Why should SMEs hire virtual assistants?

As your company grows and as more things need to get done, you’ll inevitably need to expand your workforce. You will require extra sets of hands from other people to keep up with the demands of the business. 

However, make sure that as your team grows you won’t be sacrificing the quality of your services or products. 

One way to get the help you need is by hiring more people into your team. Another option you can look into is getting a virtual assistant or VA for particular tasks. HOPLA, a leading Philippines outsourcing supplier, shares their insights on this topic.

What is a virtual assistant?

A virtual assistant provides services that are done online. Most people are familiar with virtual assistants who specialize in performing administrative tasks. 

What they are not usually aware of is that there are also VAs with specialized job functions. These VAs are typically skilled in tasks like creating content, managing social media accounts, and keeping financial information.

Some smaller companies and businesses may think that hiring virtual assistants is a luxury. In reality,  it is actually a practical business strategy. 

Top 4 reasons why SMEs should hire virtual assistants

Here are some of the reasons why SME decision makers like you should get VAs as a part of the team:

You understand the value of time

Managing a growing business requires much of your precious time. But even so, you still feel like you need to do more to make sure that everything’s running smoothly. 

One thing you can do is to let go of the small tasks that take up a lot of time so that you can spend more hours on tasks that really matter. 

Let a virtual assistant take care of managing your social media accounts, particularly your Facebook and Twitter profiles. 

Make use of the time you’ve freed up for activities and projects that directly impact the growth of your company.

Reducing overhead costs is a priority for your company

Hiring a new full-time employee is a time-consuming activity that comes with a lot of added expenses. In hiring in-house workers, you will be required to provide healthcare benefits, additional computers, and other office equipment. 

Not to mention, you will also need to train your newly hired staff and give them all the resources they need to perform their daily tasks effectively. 

If you’re in dire need of extra hands but hiring a new full-time employee is not in your cards, then a VA can help you out. 

VAs have extremely lower rates compared to full-time employees, especially if you hire VAs from other countries, particularly developing countries. On top of that, you don’t need to provide them with tools or a desk in your office just so they have their own resources for their job. 

Additionally, VAs usually already have various experiences working with different clients from different industries. This means that you will not need to train them as they already know how to execute specific tasks properly. 

You want your staff to become more productive

It’s difficult to focus on one thing when you’re worrying about a hundred others. Note that it’s never healthy to wear too many hats. 

Don’t sweat the small stuff when someone else can do it for you. Let a virtual assistant take over the non-essential tasks that are still on your plate. You can pass on to your VA simple tasks like managing your schedule, booking flights, hotel reservations, or answering your calls. 

This way you can focus on your core processes and think of innovative ways to help support your business growth and development. 

Hiring a virtual assistant – in conclusion

Task delegation is something that many entrepreneurs and SME owners struggle with. It can be a challenge to transfer the responsibility for certain tasks to another person when you’ve built your business from the ground up with your very own hands. 

However, you need to do this so that you can take up other responsibilities that will grow your business and market.

HOPLA is a leading outsourcing supplier, specialising in virtual assistant services as well as other verticals.