningful.  

Details Matter

When choosing a card, pay attention to details. Things such as paper type, paperweight, color, and card design all matter. Your card choice should be professional, but also show a little personality. A high-quality card will help you to stand out and your client will notice your attention to detail and your ability to follow-through. 

Timing Is Everything

Do not allow too much time to pass from your interaction with your client to sending out your card. Send them as soon as possible. This way, the details from the interaction will be fresh in your mind as well as the recipient’s. Promptly sending a thank-you card also demonstrates to your clients that saying thank you is a priority for you. 

Think Outside of the Box

A thank you note, may not have to look like a thank you note…send a birthday card to your client.  They will know you thought of them on a special occasion and you don’t even have to say thank you!  Sending a birthday card shows you appreciate them as a client.  

Take 5 minutes out of your day to write a thank you note to your client.  It will make you feel good and them too.  If you don’t have time to write a thank-you note, this is the perfect task to give to a virtual assistant.  

As a business owner, especially a solopreneur, you probably need help running your business.  The first step in getting help, is acknowledging you cannot run your business alone. Depending on where you are in your business may depend on how many people you need to help you out.  As you grow, this number typically grows. 

One of those people you may need on your team is a virtual assistant (your new right hand).  A virtual assistant is someone who assists you with various types of business tasks – administrative, business development, social media, marketing, or other tasks.  By removing everyday tasks from your to-do list frees up your time to focus on tasks others cannot perform.

Virtual assistants are especially in demand by entrepreneurs and online businesses who don’t want to spend money on an office space for staff. As well as business owners who only need part time help, but do not want to offer benefits.  Virtual Assistants are contractors and do not fall into the payroll category. 

Location:

Typically, a virtual assistant works remotely, often from a home office, maybe in another state or country.  If you choose one who is out of the country, it may be cheaper, but you may have a difficult time with the language barrier. 

Hours:

A Virtual Assistant can be part of full time.  You need to find one that will meet your hour requirements.  There are virtual assistants out there that can full-fill your time requirements. 

Rates:

Depending on the virtual assistant, some may be paid on an hourly rate, a fixed fee per task or month.  If you are paying your virtual assistant hourly, you only pay for the time he/she works on your projects.  You do not pay while your virtual assistant is on vacation, on the phone with a friend/spouse/child, etc. You do not have to pay for their supplies or benefits. 

Tasks:

As with rates and locations, the tasks a virtual assistant offers may differ also.  There are some that only offer social media assistance, others may only offer financial assistance.  Here are some of the tasks a virtual assistant may offer:

• Administrative Tasks
• Responding to emails
• Client Billing
• Follow up on Leads
• Send reminders about important dates
• Graphic Design

Before you hire a virtual assistant, it is in both party’s best interest for you to do some homework.  This includes:

• Figure out what tasks you need help with
• Figure out your budget
• Ask your network for virtual assistant recommendations
• Set up phone interviews

If you are ready to hire a virtual assistant, contact TimeHelperz and set up your complimentary consultation.