5 Steps to Confidently Choosing a Virtual Assistant (VA) for Your Small Office or Home Office Business

Finding and Hiring Your First Virtual Assistant

Did you know that a virtual assistant (VA) can provide the administrative, secretarial and support services you need to manage the routine day to day chores of your small office or home-based business?

By contracting with a virtual assistant to provide these services, you have more time to focus on building and growing your business--and increasing your bottom line.

No need to move over to make additional room in your small cramped home office, or to buy extra computers, faxes or other equipment--your virtual assistant already has an office and is ready to help you take care of the non-essential and mundane tasks that must be done, but are tasks which do very little in the way of helping you grow your business.

Here are five key steps that you can use to find, choose and "hire" your first virtual assistant.

1. Read and Research

The Internet offers a vast amount of information on this relatively new field of business outsourcing. You will be able to find out some of the many advantages of working with a virtual assistant, what kinds of services they offer and how they can help you grow your business.

2. Decide Which Projects to Outsource

Focus on outsourcing some of the major tasks of your workload to a virtual assistant. First, sit down for a breather and look around your ‘To Do’ lists and office area. What CAN you outsource? Which work seems to pile up the most?

For example, maybe you can not seem to find time to update your website each month. Maybe your newsletter is STILL not getting out regularly. Or perhaps your direct mail campaign is not quite as direct as it should be; i.e. it is sitting directly in the same pile it was three months ago.

Then, write out a one-page project description for each of these major tasks. Focus on WHAT exactly you would want done, and WHEN and HOW the end product should be turned in to you.

3. Find A Virtual Assistant Specializing in Your Field of Work

Look around for suitable service providers. For example, if your field of work is internet marketing, you might need to find a virtual assistant who specializes in building Internet websites, or can assist you with newsletter creation and mailout, or who is good at sending out direct mail campaigns. Call around and surf the Internet and ask other home based business operators which companies they recommend, or even who their virtual assistant is. Check forum posts; inquire for advice and suggestions. Shop around for comparisons.

4. Take Action

Contract for services with one of the virtual assistants you have found. Set up trial work periods and test a couple of VAs to see who you are most compatible with, or who meshes better with your work style. Remember, no one is perfect. See who you can communicate with pretty easily and who is flexible to work with as a team player. Check out the quality (and quantity) of their work. Then choose a candidate. Remember, this decision is not carved in stone. You can always hire the other person as a back up or as a second helper down the road. So be kind to all who test, make decisions and keep your business moving forward.

5. Focus on Growing Your Business

Make the most out of your new investment and get a great return by using your newly found extra time wisely.

Outsourcing some of your work to a virtual assistant will free up more time for you to focus on the work you love and allow more time for marketing and advertising, so you can increase sales and projects.

Don’t forget to brush up on your skills and keep up with your particular industry, too.

Read the latest ezines in your field, or newsletters focusing on small business management in general, and / or take a brush up course or workshop to improve your skills.

Network and seek out joint venture opportunities.

Outsourcing to a virtual assistant is a great way to help a small business grow larger--while still working out of your home office or small business office.

Why Not Take the Plunge!

With the Internet and an array of other technologies now at our disposal, virtual assistants help businesses (small and large) with many tasks.

Traditionally known as administrative assistants, secretaries, bookkeepers, editors and proofreaders, Internet researchers, writers and transcribers, database managers, speadsheet developers--to name a few--all of what a virtual assistant does can be summed up in the words of Christine Durst, one of the founders and pioneers in this emerging global new outsourcing field. Durst said:

“I use the internet to help business people with their administrative tasks from my office instead of theirs.”

Or maybe you read about one of the small business owners who concluded:

"Getting some help with my office work was the smartest business decision I ever made..."

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