The decision to hire a VA is not always an easy one for a small business owner. Making that first step to paying out your hard-earned cash can be difficult. You’ve built up your business from nothing, so handing over parts of it to a complete stranger can feel daunting, particularly if you’re struggling to see how spending that extra money will benefit you.
However, if you’re finding that you’re spending your evenings catching up on paperwork and client emails, you never seem to have the time to review your business and you’re starting to worry about when you’re going to be able to concentrate on bringing in new clients, then a VA won’t just be beneficial, they are essential.
Read on to find out how a VA will save your business time and money.
However, if you’re finding that you’re spending your evenings catching up on paperwork and client emails, you never seem to have the time to review your business and you’re starting to worry about when you’re going to be able to concentrate on bringing in new clients, then a VA won’t just be beneficial, they are essential.
Read on to find out how a VA will save your business time and money.
Studies have shown that, on average, small businesses spend 120 hours per year on admin tasks, which equates to around 2 hours and 20 minutes per week. It doesn’t sound a lot and if you’re able to set aside specific, uninterrupted time each week for admin it probably isn’t. Uninterrupted time is rare though. You may have to take phone calls, or deal with urgent emails and their associated tasks. If you tackle your admin infrequently, you may need to look up how to apply elements of little-used software, leading to more wasted time.
Before you know it you’ve entered the realm of context switching, or jumping between tasks. It is estimated that it can take more than 25 minutes to resume a task after being interrupted. So that 2 hours and 20 minutes soon starts to increase to 4, 5, perhaps 6 hours or more.
A VA is focussed on completing the task in hand, and isn’t distracted by the other elements of your business. Contrary to popular opinion, we are not proficient multi-taskers. Rather, we’ve learned how to time block and tackle one thing at a time, leading to increased productivity. A VA uses admin processes and software all the time, keeping up-to-date with the latest developments, so any training is done on their time, not yours.
It’s easy to see how a VA can save you time. But if you’re paying for them to do the work how does it save you money?
Before you know it you’ve entered the realm of context switching, or jumping between tasks. It is estimated that it can take more than 25 minutes to resume a task after being interrupted. So that 2 hours and 20 minutes soon starts to increase to 4, 5, perhaps 6 hours or more.
A VA is focussed on completing the task in hand, and isn’t distracted by the other elements of your business. Contrary to popular opinion, we are not proficient multi-taskers. Rather, we’ve learned how to time block and tackle one thing at a time, leading to increased productivity. A VA uses admin processes and software all the time, keeping up-to-date with the latest developments, so any training is done on their time, not yours.
It’s easy to see how a VA can save you time. But if you’re paying for them to do the work how does it save you money?
This boils down to one question – how much is one hour of your time worth to your business?
How much money do you bring in when you are working on your business and for your clients? £50 per hour? £75? £100?
The average hourly rate for a VA is £25-£35 per hour. If each hour you spend working is worth £50 to your business and you are doing all your own admin, then you are spending £50 per hour on your admin. Outsourcing to a VA and using the time you’ve gained to relax will save you upwards of £15 per hour. And that’s before you factor in that a VA will get the work done more efficiently and in less time that it takes you, thereby reducing the total number of hours spent on admin. Using the time you get back to invest in your business and bring in new work potentially increases your margins by much, much more.
That’s how a VA saves you time and money. If you’re interested in saving money and growing your business give me a call to see how my team and I can help you.
How much money do you bring in when you are working on your business and for your clients? £50 per hour? £75? £100?
The average hourly rate for a VA is £25-£35 per hour. If each hour you spend working is worth £50 to your business and you are doing all your own admin, then you are spending £50 per hour on your admin. Outsourcing to a VA and using the time you’ve gained to relax will save you upwards of £15 per hour. And that’s before you factor in that a VA will get the work done more efficiently and in less time that it takes you, thereby reducing the total number of hours spent on admin. Using the time you get back to invest in your business and bring in new work potentially increases your margins by much, much more.
That’s how a VA saves you time and money. If you’re interested in saving money and growing your business give me a call to see how my team and I can help you.