Businesses can save a staggering 78% on their operational costs by using a virtual personal assistant and it is no secret that they can have a profound impact on a business’s productivity.
Whether it’s supporting an individual or a team, they have become commonplace within businesses. In recent years, businesses have started to review their admin functions – with Deloitte recently announcing that 500 of their PA’s jobs are at risk.
Others may follow, with many businesses restructuring to maximise profitability and adding fuel to the virtual assistant boom.
A virtual personal assistant supports individuals and businesses remotely, and typically support their clients for a monthly package that includes a set number of hours. Whereas a personal assistant often works in an office and is hired as an employee from the company they work for.
As a result, personal assistants will typically only support one individual or work for one company. On the other hand, virtual personal assistants may support multiple people and businesses as they are only paying for a set number of hours each month.
Companies of all sizes use personal assistants, whether virtual or in-house, and feel the benefits from them. The problem? Many businesses and individuals tell themselves that they’re saving money and that they’ll do their admin themselves.
A staggering 50% of managers say that they don’t have time for more strategic innovations. This is the true impact of admin.
With an in-house personal assistant, they are commonly hired on a full-time basis. As a result, there are additional costs that come with a personal assistant compared to the virtual alternative. These include:
As a result, using a virtual personal can be up to 50% more cost effective than hiring an employee.
Working with a virtual personal assistant, the time you use is tracked down to the second. So you only pay for time spent on each task!
This allows you to maximise budgets and streamline costs as you are only paying for time you actually use. Dealing with employee productivity can be a tricky one to manage as there are often many factors that can influence this.
The upside of using a virtual personal assistant is that you are only paying for productive time, which removes any of the common influences on productivity. Read our article on how to manage a virtual personal assistant to learn how to get the most out of your support.
The dream scenario for businesses, is to have support as and when they need it. This is particularly relevant for seasonal businesses, who require more support at different times of the year.
Fortunately, by using a virtual personal assistant, businesses can scale their package up or down throughout the year.
Not only is this more cost-efficient but it reduces the risk when looking for PA support as hiring is a big commitment for any business – particularly for small, growing businesses. The result is a more productive business without the high costs of admin support.
The best way to maximise this benefit is by:
If you’re running a business, or a department, there’s a lot of admin to be passed to your virtual personal assistant. Keeping track shouldn’t be a problem.
Often, virtual personal assistants keep a record of time spent on each task which gives you full visibility of how you are using your monthly package. Beyond the obvious benefits of weekly reporting, consider the confidence this will have on the support you are receiving from a virtual personal assistant.
It’s worth noting here, that not all virtual personal assistants provide weekly reporting – so ask the question at the start if this is something you are wanting.
Luckily, SmartPA’s in-depth weekly reporting comes as standard. Giving our clients complete visibility of their monthly package and support. Learn more about how we work here.
Previously, with only in-house personal assistant – this support was only available once budgets will support the hiring of a full-time position.
However, given that virtual personal assistants are 50% more cost-effective than hiring, more people than ever are feeling the benefits of having on-hand admin support.
Putting an end to admin bottlenecks is easier than you might think. For starters:
If after reading our article, you’re now certain that you need a virtual PA. Look no further than SmartPA to get started.
Since launching in 2008, we’re proud to be supporting individuals, teams and businesses across all industries.
Getting started with SmartPA is simple: