The Business Benefits of Outsourcing
If you have a small business, chances are you spend half your day run ragged. Outsourcing to a VA can save you time and money, but when should you do it and what type of Virtual Assistant is right for you?
There are many benefits to outsourcing to a tech VA for businesses. When done correctly, it can save the company time and money while also improving efficiency. In this blog post, we will explore when a business should outsource and what tasks are the best to outsource. We’ll also look at some of the benefits of outsourcing and how it can help your business grow!
When to Outsource to a Virtual Assistant
The best time to outsource is when it will save you money or improve efficiency. For example, if you have your own business, you may not have the time or resources to handle everything you need to do. This can leave you feeling stressed and overwhelmed. If this is you, it’s time to consider outsourcing before it has a detrimental impact on your business and more importantly your health. That’s a big red warning flag telling you that now might be the perfect time to hire a virtual assistant to delegate tasks to.
What Tasks to Outsource
Not all tasks are suitable for outsourcing. When deciding to hire a virtual assistant and what tasks to outsource, consider which tasks are the most time-consuming or difficult for your company. For example, if you’re a small business owner, you may not have the time or resources to handle all of your social media platforms. In this case, it would make sense to outsource your posting tasks to a professional. Other common tasks that businesses outsource include digital marketing and tech tasks which is where a tech virtual assistant comes into their own.
Benefits of Outsourcing to a Tech VA
There are many benefits to outsourcing to a virtual assistant for businesses. When done correctly, it can save the company time and money while also improving efficiency.
Some benefits of outsourcing include:
– Cost savings: When you outsource a task to a virtual assistant, you no longer have to pay an employee to do it. This can lead to significant cost savings for your business.
– Improved efficiency: outsourcing gives you the ability to focus on other areas of your business. This can lead to improved efficiency and productivity.
– Access to expert skills: When you pass on work to tech virtual assistants, you have access to experts. This can lead to work being completed quicker, to a higher standard and can give you better results overall.
– Time savings: Probably the most obvious but also the most important. With a Tech VA taking care of things, you will free up your own time to concentrate on what is important to you.
Outsourcing is a great option for businesses who want to save time and money while also improving efficiency. If you’re considering outsourcing, be sure to consider the benefits we’ve listed above!
Some business owners may worry that working with a Tech virtual assistant will lead to a loss of control over their company. However, when done correctly, outsourcing can actually help you gain more control, because when you outsource a task, you are able to focus on other areas of your business.
What Should I Outsource?
If you’re like most business owners, you wear a lot of hats. You’re the CEO, CFO, and often times the cleaning staff too. There are just not enough hours in the day to get everything done, which is why bringing someone in early is the key to success. But this doesn’t mean employing someone when all you need is a helping hand for a few hours a week or need lots of different types of work to be completed.
Hiring your first virtual assistant can be scary, but you can always start with a trial project, here are some ideas for the first types of tasks you might want to outsource before committing to retained hours:
- in depth research tasks
- dealing with customer queries on Facebook for a weekend
- video editing your latest reels for Instagram
- working on setting up a project management tool
- looking at the software tools you use to see if there are better alternatives
- posting to your social media accounts for a set period
- updating customer data on your CRM
- creating social media graphics in Canva
- adding Calendly to your website for scheduling meetings
- updating your PowerPoint template for sales presentations
- updating banners on your social media pages
- creating a template for social media posts
- online research tasks
So, you can see there are so many tasks that a tech VA can take off of your hands to help your online business better perform.
Virtual Assistants don’t just do Administrative Tasks
Below are seven important tasks that you should consider giving to someone else:
Accounting and bookkeeping
Unless you have a degree in accounting, chances are your bookkeeping skills could use some improvement. Hiring a professional accountant will ensure that your books are accurate and up-to-date. You can find virtual assistants that can take on your bookkeeping, but it’s always best to use a qualified accountant to prepare your year-end accounts and tax obligations. These are specialized skills and so we would always recommend working with a fully qualified and certified professional.
Marketing Strategy
Creating a marketing strategy can be time consuming and confusing. There are lots of companies that will help you work out what your strategy needs to be, this is often a one off piece of work. Most Virtual Assistants won’t have the skillset to work on strategy with you. What they can do is help you implement it by your outsourcing tasks to them.
Web design and development
If you’re not a web developer, then chances are you shouldn’t be designing or developing your website. Hire a professional to create a site that is both visually appealing and easy to use. Again, personally we would advise to work with a website designer rather than a virtual assistant, unless you already have a template/design in place.
Customer service
Provide your customers with the best possible experience by outsourcing your customer service needs. This way, you can focus on keeping your business running smoothly while someone else takes care of your customers. Most general and admin virtual assistants will help with this. They can answer our phone calls and take on associated admin tasks like recording orders and taking messages.
Data entry
Data entry is one of those tasks that is time-consuming and tedious. Why not hire a virtual assistant to do it for you so you can focus on more important things? As answering phone calls, this is one of the more traditional tasks you think of when visualising what virtual assistants might do.
Tech and Digital Marketing tasks
When it comes to your website and digital marketing tasks, there are always ongoing tasks. A tech VA will be able to handle all of these tasks for you. They will be able to get the job done quickly and efficiently. They tend to handle more complex tasks than a general admin virtual assistant such as updating plugins, helping you with hosting issues, adding meta data to pages on your website and setting up funnels.
Administration
Diary management, answering emails, updating systems are all administration tasks that you could outsource to a traditional virtual assistant. Think of it like having your own PA, hence the phrase virtual assistant. It’s pretty much the same expect one doesn’t sit in the same office.
Do I Need a Tech VA?
If you find yourself constantly working long hours, spending too much time working out how to make changes to your website, or if you feel like you can’t keep up with the latest automation software, then it might be time to hire a Tech Virtual Assistant (VA).
Here are some signs that it’s time to take the plunge and outsource some of your work to a Tech VA (Virtual Assistant):
You’re always playing catch-up.
If it feels like you’re always behind on your emails, social media, or blog posts, then it might be time to get some help. A tech VA can manage your online presence so that you can focus on other aspects of your business. Social media management is one of the most sought after areas that businesses need help with.
You don’t have time for the things you love.
If you find yourself skipping your nightly Netflix binge or blowing off weekends with friends because you’re too busy working, then it’s time to get some help. A tech VA can take care of the tech and digital marketing tasks that are eating up your free time so that you can relax and enjoy your life.
You’re constantly losing things.
If you can’t seem to keep track of your passwords, usernames, or even where you put your phone, then a tech VA can be a lifesaver. They can help you organise your information, streamline your processes and keep track of important details so that you don’t have to worry about losing anything important.
You’re spending too much time on social media.
If you find yourself constantly scrolling through Facebook or Instagram, then it might be time to hire a tech VA. They can help you manage your social media accounts so that you can focus on other aspects of your business.
You’re not very creative
A virtual assistant can use tools like Canva to create social media templates, PDF’s, and e-books. They can also create landing pages, sales pages, thank you pages or even work on your email marketing layouts.
You don’t know which platforms to use
If you’re not sure whether to use Karta, Kajabi, Teachable, what you should use to manage your email. What the best blogging platform is. Or indeed any online platforms that can help you streamline your business. A Tech VA can help you decide what to use and set everything up for you saving you hours and hours of headaches.
You don’t know how to create a funnel
If you want to create a sales funnel but have no idea how, then it’s time to contact a tech VA. A virtual assistant can help you create a funnel that will attract leads and convert them into customers.
You don’t know how to set up an email list.
If you’re not sure how to set up an email list or how to use it effectively, then a tech VA can help. A virtual assistant can manage your email list and help you grow your business by developing a strategy for reaching your target audience.
You’re not sure how to use SEO.
If you want to do better online, then it’s time to hire a tech VA. They can help you with things like adding meta data, internal links, alt text and turning your headings into H tags to help search engines better understand your website content.
You’re not sure how to use analytics.
If you want to track your website’s performance but don’t know where to start? A tech VA can install Google Analytics on your website and set up automated reporting so that you can see your stats on a regular basis, straight to your inbox. A virtual assistant can help you set up search console too, this gives you even more information about your website and how well it is performing.
You’re wasting too much time on administrative tasks.
If you find yourself wasting time on administrative tasks like making changes to web pages, updating your form, or merging email lists then a virtual assistant could help. They can also help you automate your business so that you can focus on more important things. Instead of you spending hours staring at a screen wondering how to send a thank you email once a lead completes a form on your website.
You don’t have enough time in the day.
If you feel like you don’t have enough time in the day, then it’s definitely time to hire a tech VA. You will wonder what you did to manage before you worked with a virtual assistant, they are literally game changers in terms of freeing up your time.
How to Manage Virtual Assistant Tasks Effectively
As discussed, as your business grows, you’ll likely need to outsource some work. Working with a virtual assistant can be a great way to get things done more efficiently and free up your time to focus on other aspects of your business. But it’s important to manage outsourcing to a Tech virtual assistant effectively, or you may end up with subpar results or unhappy customers. Here are a few tips:
– Define the scope of the work clearly from the outset. What exactly do you need done? Be as specific as possible. Virtual assistants are very flexible, but they can’t do everything, you need to explain up front what work will be involved, timescales and how much involvement you will have in the project/work. This will allow you both to decide if working together will, well, work!
– Choose a Tech VA that you feel confident will deliver quality work. Ask for examples of their previous work and make sure you have an initial call to have a fairly informal chat. Personalities and relationships play an important part in the success of working with a virtual assistant and it’s important that you will both get along with each other and your individual ways of working.
– Set clear expectations for timelines, communication, and deliverables. Make sure both you and the virtual assistants you work with are on the same page from the start. That doesn’t mean things can’t change as the work progresses, it may be that you are fairly cautious at first. But as you continue to work together and there is an increase in the level of trust, you are able to pass more and more work to your virtual assistant to complete.
– Keep lines of communication open throughout. Check in regularly to ensure that everything is going according to plan. Agree a weekly/monthly call up front, whatever you believe is required. this will help you set your virtual assistant tasks in a way that is better understood, sometimes email just isn’t the best format.
By following these tips, you can outsource work with confidence, knowing that you’ll end up with a great finished result. So don’t be afraid to delegate to a Tech VA – it can be a real game-changer for your business!
Many virtual assistants that look after this type of work can help guide you if you are unsure on the process to follow.
If you need help with your Tech and Digital Marketing tasks, then why not get in touch today for an initial call to discuss your requirements.
Our team of Tech VAs are ready to help you with all the tasks that you don’t want to or shouldn’t be doing yourself.