Who Needs a Virtual Assistant?

Internet Business Model Series
Service Business / Charge by Hour or Project

A huge percentage of the marketplace today is made up of small and home-based businesses. Some of these businesses are so small the term solopreneur was coined to describe them. The owners of these businesses are quite often stretched to their limits to get everything done and administrative work is often left to be done last. These businesses are prime candidates for virtual assistants.

On the other hand, large corporations are good candidates for virtual assistants as well. With new technology and the internet, work can be completed and turned in by a person working in a totally different location than the person assigning the work. Many large corporations are taking advantage of this ability to use offsite workers and saving thousands on not only payroll but office space, equipment and benefits.

When it comes to home-based and smaller businesses where the owner is the person who handles most, if not all the work, a virtual assistant can help that business owner focus his or her efforts where they will be most productive. By allowing a capable virtual assistant to take over some of the administrative tasks, the business owner can add value to their own time by spending it on the tasks that will grow their business.  Time spent on marketing, customer service, and planning will have a much higher pay-off to their business than time spent on administrative duties. And smart business owners know this and understand the price of a virtual assistant is small in comparison to the alternative. These small business owners realize that spreading themselves too thin by trying to it all is not the wisest use of their time and as their business grows, either the marketing and managing of the business or the administrative duties will suffer.

In addition to the small business population, corporate clients are in constant need of administrative help as projects present themselves and growth occurs. The virtual assistant with the necessary skills to handle a particular project is the perfect choice for the same reasons it’s a good choice for a small business owner. The cost of a permanent employee goes way beyond the hourly rate paid to that employee. Although most large corporations are solvent and can afford to hire a permanent employee when the need arises, they are also held accountable for the bottom line and hiring someone permanently when the work could be done on a contract basis is not prudent. For this reason more and more companies are looking to the virtual assistant to handle projects and duties that used to be done in-house.

Basically many kinds of companies, from the “one-man show,” right up to the largest Fortune 500 company, are using virtual assistants. The market is wide open for the skilled professional to start and grow a successful virtual assistant business.

Now, just think how all your years of experience and the skills you’ve accumulated over the years will translate into a successful virtual assistant business. This is a business where baby boomers who have worked as executive assistants can really trump. As a boomer you not only have years of experience and the skills necessary to do the job, but you’ve had so many dealings with people in so many situations, that you’ve learned patience, time-management, client relations, and myriad of other things that will work to your advantage. What a great industry in which to grow a boomer business.

In my last post I told you about a program by Tawnya Sutherland that will help you break into the field and teach you how to start your marketing program to gain a clientele. Today I want to show you her other website and message board where you can go to learn and get your questions answered.

The link here will take you to a page on her site that sells her VA Insider Membership Club. I’m leading you to that page so you know it exists and you can see the differences between the free membership and the paid membership. The page is pretty clear showing in a table the benefits of the paid membership. Personally, I’d look around a bit, join the free membership board, and then later if you decide you want to start your own virtual assistant business, consider the paid membership only after you purchase the Virtual Business Start-Up System, well, that is, if you plan on buying the VBSS. The reason I say this is because the VA Insider Membership Club is half-price is you own VBSS. Do definitely don’t do anything right this moment, first use the free membership and then make your decision only after you’re sure you like what you see.

Next we’ll talk about the skills necessary to consider starting a virtual assistant business.

Cheers!

Reba

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