Time. As a small business owner, it's the commodity you covet most but never seem to have enough of.
If you had more time, you could complete all the administrative chores required to operate your business.
With enough time, you could do more marketing, more networking, more planning and systemizing.
If you had just a little more, you'd be a whole lot less hurried and stressed.
But how on earth do you create more time to do all the things necessary to run smoothly, build business, and create revenue?
The obvious answer is to increase your manpower. But hiring staff is not always an easy or affordable proposition for the small business owner. Fortunately, there's an outsourcing alternative - Virtual Assistance.
Virtual Assistants provide office support on an independent contractor basis. They primarily serve small to mid-sized businesses who have smaller workloads, need only occasional help, or who don't have the budget or space for in-house office staff, much less the time to train and manage them.
A Virtual Assistant (VA) works from their own office utilizing computers and other technology to deliver their services and communicate with clients.
They provide just about any secretarial service you can think of: word processing, transcription, data-entry, database management, spreadsheet creation, proofreading ? you name it.
Many VAs offer additional specialties such as bookkeeping, web design, desktop publishing, writing and legal support services.
The savings can be huge compared to the cost of an actual employee because there are no payroll taxes or benefits to pay, and no extra office space or equipment needs.
Not to mention that not all employee time is productive (think breaks, sick leave, vacations and other downtime). With Virtual Assistance, clients pay only for the time the VA spends working on their behalf.
That's 100% productive time; you can't get more efficient than that!
The Virtual Assistance profession has been around well over 10 years now, and has its own industry associations and certification programs.
Virtual Assistants operate their businesses as professional service providers. They come from a variety of business backgrounds, but the common denominator is that they are typically overachievers with extensive administrative experience and superior skill sets and training.
Virtual Assistants are not temps. They are highly-skilled entrepreneurs who love what they do and in business to provide consistently top-quality work to clients to whom they are committed.
Virtual Assistants are commonly interested in establishing long-term partnerships with their clients. As the VA learns about the owner and his or her business, supporting the client becomes more intuitive.
The ideal is to achieve a very simpatico working relationship where the VA's support not only instills more efficiency and productivity, but is key to helping the client create more time to concentrate on the roles they love most while growing their business successfully.
Although Virtual Assistants are able to serve clients from anywhere in the world, you can find a VA near you by referencing your local Chamber of Commerce directory, or searching the Internet using keywords Virtual Assistant or Virtual Assistance + your city or state.
There is also a great Virtual Assistant directory sorted by country and state located at:
http://www.mediamage.com/links/pages/United_States/
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Danielle Keister is the owner of The Relief, a virtual assistance practice in Tacoma, Washington, that has been delivering expert, personalized office support services to small business since 1997. Ms. Keister has over 20 years administrative management experience in both the private and public sectors. Her areas of expertise also include bookkeeping, desktop publishing and web design. For more information, visit http://www.therelief.com
shuttle to Midway Beardstown .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HareDo you have a Business Plan? Congratulations, but you are... Read More
Many new ventures are preoccupied with all the money they... Read More
I have a confession to make. My name is Caroline... Read More
The choice of financing is an important determinant of whether... Read More
Many people ask how many graphs or charts they should... Read More
Buyers want both online and local information about where to... Read More
Get maximum results with minimum effort. Sounds great doesn't it?... Read More
Running a small business requires many skills. However, to do... Read More
Is this you?You dreamed of owning your own business, doing... Read More
Large corporations use employee manuals to both educate employees about... Read More
Purchasing a franchise has become one of the most popular... Read More
Would you rather have one good client paying you five... Read More
If you own a small business, you should know that... Read More
10 Best Practices to consider as your SBIR negotiations approach... Read More
One of the best marketing strategies a business or organization... Read More
You know what makes me really happy? Drinking a Starbucks... Read More
When you awoke this morning, you found yourself buzzing with... Read More
The American system of business management has been admired and... Read More
Now that you have invested your time, energy and money... Read More
The way you manage your money is one of the... Read More
Concrete Roof Tile Business: During the 2004 summer season, storms... Read More
So you want to get into the auto detailing business... Read More
When a person knows and knows not that he knows.... Read More
SBIR vs. STTR: If you are participating in the SBIR... Read More
Perhaps you are building a new home office or you... Read More
Green Bay Hummer H2 SUV rentals ..Do You Really Need a Toll-Free Number for Your Business?... Read More
Many years ago, I had warned the carwash industry of... Read More
A cherished business doctrine is that growth must be a... Read More
If you're just ramping up your small business email newsletter,... Read More
One overlooked individual in the process of taking a company... Read More
If you own a mobile service or home based franchise... Read More
If you run a pressure washer business you need complete... Read More
We were more than excited. Our women's doubles tennis team... Read More
Writing a business plan for your Solo Entrepreneur business doesn't... Read More
Back when I owned an inventory-based business, one of my... Read More
When should you create a foundation in order to solidify... Read More
A reader of one of my online sessions asked should... Read More
Microfiber cleaning towels have been around for about ten years... Read More
I started working with another new client last week. He... Read More
If you are a non-operator owner of many work trucks,... Read More
Concrete cleaning can be a lucrative business to start. Here... Read More
You've always liked flowers and you think the idea of... Read More
This morning, I went to take a short walk outside.... Read More
Work smarter, not harderWhat is one of the best ways... Read More
Does your company have a community relation strategy? Have you... Read More
Lance Armstrong this week won an unprecedented 7th Tour de... Read More
Has this ever happened to you... 'John, you have a... Read More
If you own a mobile car washing, pressure washing or... Read More
What would happen if you decided to take an extended... Read More
Self-cleaning glass has been talked about a lot, with such... Read More
Small Business |