Outsourcing tasks to virtual assistants has been something large businesses have done for many years, but lately more small businesses beginning to take advantage of this great service. A good virtual assistant will take care of the many mundane tasks of a business. This will allow owners to zone in on the critical aspects of the business’ growth strategies.

Virtual assistants have a range of expertise. This means that you will have to ensure that your virtual assistant has the necessary experience to cater to your outsourcing needs. You can find quality virtual assistants to do customer services, finance, human resources, accounting, copywriting, and more for you. However, the initial process of outsourcing may require some time and capital investment. You will have to find the right outsourcer, build a professional relationship. You then need to train the new virtual assistant, allowing him or her time to adjust to your business and your personal style.

Here’s how to assess whether a virtual assistant can perform in a cost-effective, time-efficient and competent manner:

1. Consider your core

Most business owners hold onto core operations and outsource non-critical aspects to virtual assistants. Busy phone lines, human resources, accounting and bookkeeping can easily be outsourced. You do not need a large staff of online employees in the office to perform those tasks.

2. One service at a time

Depending on the type of service you decide to outsource, it is a good idea to start slowly. Don’t outsource a whole department at a time. Instead, select a small task for you and your staff to get used to the new outsourcer. This will give you an opportunity to test the outsourcer’s performance before having to commit to lengthy contracts.

3. Select the services you wish to outsource first

In order to boost your day-to-day operations, choose the right services to be outsourced. Here are some examples:

Expert and Specialist services: You will find thousands of experts in different fields at iStaffSource.com. These are people you would not necessarily need on an ongoing basis and may include graphic designers, engineering, writing or translation specialists.

PR services: Small businesses usually can’t afford full time PR people. Be sure to find a VA who understands your industry well.

Virtual Assistants: VA’s provide admin, creative and technical support, which makes them the perfect outsourced staff for handling electronic communications, schedules, and customer intelligence.

4. Outsourcing Managers

When you decide to outsource services, you will still need to track results and monitor progress. Decide who will handle that aspect of your business. Consider the costs of a manager as well.

5. Know the System

When using an outsourcing system, be sure that you understand the procedures and the terms of hiring a virtual assistant. iStaffSource is a popular system and known for its simplicity. Plus they help you manage the VA by monitoring their work activity.

6. Consider Hidden Costs

When you layoff staff, there will probably be some hidden costs such as overtime and paying the remaining staff extra for additional work. You will probably also have to pay additional capital for setting up infrastructure for remote workers. However, most virtual assistants usually have an existing infrastructure.

7. Be Prepared for Challenges

Building a relationship with a new virtual assistant will take time. Some mistakes will happens but we are here to help you transition through this process with our in-house staff member.

Outsourcing Your Business is Important to You!

Understanding these issues will help you make the right decisions when you decide to outsource parts of your business to remote workers. It will also help to join online forums of other business people who use virtual staff, to get their perspective on the process.

For more information on how iStaffSource make it easy for you to hire your Virtual Staff leave your email above to get your Free Consultation.

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