Why a Startup Business Must Hire a Virtual Assistant

For many startup businesses, multitasking is more of a necessity than a choice because they cannot afford to hire more people. Although there may be a need for an assistant who can reduce the overall workload, given lean budgets, startup businesses may not be able to recruit additional resources immediately. Plus, given the need to be legally compliant, a startup on a restricted budget may find it difficult to cover the high costs associated with payments such as salary and employee benefits that typically come with in-house hiring.

Multitasking Cannot Be a Long-Term Solution.

Even if startup founders and owners begin with multitasking, as the business takes off, they may discover they need to pay a lot of attention to tasks related to planning, preparing communication, and planning to ensure the business succeeds. As the business begins to grow and client deliverables begin to come in, the workload increases. At some point, the limited resources the business has may not be able to pay attention to both the work deliverables and the actual business development.

According to an article in Forbes, multitasking is unproductive and causes employees to only pay partial attention to multiple items simultaneously. This leads to incomplete understanding, inaccurate responses to messages, and, occasionally, things slipping through the cracks.

Why Every Startup Must Hire a Virtual Assistant

A virtual assistant can contribute to business growth, regardless of the size of the business and the number of employees it hires. Here are some reasons why a startup must hire a virtual assistant:

1. To give owners and operators more time to focus on critical business areas.

One of the top reasons for business failure is the lack of focus on customer requirements and also failure to track competition. For a busy startup that is focused on deliverables, an assistant can help take on administrative tasks, including responding to customer communication and allowing in-house resources, founders, and operators more time to focus on business development initiatives.

2. To ensure scheduling and adherence to timelines

An assistant can help ensure better collaboration, even with multiple clients. This prevents you from missing out on key communication or inputs and feedback on work deliverables. It also ensures work does not get missed, since the assistant is responsible for informing resources and following up on work deliverables.

3. To help with business-related planning for trips or meetings

A virtual assistant can also help schedule meetings, create meeting-related documentation, and also handle any necessary follow-ups. Assistants can also carry out the essential and time-bound work associated with planning and booking necessary business or personal trips. This may involve time-consuming internet searches and back-and-forth communication to check on availability for travel, lodgings, etc., before a definitive conclusion is reached.

4. To assist with financial management tasks

Trained virtual assistants can carry out basic yet essential accounting and bookkeeping tasks. This assistance can help ensure proper documentation of all transactions, effective access, and safe storage with fewer hassles associated with obstacles to information access.

Access to all essential documentation can help startup owners make informed leadership and management decisions as well.

5. To follow up on client-facing jobs and tasks

A virtual assistant can help ensure that clients receive prompt responses and that they are not feeling left out by the business. This can include addressing their needs for information on tasks or simply repeating and communicating information. These are activities that can help build long-term trustworthiness and earn customer loyalty for the business.

Next Steps

• Learn more about the benefits of a professionally managed virtual assistant and how this additional form of support can help boost your business profitability.
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