Running or managing a company takes a lot of hard work. You have to serve as the marketer, accountant, salesman, and even recruiter. Do you constantly find yourself overwhelmed by the number of tasks you must perform? It doesn’t always have to be that way with your business.

Why hire remote staff

Outsourcing tasks is an excellent means to reduce the stress and pressure, and it may be done through several ways. One of the most popular is by hiring remote employees in other states or countries. There are plenty of advantages when you build remote staff, such as:

Reducing the costs of recruitment

Compared to getting full-time employees, it’s more affordable to hire a VA team. They operate as independent contractors and tend to have lower hourly rates than local workers. Someone from the Philippines, for instance, typically cost half than someone from the United Kingdom.

Preventing burnout through delegation

Many entrepreneurs and managers believe they need to do everything themselves, and that’s exactly what they do. This leads to having little time for hobbies and family, going on extra long workdays, lacking concentration, and becoming overwhelmed. Delegating responsibilities to others is effective for preventing these.

Gaining access to global talent pools

Some companies have a pool of qualified candidates for certain positions but not everyone has those connections. A remote assistant is able to work anywhere as long as there’s an internet connection so you’re not limited to local applicants to fill in vacant roles.

Skipping the physical office setup

Depending on where your organisation is based, renting office space gets pricey. Virtual personal assistance allows you to establish your workforce while keeping your expenditures low. With the exception of virtual tools for communication and collaboration, your primary expenses revolve around your VA’s hourly rate.

Spending more time on your strengths

You may be skilled in a lot of things but there are still going to be tasks that you don’t particularly enjoy. It’s better to assign them to people who specialise in them or enjoy doing them. With the help of a remote personal assistants agency, you get to focus on activities you’re good at.

Hire home-based staff, but how many?

Each organisation has their own motivations to outsource. Yours might be any of the benefits mentioned above or a combination of these. Either way, now that you’ve set your mind on recruiting virtually, you may be wondering if you need to build a remote team or just hire an individual.

To help you decide what’s best for your business, it’s important to consider the following factors:

Tasks you want to delegate

You likely have a long list of responsibilities that are involved in running the company so you may be confused about which ones to delegate. Begin with categorising these processes according to what you should do personally, what you shouldn’t do personally, what you don’t want to do, and what you are unable to do.

The first are high-value assignments that you’re good at and you enjoy doing. The second are low-value jobs that consume a huge amount of time but aren’t the best use of your abilities. The third and fourth are tasks you don’t enjoy doing or lack the capability to perform.

Types of virtual assistants

Remote staff in the Philippines are able to do almost anything for you, as long as they have the right tools, skills, and training. There are different kinds of VAs though, so it’s crucial for you to know which one is best suited for the tasks you wish to delegate.

The most common type is the general virtual assistant who takes on day-to-day operations such as managing your schedule and responding to email messages. A specialised virtual assistant is someone who has a specific skills and is best assigned to certain processes in your organisation, such as marketing and accounting.

Budget for hiring and retaining

If you have a huge amount of tasks to hand over to a VA, expect to pay premium for their services. It’s still more affordable than a full-time employee but you want to maximise your budget as much as possible. Your arrangement is going to affect the cost of a remote assistant as well.

The standard is paying a one-time flat fee where you don’t have to worry about long-term commitments. You may also pay them by the hour where insurance and taxes are considered by the VA. When you the VA to commit for longer hours per month, try a retainer agreement.

Urgency for a remote assistant

Maybe you have a project that needs to be finished by the end of January. Perhaps you have a seasonal campaign that requires you to field enquiries from your customers. In these cases, you’ll need to find a virtual assistant as soon as possible.

To achieve your objectives with excellence, one VA may not be enough so you’ll have to hire one or two more. It’s up to you whether to keep all of them for the long-term or just one, but ensure that they are aware of your plans.

How to find remote staff in the Philippines

As much as you might wish for virtual personal assistance to be a straightforward process, there’s much to think about before you sign someone on to your business. If you find that screening candidates and scheduling interviews is too much for you, get help from a remote personal assistants agency.

Remote Workmate is one such company that is connected to qualified candidates from the Philippines. Our existing pool of talents is worth checking though we also conduct additional searches according to your specific needs.