VA is short for Virtual Assistant. Virtual Assistants are a new generation of business administrators and assistants who work virtually from their own office, serving several clients on a freelance basis. Advancements in broadband technology make it possible to perform many tasks that traditionally could only be done in the client’s office by the traditional PA or Personal Assistant or Administrator. Instructions are communicated by email and telephone and occasionally, but not necessarily, by face-to-face meetings.

Who are VA’s?

VA’s have typically come from PA backgrounds and have gained a wealth of experience and skills during their careers. To reclaim a better work life balance, perhaps to accommodate children and family needs, they set up office from their homes, offering their skills on a freelance basis, in partnership with their clients. Because they work virtually, they needn’t be based in the same country as their client. As they are self-employed service-providers and business owners in their own right, they are as dedicated to serving their clients well as this reflects back on them.

What’s the benefit of using a VA?

Many small businesses, consultants and sole traders can take advantage of top skills without having to provide space, equipment or employee issues like PAYE, holidays and sick leave. A VA charges you for just the hours they work for you, a more flexible way of taking care of busy and quiet periods. The alternative, of engaging PAYE help, you risk having to pay staff for doing nothing more than turn up during your quiet periods and them not being able to cope with the busy periods in their fixed hours.

Who uses a VA?

All sorts of businessmen and women are realising the benefits of using a VA, including start-up businesses, entrepreneurs, multiple business owners, consultants, coaches, non-executive directors, businesses that are growing, businesses with fluctuating workloads or projects. They use VA’s to ease their workloads and/or free up their time to gain a better work life balance and/or do the things they are good at in their businesses.

What can a VA do?

Typically, any task that doesn’t directly generate income but is essential to the well-being of the business is a task that many business people avoid doing either because they give it low priority or because it’s not something they are not particularly efficient at. They could also be tasks that they simply don’t have time to do because they are too busy doing the things their business is about, for example, a consultant may be busy with patients can’t also be taking reservations at the same time. Copy and audio typing by a touch typist at 70 words per minute, would take far longer by someone who types with two fingers at 20 words per minute at best. Typical tasks that VA’s take care of include:

What do VA’s typically charge?

The standard rate in the UK is between £20 to £30 per hour. Prices can vary depending on whether the VA has specialised skills. There is no Employers’ tax or National Insurance to pay, no holiday or sickness pay.

You don’t need to provide office space, desk, chair, PC and software for the VA, which you would if you employed someone either PAYE or agency temp. You don’t pay for unproductive time of breaks for cups of tea or chats around the coffee machine or employees taking advantage of surfing the net, abusing their employer’s time and money.

How do I select the Perfect VA?

Step One: The Start

Step Two: The Job Specification

You should have a list of tasks that could be delegated to a VA. Taking a look at the list will give you an idea of the minimum skill-set that your VA needs to have. There may be other qualities that you may wish to note at this point like how important is the location of the VA going to be – do you need to have face-to-face meetings? Or could phone, email, fax and post work just as efficiently? Are there particular days or hours that the VA will need to be available, for example if you require call-minding, you may need your phones minded during normal office hours. Or perhaps if it’s invoicing work or typing work, does it matter whether its done during working hours or not?

Step Three: The Search

There are various sources to find VA’s including networking, web directories and searches, VA organisations like the www.IAVA.org, word of mouth, local papers and directories. A professional VA will have a website and a lot of information can be gleaned from this. Their website is their shop window. How professional is it? Attention to detail like spelling, grammar and layout. What are their specialities? How does it match up with your minimum job specification?

Step Four: The Screen

You should be able to whittle down the choice to a few that look like they could meet your job specification. The next step is to phone them. How do they respond? How welcoming do they sound? Would you want your clients greeted in the same way? Explain what tasks you want to delegate to them. Do they ask questions? Do they understand the nature of the work you want to delegate to them? Have they done similar work? Are they easy to communicate with? Can they allay any of your fears or worries? Do they use associates, and if they do, will you be informed if they pass on your work to them? What quality controls do they have for their associate’s work? Can they give you a reference? What are their rates?

Step Five: The Selection

By now, you’ll have a pretty good idea of who you like the sound of and whether you think you can work with them. You may want to meet with them face-to-face if location is a requirement from your job specification. If you have more than one to choose from, that are both a good match in skills and mindset, it might be an idea to use both in tandem, or keep one as a back-up for the other.

Step Six: The Contract

The final step to secure your perfect VA is to get a contract drawn up and signed by both parties. VA’s usually have standard terms of engagement. You need to check that it covers the rate, hours of work, associate arrangements, minimum hours, payment terms, back up arrangements for sickness and holidays, out-of-hours rates and any other issues that have cropped up during your discussions.

Finally, congratulations, you are now ready to release some time for yourself to do the things you didn’t have time to do before. Communicate regularly with your VA so they are kept up to date with your activities and goals, so they can best serve you and suggest alternate ways to tackle issues you might not have thought of before. Don’t let problems go by unchecked. Usually a phone call is all that’s needed to clear up a misunderstanding and prevent any long-term damage being done to the relationship or your business.

Check out my paper on “How to work effectively with a VA” to ensure a smooth transition and hand-over of work and continued successful and productive working partnership.

by Vee Smith, Virtual Assistant
Founder and owner of My Super VA
Helping busy professionals make effective use of their time
vs@mysuperva.co.uk

How to Choose the Perfect VA

What is a VA?