Covid-19 sucks. There really are no two ways about it. And it’s even worse if you’re a small business owner, trying to keep your head above water and still tick everything off your to do list. But the good news is, you don’t have to do it alone. A VA could be just what you need to keep it all together, taking off some of that big heavy burden you’ve been carrying on your shoulders and helping you feel a little more in control of your life and your business. We know you’ve got one very keen eye on the purse-strings right now, but we want to let you in on a secret – right now, this is the best time to hire a VA. Yes, right in the middle of a pandemic. Because right now is where a VA can help you the most, and keep you on track for not just surviving the pandemic, but thriving in it. Here’s how.
Why A VA Is A Great Investment Right Now
If we’re honest VAs are sort of built for the quarantine life. We already work from home 90% of the time, and the last 10% can easily be moved to home working as well. We already juggle hundreds of jobs for different clients remotely, and keep in touch via phone and zoom calls. So apart from never being able to go and see our clients for coffee and cake, not a lot has changed! Which means we can deliver the same amazing services, and more Covid-specific ones, without a whole lot of changes. Don’t believe us? Here are a few things that a VA can help you with, that will help improve your business even in the toughest of times:
- Marketing and outreach: Just because things look a little different right now, it doesn’t mean that your customers aren’t still out there, and still keen to buy your product. You just might need a new way of reaching them. A VA can help you maintain the supply lines of marketing, outreach and sales, and keep new customers coming in during tough times.
- Bookkeeping: It might seem like the last thing on your mind, but maintaining good bookkeeping records is still an important part of running your business, now more than ever. And while some deadlines might be deferred, it never hurts to be ready and deal with any bookkeeping issues now, rather than at the deadline.
- Admin tasks: Managing a remote team, maintaining open lines of communication and running a virtual office might all be new things to you, but they are the norm for a VA. We can keep your business running in a new, virtual way, and let you focus on the most important bit of your business – the delivery!
- Coordinating schedules: Managing a team within an office is one thing, but managing a virtual team is a whole different kettle of fish. A kettle that often feels like it’s overflowing and on fire. Especially when it comes to working out who will be doing what and when, and making sure everyone has the right information for video calls. An experienced VA can step in here and put an end to the constant games of phone-tag, making sure everyone is in the right ‘virtual’ place at the right time, with the right information.
- Communication: Need someone to answer the phones while you’re having important meetings with clients, staff and key stakeholders? A VA has you covered. Need someone to make sure your remote workers are staying engaged while social distancing? A VA has you covered. Need help crafting a message and making sure it gets to the right people? Guess what, a VA has you covered there too. Anything to do with communication between teams, a VA can help.
- Data entry: This is a VAs bread and butter, and just because we’re in lockdown, that doesn’t mean it’s changed. It’s still one of the easiest tasks to outsource to a VA, and frees up a lot of your time to focus on crisis planning – not to mention saving you money on a new computer after you throw the old one out the window in frustration!
The Pros Of A Pandemic VA
Honestly, there are a lot of very good reasons you should hire a VA, pandemic or no pandemic. But if we’re being picky (and we always are), there are a few major benefits you could see by hiring a VA during Covid-19, and not waiting until it’s over. For example:
- A VA can help keep your business moving, even in the face of staff reductions.
- A VA can keep your costs down, but your productivity high.
- Using a VA means you can stop or start their services as and when you need them, so you have the flexibility to hire back full or part time workers as and when you can
- Remote working means you don’t have to choose a VA based on how close they are to you – you can focus on choosing one that will work well for you.
- A VA can help save you around 70% in operating costs – which is a big deal when money is tight and opportunities to go out and get more work are thin.
- More budget flexibility. The average workers only performs productive work for around 3 hours each day, but with a VA you are only paying for productive time, so you can get more done and spend less.
At Your Admin Hub, we see it as our duty to help you keep things going during this difficult time. More than difficult really – for more of us it’s been a unique kind of hell trying to hold it all together. But you don’t have to go it alone. We’re here to help, by taking on some of the burden and freeing up your time, so you can do whatever the hell you want with it. If you’d like to find out how we can help in your business or your home life (because we do that too), all you need to do is drop us an email, or pick up the phone.