During the last week I started with another new client which was great. The following day I received an email from this client to format a small document to ensure consistency of logo placement & branding specifications. The client specified in their email "please spend no longer than two hours on this project".
Now, I took a look at the documents that were sent through as examples and the unformatted document and I thought I had misunderstood the instructions. Perhaps I was to redo all of these documents in the two hours, not just the one document. After calling the client to clarify, it was just the one document that needed formatting and so I began. This job was completed in just under half an hour.
This situation caused me to think of how many potential clients out there base their budget and required hours per month on how long it would take them to complete the tasks? Does this often cause some to think that engaging a Virtual Assistant would be too expensive as they themselves spend a lot of time on these tasks?
It is important when engaging a Virtual Assistant to remember that an experienced Virtual Assistant will often take half the time, or less, to complete tasks as this is their area of expertise. Whilst you are the expert in your business, Virtual Assistants are administrative experts and know the quickest way of completing various projects and tasks.
For example, if a small document (e.g. 2 pages) takes you 2 hours to type up and format, consider the following:
* What is your typing speed?
* Do you format consistently?
* How are you formatting...is it the quickest way?
If you are investigating the possibility of working with a Virtual Assistant, it may be an idea to commence your business partnership on a lower retainer at first and ascertain if you need to increase these hours later. If you find an experienced Virtual Assistant who is fast, this will save you money in the long run. Best to go over your retainer hours in a month, than to have unused time during a month.
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