If the concept of employing a virtual assistant (VA) is new to you, you may be wondering just what a virtual assistant does and how they differ from an in-office administrative assistant.

Perhaps the biggest difference between a VA and an in-office assistant is that a VA is a self-employed independent contractor. Rather than the VA being an employee of your company, you are the VA’s client. This alters the dynamic of the working relationship. Like you, the VA is a business owner and it is their goal to work with you and making sure that your administrative needs are fulfilled. And as a business owner, they value your satisfaction and understand that it is vital to your business as well as their own.

The other major difference between the two is that, as the title implies, a virtual assistant works from outside of the office. Using technology like the Internet, cell phones or Blackberry/SmartPhone, fax machines, e-mail, etc. allows a VA to serve clients all over the country.

Virtual assistants typically have diverse backgrounds which means they can specialize in certain areas – law, real estate, medical – and may have specific skills such as desktop publishing, marketing, or web design. This gives you, as the client, the opportunity to hire a VA whose training and experience best suits your needs.

While the hourly rate for hiring a VA is usually higher than that of having an in-office assistant, clients will actually save money. Clients are only paying for the actual time that the VA spends on the assigned duties or project as opposed to paying for a flat 40-hour work week without regard to how much time is spent on each task. VAs also provide their own equipment, office supplies, and services. This relieves clients of the costs of computers and software, phone and fax lines, office supplies and other expenses associated with providing office space. In addition, clients who hire a virtual assistant will not be responsible for providing sick pay, holiday pay, 401k plans, insurance and other benefits.

If you’re considering hiring a virtual assistant, take the time to consider the advantages and remember that you and your VA have the same goal in mind which is to help your business grow and succeed. If you have more questions about how a VA can help you, please feel free to contact April via email at April@AdvantageVirtualAssistant.com.