What is a Virtual Assistant?

Hire a Virtual Assistant if you need help but can’t afford a full or part-time employee.
With the advent of computers, emails and the internet, there’s a new kind of service being offered, called a VA or Virtual Assistant.  A Virtual Assistant is a person who works from their own home.  They supply their own office equipment, provide their own working space, pay their own tax and annual leave – you pay only a fixed hourly rate for time spent on task.  Due to the nature of their work, a Virtual Assistant is someone that can work from anywhere in the world.

To run a successful business these days you can’t be everything and sometimes have to admit you aren’t good at getting accounts out, chasing outstanding debts, doing your bookwork, writing promotion emails, writing wording for brochures, data entry, desktop publishing... the list goes on!  

Question: Why hire a plumber if you have some tools and a basic knowledge to do the job?
Answer: Because a plumber will do it quicker and cheaper than you would yourself, with less stress to yourself.
Think of a Virtual Assistant in the same way as you do your Plumber.

A Virtual Assistant provides a whole host of services and ideally you would hire someone in to take care of all those administration tasks.  But that can create another lot of problems for you - taxes, work space, a computer and software equipment, and your business may not be able to afford to hire someone even part-time.  There is also the risk in taking on an employee (even a part time one) that they won’t work out, or your business may change and there is no longer a place for them – these days it can cost a fortune in both lawyer’s fees and in your time to terminate an employee.  With a Virtual Assistant you do not run that risk.

The wonderful thing about a Virtual Assistant is that if you only need 2 hours work done this week, you only pay for 2 hours.  If in 2 weeks time you need 6 hours work done, then you only pay for that.  If it’s only a small job that takes 20 minutes, you pay for 20 minutes!  With someone you hire to work in your office, if there is no work that day, you still have to pay them for the time they are there, playing cards on the computer.

We use a virtual assistant, I have asked her to do all manner of things, that aren’t on her list of skills, and she does them happily and quickly.

Simply email or ring them asking them to do whatever it is you want, leaving you to work on your business.

Virtual assistance are a smart choice in today’s economy, a staff member that you only ever pay for the work they actually do. Contact your virtual assistant today and get things happening.

Visit yourva.co.nz Office Help when you need it

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