• A virtual sssistant can give you back your time so you can spend more time and effort on blazing new trails in your career or business. Besides, it is beneficial to hire a virtual assistant because at the end of the day that results in more revenue.
• When hiring an assistant, though, you have to be careful not to be misled by the cheap hourly rate. 
• Usually, experienced and professional assistants who have higher pay rates turn to generate higher Return on Investment. 

For entrepreneurs wanting to accelerate their business to the next level, there is nothing worse than being held back by wasting valuable time on regular backend functions that can be outsourced and easily managed by your virtual assistant.

The Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Assistant

Most entrepreneurs on average charge their clients between $150 to $300 (even more) an hour. When you weigh up the cost per hour ratio between you and your virtual assistant, you can see the hourly ROI (Return on Investment) is the measurement of gains or losses generated in your investment. The basic formula is Net Profit / Cost of Investment x 100.)is in your favour.

A virtual assistant ‘managing’ your online business, whilst you’re focused on clients, potentially sees you gaining more income and spending less time on business backend systems. Additionally, taking back those hours enables you to book in more clients resulting in more revenue.

If you hire a virtual assistant on a monthly retainer package, for example, 5 hours a week at $50, your investment would look something like this: 

• Your virtual assistant = $50 x 5 hours per week x 4 weeks per month = $1000
• Your time = $150 x 5 hours you’ve back x 4 weeks per month = $3000

With you gaining those extra 5 hours back, this could see you booking in more clients which would mean an extra 5 hours per week equally an extra $750, with an expenditure of $250 and a profit of $500.

The benefit of hiring a virtual assistant against hiring an employee is you’re only paying for their hourly rate, no additional expenses such as office equipment, superannuation, sick leave, holiday leave or WorkCover. When you hire a virtual assistant, you are only paying for the set amount agreed by you and them. 

Your yearly investment would then look like this:

• Hire a VA for $50 an hour to work 5 hours per week. 
• Your monthly investment is $1000 a month x 12 months = $12,000 per annum. 

Your hourly rate is $150 and you’re working 20 hours a week = $3,000 x 4 weeks = $12,000 a month x 12 months = $144,000. As the numbers illustrate this makes a pretty good investment. Potentially you are going to make even more when you’re building programs to magnitude your business income, such as workshops, online courses, masterminds, group membership programs. 

The bonus of having a virtual assistant on a retainer is they will help you manage all the backend and communications with these programs.

Considerations When Hiring a Virtual Assistant

A virtual assistant in Australia offers hourly rates between $30 to $60. These rates are based on their qualification, expertise and experience. A common misconception when looking to hire a virtual assistant is basing your hiring purely on their hourly rate, rather than the time taken to complete tasks.

You have to be careful when choosing an assistant. An example from experience and feedback from clients who have invested in a ‘cheaper’ virtual assistants, shows that the end cost was greater. Investing in the ‘cheaper’ virtual assistant with minimal experience can result in a greater cost because what takes an experience virtual assistant only 30 minutes to complete, has seen an inexperienced virtual assistant four times as long.  

• Inexperienced virtual assistant = $30 x 4 hours to complete task = $120
• Experienced virtual assistant = $60 x 30 minutes to complete task = $30

When looking to hire a virtual assistant, think long term, not short. Don’t allow yourself to get caught up in the hourly rate, be open to negotiating a monthly retainer package that serves both you and your virtual assistant.

At the end of the day, like any business owner, a virtual assistant wants to know they have a potential income and the feeling of belonging to an amazing business and team.