Do I Need a VA?

Disclaimer: This article assumes you do not actually have a full or part-time administrative assistant working for you.

This is a shortened version of an article I provide to small business owners to help them determine if hiring a VA is right for them. It answers the three important questions:

• What does a virtual assistant really do?
• What value does a virtual assistant provide?
• Can I really afford to hire a virtual assistant?

Introduction

My intention here is to provide a little insight into the virtual assistance industry so that you can determine whether or not you can really benefit from hiring a virtual assistant.

It's extremely tempting to say, "of course you will benefit from hiring a virtual assistant! In fact, hire one right now!" but that's neither helpful nor in the best interests of small business owners. I wrote this because there's a lot of buzz in the air about virtual assistance and I think this'll add some clarity.

The truth is that hiring a virtual assistant isn't unlike hiring a lawn service or babysitter - whether someone finds those services necessary is completely subjective. The reality is that the virtual assistance industry is one of convenience. Not everyone can afford to hire one and certainly not everyone needs the services but some people either change things to make it possible to hire one or hire one in faith that it will work out financially. Either way, it boils down to you and what you can do for yourself.

This report attempts to answer the question "Do I need a VA?" but I really want to point out that the question should be "Is hiring a VA right for me and my business?" So, read on to find out more.

Here is my special formula for determining whether or not you should hire a virtual assistant.

*Special Formula* for Determining Whether or Not You Should Hire a Virtual Assistant

1. For any given day, calculate the time you spend doing each of the following tasks: organizing your to-do list, answering questions from your clients/customers, managing your billing, going back and forth to the Post Office/UPS/FedEx Kinkos, paying your vendors/bills, updating your website, updating your shopping cart, keeping up with your blog posts, submitting your articles, setting appointments, maintaining your online profiles (on sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Biznik), and editing stuff.
2. Looking at your list of calculated time, cross out the two you actually like doing** (like maintaining your online profiles and going back and forth to the Post Office - maybe you get Starbucks while you're out or something).
3. Add the remaining time together.
4. Take this time and multiply it by your hourly rate. If you don't charge hourly, figure out your hourly rate by taking your annual income, dividing it by 52 and then by 40. That's a standard way, but you can tweak it to your own typical work schedule.
5. Look at the product (the "product" is the result of the multiplication).
6. Now, go back to # 4. This time, multiply it by a round dollar amount between $8 and $30 - $8 being on the cheapish but cute and functional end (like Kia) and $30 being on the pricey but sleek and ultra-fab end (like Mercedes).
7. Compare the amounts from # 5 and # 6. If the amount in # 5 is greater than the amount in # 6, you CAN afford to hire a virtual assistant and you probably should because you can find better ways to spend your time by outsourcing those tasks. If the amount in # 6 is greater than the amount in # 5, you can't afford to hire a virtual assistant and you probably shoudn't right now. That's not a bad thing. It's important to see your financial situation for what it really is.

**The reason you cross out two of your favorite activities is that (A) you will do these yourself even if you had a VA and (b) if for some reason you delegated them, your VA wouldn't do it exactly like you and it would irritate the heck out of you.

But wait - Do I Need a VA?

This is where it gets tricky. Let me ask you this: do you need a part-time babysitter? (If you don't have young children, indulge me). If you didn't hire a babysitter EVER, would you still be OK? Yeah, probably. It would definitely make it difficult to get out of the house during the evenings or weekends until your child/children reached the age of about 11 1/2. But still, you could do it. You could make it without one. And if you think about it, you could work from home and keep your kids with you, relieving the need for daycare/full-time babysitter, too.

See my point? If not, here's another, better illustration. Imagine that you live in a wonderful, huge home on 10 acres of land in West Virginia. Or Southern California. You have a lot of growing, flowing, green grass. You are not a farmer. In fact, you do exactly what you do now (except maybe you make a bit more money and that's how you can afford that kind of place). Would you hire a landscaping or lawn service to help you take care of your land? I'll answer for you - probably. Perhaps if you had a 15 year old kid and a riding mower, you might entice (or force) him or her to do it for you. Or you'd squeeze in some time on Saturday. Or at night when you're exhausted.

I really hope that clears it up. The bottom line is that need is subjective and really, you don't need a virtual assistant any more than you need a babysitter or a lawn service. Your circumstances could really call for one, though! And that's what you need to assess. Do my circumstances call for a virtual assistant? Take the time to mull that over and you will be able to determine for yourself whether or not you need a virtual assistant.