How To Find And Hire A Virtual Assistant For Your Business
At first glance, the terms solopreneurs and entrepreneurs might seem interchangeable, but some key differences exist, if you wish to partake of these paths, you need to know them.
So who are you out of these two? That’s something that you’ll have to figure out for yourself – read on to do just that!
5 Key Differences Between Solopreneurs and Entrepreneurs
1. Need for Investors
The initial thought when establishing a business or being an entrepreneur is the constant need for investors or money. However, there are solopreneurs who do not adhere to that concept of financing. Solopreneurs normally operate independently without having the need for investors.
Meanwhile, entrepreneurs allot time to search for potential investments in order to expand their businesses or scale them up. Entrepreneurs typically have a team that they work with for them to move forward.
2. Attitude Towards Planning
Most solopreneurs do not have a definite business strategy or idea, whereas, entrepreneurs’ goal is to scale their business with objectives that have to be achieved — they have an established business plan from the get-go.
More so, entrepreneurs have to present their business strategies to investors in order to gain help in funding their businesses. But solopreneurs are more creative and flexible in terms of how they want to run their respective businesses — they may not have a strategic plan on how they want their business to be at the beginning.
3. Work Setup
In terms of work setup, solopreneurs usually juggle an eight to five job while operating their business. But on the other hand, entrepreneurs devote all their working hours to managing and operating their businesses. Many solopreneurs mistake themselves as entrepreneurs without realizing that they solely run their businesses.
4. Need for an Office Space
Most solopreneurs work remotely, meaning they do not get things done at an office. They have the freedom to work anywhere. However, as mentioned, since most solopreneurs still have their business as a side hustle, they still have yet established a structure and team for their business. As a result, they rely on their own capabilities and skill sets. But on a brighter note, solopreneurs’ lack of workplace rules leads them to be more creative and free. Depending on their working habits, remote work could be advantageous.
5. Business Management
A solopreneur is essentially a one-man-does-all businessman as they operate and run their business alone. In contrast, entrepreneurs have the luxury to outsource tasks that they are not happy to work on or those tasks that they’re not an expert in. Entrepreneurs mostly have a team to help them operate their businesses. In this narrative, entrepreneurs have higher risks to manage as they have added responsibility of managing the people they hired.
Why should you hire a Virtual Assistant?
Now, why should you hire virtual assistants? What can they bring to the table? Well, virtual assistants are freelancers who offer different expertise and skill sets depending on the needs of the business. Virtual assistants served and supported various business operations regardless of size and scale. Any business owner who has hired virtual assistants considers them as life-savers as they relieve their stress by doing the tasks that they are not happy doing. If you hire a virtual assistant, your business will become more seamless in terms of operations and more organized in structure.
Do you want to know more benefits of hiring a virtual assistant? Read more to find out
Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Assistant
1. Drive Business Growth
Virtual assistants provide significant contributions to a growing business. They develop the kind of brand image you want for your brand through their specific skill sets, whether it be in graphic design, email marketing, social media management, website development and maintenance, SEO, and more. Doing all these tasks altogether is not possible if you are looking to scale or grow in a timeframe, so having some help will really benefit your business.
2. Reduced Operational Cost
Building a business requires you to really shell out capital and maintaining it also comes with its corresponding expenses. Outsourcing virtual assistants is a great way to reduce operational costs. By doing so, you do not have to rent office spaces, provide training, and other employment costs because virtual assistants work remotely, and train and maintain themselves. More so, you also have the choice to hire them full-time or part-time, depending on how much you need them for the business.
3. Increased Productivity and Efficiency
Hiring virtual assistants can improve your productivity and efficiency by getting work done in a lesser time and cost in comparison to you doing tasks alone. About 87.7% of virtual assistants are compensated on an hourly basis. This means you can pay them according to pre-defined accomplishments. In addition, since virtual assistants are already skilled and experienced workers, you do not have to provide extensive training for them. You can just assign them tasks without having to set aside time to train them on how to do it.
4. Add Business Flexibility
Virtual assistants do not adhere to structured schedules, you have the option to demand the time you need for them to work that is beneficial for your business. Virtual assistants are one of the most flexible working schedules as they work remotely. They can be the most suitable for tasks that are to be done at the most inconvenient times.
5. Work-Life Balance
You will want to hire virtual assistants if you want to achieve a work-life balance. They can help you by simply giving you extra time as they can work on those menial tasks that take a significant amount of time to get done for you. You can finally focus more of your attention on tasks that are more crucial in scaling your business such as planning and strategizing. And the remaining time that was freed can be used to maintain personal relationships or for relaxation.
Steps to Hiring Virtual Assistants
Step 1: List the tasks that you want to Outsource
If you plan to hire virtual assistants, you may begin by listing all the tasks and responsibilities that you want to delegate. If these are tasks that you are currently handling, develop SOPs for it. And if you wish to hire virtual assistants with specialized skills, create a document listing all the outcomes that you want them to accomplish instead.
Step 2: Create a Job Description
Once you have listed the tasks that you want to outsource, write the job description for the roles you want to delegate the moment you hire virtual assistants. Those tasks that require skills for specialized virtual assistants should be excluded from the job description for general virtual assistants.
Step 3: Post your Job Ad on Hiring Platforms
If your job description to hire virtual assistants is ready, post them on hiring platforms online and start accepting their applications. Another option is to go to a virtual assistant agency such as SmartVAs as they already have a pool of competent virtual assistants readied for you.
Step 4: Schedule interviews and conduct a competency test
Schedule interviews with at least five of your top candidates. It would be best to have a video conference with them for you to gauge more on their soft skills such as their communication skills and personality. Also, make your candidates complete a competency test to check if they have the right skill sets for the job. Lastly, select the best person for the job according to the results of the interview and competency test.
Where to find Virtual Assistants?
SmartVAs is the most promising choice if you want to hire virtual assistants. Why? Because they will offer you a team of virtual assistants. It means that they have it all for you. SmartVAs can provide you with virtual assistant services depending on your needs and the cool thing is that all of the services offered are just for one plan — you get a team of reliable VAs for the price of one! You will never have to be anxious about all the tasks you find laborious and uncomfortable in doing again. SmartVAs will take care of them for you!