The demand for virtual assistant services has skyrocketed over the last few years, as more business people and executives realise the extent of their skills and the benefits they bring. A virtual assistant can be the ideal ally if you are experiencing business growth or don’t have enough time to do other non-essential duties for your work or personal life, and they can give you more freedom to do the things you want to do. But feeling that you need one is still different from having proof that you need one, so here’s how you could properly determine if you need the services of a virtual assistant.

Do you need one?
This may be the foremost question on your mind at this point, but one thing’s for sure: hiring a professional to work with you on a remote basis will always have its merits. The thing is, virtual assistants aren’t your employees – you hire them to fulfil a contract or project, and they work as contractors or freelancers. Since they are not your employees, you don't have to deal with employer responsibilities such as National Insurance contributions, medical benefits, holiday and sick leaves, and employee taxes. It's a significant benefit in itself, and alongside this comes the fact that you will only pay them for the actual work they do, thus saving you more money as well.

But going back to the question: do you need one? You may want to get one if you:

Are overwhelmed with the sheer amount of tasks you have to accomplish and can hardly fit it all into your regular workday
Have too much paperwork to deal with, and neither you nor your staff can adequately deal with it without letting go of more essential tasks
Would like to make use of your time wisely and productively and are tired of doing tasks that are not essential, such as answering emails and calls, managing your schedule, keeping your database updated, and managing your website or social media accounts
Cannot fit another full-time employee into your budget or don’t want to add to your responsibility as a regular employer
Need to find a way to deal with rising stress or anxiety effectively
Need someone to tackle a task that you don’t have the skills for or don’t have time to educate yourself on.

A virtual assistant can perform many tasks and duties for you, and their skills aren't just relegated to data entry or secretarial work. Here's a list of the jobs they can do:

Managing your office
Managing your database and spreadsheets
Booking your appointments and handling your schedule and diary
Finding ways to market your business online, such as coming up with a strategic business plan or digital marketing campaign
Dealing with your SEO requirements as well as your IT requirements, photo editing, graphic design, and website management/design
Handling your accounting/bookkeeping needs plus your payroll requirements
Creating blog entries and managing your social media platforms
Handling various personal tasks, such as budgeting, running your household, and so on.

Whilst it’s true that you may well be able to handle all the above yourself, a virtual assistant gives you other, more invaluable benefits: freedom from stress combined with peace of mind.

Article kindly provided by pink-spaghetti.co.uk

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