How are VA’s different from regular employees?

How do you choose between hiring a Virtual Assistant or a full time employee? Both have their pros and cons, both will contribute to your business well and both will carry out the tasks you need to successfully run your business. So it doesn’t really matter which you choose right? Wrong. Hiring a Virtual Assistant (VA) isn’t like hiring a full time employee. There are many similarities, of course, but here’s what makes them different. 

First of all, with full time employees, there’s a commitment. That’s not to say there isn’t commitment with a VA but it’s not the same. 

Full time employees are contracted to however many hours, typically 40 ish hours per week and will work during the standard working hours of 9am until 5pm. This isn’t always the case but mostly, this is standard.  You can, of course, also have part time workers, at maybe just 16 - 20 hours per week, all depending on the workload of the role. 

VA’s are similar in the sense that, we too are hired or contracted for a certain amount of hours depending on the workload but this can fluctuate weekly or monthly as the workload increases or decreases. Some weeks you might have 3 hours of work needing done, some weeks you might have a lot more on your plate and want to hand off much more to the assistant and their working hours increase to 8 hours per week. We also don’t always work Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Some might work weekends, some might work evenings and some work whenever their schedule will allow it. This is beneficial to small business owners who are building their business and, as you will know, pretty much work 24/7. It can be much easier to get in touch with a VA as you are their client and they aim to please. There is much more flexibility with a VA. 

One of the cons, however, is being able to track the work of a VA. This is true of anyone who works remotely, so that really comes down to how well you have interviewed and chatted to the person. A VA will also have previous client reviews for you to have a look at. If you have done the research and you choose the right one, the work should then speak for itself.

Aside from the contracted hours, full time workers are also entitled to benefits within the company. By hiring someone into the business instead of outsourcing, you now have certain obligations and many more expenses. These can include holiday days, sick pay, bonus plans, pension contributions, training, equipment… just to name a few. 

A VA doesn’t need any of these things as they are self employed and hired purely to provide a service. They look after themselves so you don’t have to! They have their own equipment - expense saved, they make their own schedules and provide their own holiday days - expense saved, they are already trained, they deal with their own business and bonuses and pensions - expense saved! Look at how much I have just prevented you from spending. You’re welcome. 

Another benefit of a VA, and one of the more important ones, is that we have trained and self taught ourselves to become experts in our field. That means the quality of work you are receiving is top notch and you didn’t have to worry about training at all. We also offer the flexibility of being able to multitask. We rely on ourselves to run our own business which means we have determination and passion, this is our livelihood and we put the effort in to make it work, just like you do in your business. Something you don’t always get when hiring a worker who is just passing the time until 5pm. 

So when it comes to choosing between the two, you really have to do an audit on your own business and see where and what is lacking. Do you really need someone 40 hours per week or with a bit of restructuring, can you outsource to a VA and save a ton of money? A VA will offer more expertise and save you a lot of money, whereas a full time employee is working just for you and is easier to keep an eye on. Knowing the pros and cons of both will help you to make a more informed decision.

So now that you know some of the facts, what do you think about hiring a VA? Let me know in the comments.

And if you’re looking for one? Head over to that ‘Contact’ page and give me a shout!