Virtual Administrative Assistant: A Definitive Guide for Entrepreneurs

Admin Virtual Assistant: A Definitive Guide for Entrepreneurs

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Setting up a business sometimes means wearing many hats during the first few months of operation. While personally handling multiple responsibilities has its perks, as an owner, you’ll need to expand your team to focus on big-picture strategies. For starters, administrative assistants can effectively help unload some tasks off your hands. 

Nowadays, you no longer need to hire a full-time and on-site administrative assistant to get a lot of work done. Thanks to today’s advanced technologies and growing telecommuting trends, you can find the best candidates for your business from anywhere in the world.

Learn more about what an admin virtual assistant (VA) can do, where you can hire one, and why you should work with one in the article below.

What is an Admin Virtual Assistant?

An admin virtual assistant is an independent contractor trained to provide administrative services. They can perform the same duties as a clerk or secretary in an office, but they do so remotely.

Most admin VAs have prior professional experience as office assistants or managers. Because they’re independent contractors, companies usually compensate them differently than full-time employees.

Common Responsibilities of an Admin Virtual Assistant

While an admin VA isn’t a team member physically reporting to work, they can perform a variety of tasks that aid in the day-to-day operations of the company, such as:

1. Answering your emails and phone calls

Responding to emails and phone calls consumes your time and prevents you from completing more important tasks. With a virtual executive assistant on board, you can concentrate on your core business tasks while they handle phone and email correspondence. 

2. Managing your calendar

Managing a tight schedule alone leads to missed appointments or forgotten personal errands. A remote administrative assistant helps you keep track of your calendar, follow your plans, and ensure your schedule is free of conflicts.

3. Drafting your documents and presentations

Most business workflows require the creation of proposals and reports to share with partners or clients. However, making a comprehensive presentation is very time-consuming. As such, an admin VA saves you time by preparing the file. 

4. Booking your travel arrangements

Making travel arrangements entails communicating with a variety of people. You’ll need to arrange everything from finding convenient flights to ideal lodging. Because these tasks are frequently confusing, your administrative support handles all the details for you, so all you have to do is show up.

5. Carrying out research for your business

An admin VA helps you gather all the information you need for your business, from market research to competitor analysis. You avoid endless internet searches by hiring a remote administrative assistant who provides you with a comprehensive summary of their research promptly.

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Areas of Specialization for a Virtual Administrative Assistant

Investing in a strong and well-rounded team is critical for long-term business success. Learn about virtual administrative assistants’ various specializations to help determine which is a must for your company’s success.

1. Office management

Hiring a virtual executive assistant will make your daily office tasks more organized. Their responsibilities range from mailing and running errands to assisting with human resources (HR) and payroll tasks.

Aside from alleviating the burden of administrative tasks, a VA assists you in the first steps toward enhancing efficiency. Some of these tasks include:

  • Composing letters, reports, and presentations
  • Meeting planning and managing database 
  • Organizing company events and conferences

2. Legal service support

A legal practitioner’s responsibilities come with long hours filled with meetings and deadlines. A virtual administrative assistant specializing in legal support can help lawyers stay on top of their to-do lists.

Virtual admin assistants can help lawyers or law firms handle the repetitive but necessary tasks for their office, such as:

  • Transcribing recordings
  • Doing legal research
  • Taking daily calls and emails

3. Project management

Overseeing all business projects is challenging. By employing dependable virtual administrative support, you ease the workload of your current and future campaigns.

A VA can handle all admin tasks required throughout the project to ensure that all relevant parties communicate effectively, including:

  • Assisting with project plan creation
  • Following up on meetings and presentations
  • Helping with project documentation

4. Real estate

Studies show that companies that switch to outsourcing save overhead expenses by up to 70%. For real estate firms, these savings can be allocated to improve other areas in the business, such as lead generation.

A virtual administrative assistant works with multiple tasks simultaneously, allowing you and your team to concentrate on operating real estate income processes. Remote administrative assistant functions include:

  • â—‹ Maintaining client relations through communications
  • â—‹ Assisting in the closing process or obtaining feedback
  • â—‹ Coordinating to arrange meetings and project timeframes

5. Financial service support

A virtual administrative assistant specializing in financial services helps your company manage bank statements and incoming invoices from various clients and partners.

They assist your office manager by doing the following tasks:

  • Preparing financial statements
  • Assisting in the budgeting process
  • Recording accounts payable and receivable

Benefits of Hiring an Admin Virtual Assistant

Now that you know what they can do for your company, here are a few benefits of hiring a virtual assistant.

Saves operating costs

Hiring an administrative VA is less expensive than onboarding a full-time employee. Virtual staffing could minimize utility expenses for a face-to-face set-up, such as water, electricity, and internet use in an office. Additionally, this cuts transportation costs since your team can work without leaving their homes.

Increases productivity

Your team gets more work done faster because an admin VA offloads tasks from you and your in-house staff. Moreover, VAs working remotely for a long time are used to the setup, which prevents them from slacking off and missing deadlines, keeping client satisfaction in mind.

Improves quality of work

There will always be non-essential but crucial tasks that you need to complete during a regular workday. Consider how productive your workflow could be if you spent your days growing your business and delegating menial tasks to an admin VA.

Frees up time in your business and personal life

You can rely on your administrative support to complete tasks and juggle multiple demands to help your company run more smoothly. Because they help to relieve some of your responsibilities, you have more time to focus on other matters, whether work-related or not.

Charges with flexible payment methods

Payment and pricing methods for administrative virtual assistants are typically flexible. They can charge on a pay-as-you-go, per-project, per-hour, or full-time assistance plan basis. 

With this setup, you can be sure you’ll receive the best service that fits your budget and preferred payment method.

Frequently Asked Questions About a Remote Administrative Assistant

What is administrative outsourcing? 

Administrative outsourcing entails hiring a third-party company to provide and coordinate administrative tasks previously performed internally by the expanding company’s staff.

Who needs a virtual admin assistant?

Businesses, big and small, benefit significantly from hiring a remote administrative assistant in today’s world, where nearly every query and transaction is done online. 

Virtual assistants thrive in any industry, whether law firms, IT companies, digital marketing agencies, real estate, or health professionals.

What are the advantages of working with a virtual admin assistant? 

If you have someone who can do a bit of everything, your business will run more effectively and efficiently. 

Hiring and admin VA completes your tasks more quickly. Plus, you can expect the following perks:

  • Reduced operating costs. Working with a VA instead of a traditional in-house employee can reduce operating costs by up to 78%.
  • Highly-trained additions to the team. VAs can come from all parts of the world and are professionals with extensive experience and education in their specialization. 
  • Less hiring and onboarding expenses. When you recruit experienced VAs through a reliable outsourcing company, you won’t have to spend time and money finding the right one fit for your business’s needs.

What are the challenges of outsourcing administrative support?

While remote work has multiple pros, this may be an issue when collaborating with your administrative support. Communication challenges may arise when your time zone doesn’t match or cultural differences clash. 

Giving up some control over the actual work by distributing your responsibilities to the additional team members can be disastrous if you’re locked in a long-term contractual relationship with the wrong VA.

You can resolve all these conflicts and risks by picking the right expert to outsource. Take the time to know your candidate and discuss your required service/s, preferred communication methods, and schedule, among others, to see if what your company needs and what they can provide will align with each other.

What makes a good virtual administrative assistant?

One of the best qualities of virtual assistants is having excellent time management skills. A responsible VA will adhere to specific agreements with each client regarding working hours or project deadlines.

Virtual assistants work remotely and independently from their clients’ in-house teams, necessitating independence. They can work around any hiccups if they have access to your systems or tools and are proficient in online communication tools and other cloud-based file-sharing platforms. 

Where can I find a virtual assistant to help with my business’s needs?

While you can find an admin VA by asking for recommendations from your network, you can also work with a virtual assistant company like Outsource Access to help you find the right remote administrative support for your needs.

Outsource Access is a fully managed outsourcing and virtual services firm with management in the United States and a pool of talented virtual assistants in the Philippines. Through Outsource Access, you can score the best assistant fit for your business, with staff demonstrating the level of dedication you demand.

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Why Work with an Outsource Access Virtual Admin Assistant?

VAs from Outsource Access are seasoned professionals capable of providing administrative and innovative support for your growing business. Trusting Outsource Access will be one of the wisest decisions you can make for your company’s success, and here are some of the reasons why:

Full-time support

Working with a reliable outsourcing partner is critical to finding the best virtual assistant for your company. Outsource Access works full-time to scout, assess, and prepare top-tier talent to prioritize your needs.

Trained and seasoned

Because not all VAs are the same, finding one with the skills your company requires is the key to ensuring you work with the right person for your business. Outsource Access’s virtual executive assistants go through a signature boot camp program that enables them to add value to your company from the moment they start.

Communication-focused

Outsource Access ensures its VAs are quick learners, great communicators, and excellent listeners. The company prepares virtual assistants to be familiar with, or have extensive experience with, the numerous online communication tools available today. 

Time zone flexible

Virtual administrative support from Outsource Access can work in any time zone you prefer. Many international clients prefer their virtual assistant to work overnight to complete tasks before they arrive at the office the next morning.

Provide Your Business the Support It Needs

Your company will run more seamlessly if you have someone who can do a little bit of everything. In today’s online landscape, you can easily hire an admin VA from a virtual assistant business and accomplish many of your tasks in no time. 

A VA’s support, particularly on the administrative side of your operations, can result in a more productive workflow and remarkable business growth.

Outsource Access offers expert virtual assistants, including highly skilled admin VAs, ideal for new or expanding businesses. All Outsource Access VAs have undergone extensive training to provide exceptional service to our clients.

Click "Book a Call" to have a discovery call with our team to get a complimentary analysis to see if Outsource Access could help Redefine How You Scale or if you want to learn more about our processes click "Get Started"

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