My 'other half' owns a very successful business. He employs a lot of people, has a great deal of responsibility, works long hours and as a consequence, just doesn't seem to have enough hours in the day. I've told him on a number of occasions that he needs to hire a Virtual Assistant (or a Personal Assistant) to assist him with day to day activities. Someone that could organise his diary, keep up with the paperwork and deal with internal communications - all giving him additional time in his day to deal with the development of the business. His answer is the same every time: "it will take me even longer to explain everything to someone else than to just do it myself".
And in the early days, that may well be the case. However, a Virtual Assistant is used to dealing with similar clients and it won't take long at all before they're up and running and making life much easier for my partner. Once the VA has got a grip on the business and its operations, they will quickly be able to manage diaries, arrange meetings, book accommodation and travel requirements, process expenses, produce documents and presentations and deal with any correspondence. With any new member of the team, there is an onboarding process and this is no different when you take on a Virtual Assistant. There will always be an initial period of learning whilst they get to know the business and the people they will be working with but speaking from experience, this really doesn't take that long. Taking a few weeks to prepare for your Virtual Assistant starting will make the transition period much quicker and easier for all parties. Comparing the hourly rate of a Virtual Assistant and that of a senior business professional, it really is a no-brainer when it comes to who should be undertaking the admin side of the business. There are so many other benefits to consider too:
No office space or equipment required
No pension contributions
No tax or N.I.
No holiday pay or sick pay
Only pay for the hours you use
More time for business leaders to spend on developing the business
For the sake of a few weeks of settling in to the business, a Virtual Assistant can add great value to your business by giving you hours back in your working week.