| Virtual assistants are becoming extremely popular | | | | 3. Who cares about money anyway? You are a |
| especially in the small business realm. This fast | | | | small or mid-sized business owner who would |
| growing group of professionals often possessing a | | | | rather hire full-time staff to cover seasonal or |
| specialty in one or more of marketing, graphic | | | | part-time positions. You are happy to pay your |
| design, general administration, bookkeeping, web | | | | staff even if the their workday activity allocation |
| design, event management, phone answering | | | | is similar to the example below: |
| service... and the list goes on. Think of any | | | | Daydreaming - 20% |
| segment of your business; there are probably | | | | Keeping in touch with family and friends - 30% |
| virtual assistants out there that can provide | | | | Online shopping - 10% (20% at Christmas) |
| support to you in that area. Here are a few | | | | Pay personal utility bills - (5%) |
| reasons why you should not hire one. | | | | Office discussion group on Survivors, American |
| 1. You are a Jack of all trades and a master of | | | | Idol or The Apprentice - 25% |
| none. You don't care about the quality of work or | | | | Performance of duties according to job-description |
| service you provide to your clients or the | | | | - 10% (75% when the boss is in the vicinity) |
| business image you project with your | | | | Virtual assistants are only paid for the work they |
| unprofessional documents and work. You are | | | | do, not the work they don't do. |
| happy taking on the job of 4 or 5 people even if | | | | 4. You would rather use office space and |
| it results in half-done projects. A virtual assistant | | | | equipment inefficiently. You appreciate |
| can take a number of mundane or specialty tasks | | | | dust-gathering office furniture and office |
| off you so that you can focus on managing your | | | | equipment that would not operate themselves. |
| business effectively. | | | | Virtual assistants work out of their own fully |
| 2. You are a glutton for stress. You thrive on | | | | furnished offices and are able to provide finished |
| stress and will rather go without vacations, | | | | projects to you whether you are on a cruise in |
| downtime or quality time with your loved ones. | | | | the Bahamas or at your home office. |
| You enjoy working when you are ill and run down. | | | | 5. You aspire to receive an award from your local |
| Your aim is to burn yourself out while working | | | | chamber of commerce in recognition of your |
| round the clock and you love to sweat the small | | | | efforts in one or more of the above listed points. |
| stuff. Virtual assistant can take on your overflow | | | | Enjoy the humour intended in this article, but |
| work or cover your business during vacations or | | | | thoroughly consider and explore ways in which a |
| sickness. You can hire them for ongoing projects | | | | virtual assistant can partner with you for success. |
| or one-shot projects. | | | | |