Bringing in a VA to Help With Your Business

Sometimes, building a new business can be tough. Whether you are starting a brick and mortar store or work in the virtual world, sometimes you need help. If you are not big enough to hire an employee, but you still need a little extra help, a virtual assistant could be just what you need.  There are many types of jobs that can be outsourced, but here are some of the most common outsourced jobs.

Finding a VA

You can find virtual assistants all over the world. Depending on what you need, you can save a lot of money by hiring someone outside of North America. Looking to India, China, and other parts of Southeast Asia can bring you high quality help at a low cost.

For professional VA services, you can look to companies like Brickworks and Your Man in India. Those companies, recommended by Tim Ferris on his blog and in his well-known “4 Hour Workweek,” have strong reputations but charge a premium for their good service.

For online tasks, you can find freelancers on sites like ODesk. Most VAs on ODesk focus on web design and marketing projects, but you can find others as well. For specific projects, you can find a freelancer on sites like elance.

If you want the best service, but at a higher price, United States based VAs are the way to go. You can use sites like Guru, or the above mentioned freelance sites, to find a solid VA in the United States.

Make Sure You Can Trust Them

Once you find your dream VA, you want to make sure it will not turn into a nightmare. You may be giving a VA access to your email, financial information, and parts of your business. You need someone you can trust.

If you go with a reputable company, you should be fine off the bat. If you find an individual or small business, you have to get references to make sure you have a trustworthy VA that you can do what you need.

If you go through a big freelancer website, you can find reviews posted by past customers. If you can’t find any good reviews, ask the VA to provide references. Any professional VA should be happy to provide several references.

Giving Clear Directions

You can’t expect a VA to do everything you need if you can’t communicate well. You have to give very clear instructions and a set time to complete the task. If you don’t, you could end up with a lot of billed hours and a result that didn’t match your expectations.

When giving your VA a new task, be sure to give the following:

• Clear objective
• Expected time to complete
• Measurable result
• Any background information needed
• Any resources needed to complete the task

If you communicate well, both you and the VA will be happy. You will both be frustrated if your new VA spends a lot of time on a task, feels that they did a good job completing it, and does not meet your objective.

Win-Win Relationship

At the end of the day, a virtual assistant should be in a win-win relationship. You get important work done, which can free up your schedule for more important tasks. Your VA can work anywhere in the world and get paid to do what you need.