I have heard the question posed:
Will the slowing economy hurt your Virtual Assistant business?
My short answer is no. But if you’d like to know how I arrive it, please read on.
In a slower economy, more than ever, small businesses and entrepreneurs need to become more value-centric. Every dollar counts and has to deliver maximum benefit.
Well, that is what being a Virtual Assistant has always been about. VAs provide excellent value by providing expert support and billing the client only for the time spent doing so. For many small businesses, teaming with a Virtual Assistant can save them a ton of money over the prospect of hiring an employee (who may not even be as qualified as a VA) and incurring the additional costs of payroll taxes, sick time, vacation pay, office space and equipment allocation, and then some.
If you have been reluctant to market your VA business because the economy hasn’t been so great, it’s high time you start doing so. Small businesses still need expert support and exceptional value, two things that have been the hallmark of the VA industry since its inception.
October 11, 2008 at 2:50 pm
I absolutely agree. As a virtual office administrator myself, my business how grown tremendously as solo professionals scramble to find innovative ways to market their business.
October 12, 2008 at 2:27 am
Great post! Rosanna.
There is cost comparison for Full-Time in house Employee vs the cost of virtual assistant:
http://www.bpovia.com/cost-comparison–full-time-employee-vs-full-time-va.html
October 17, 2008 at 6:15 am
Hi Rosanna
I definitely feel that virtual assistants will prosper in any economy. If small business owners and entrepreneurs had to do the tasks that virtual assistants or administrators do, then they’d soon find they don’t have enough time to concentrate equally on their clients, family and social commitments and the necessary admin tasks required to run a business without running themselves into the ground. I also believe that larger companies will benefit in these hard financial times and no doubt more and more will look at outsourcing to virtual assistants.
Cassie Hower
Your Extra Office