30 Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Research Assistant

What does every great idea start with? Research.

It doesn’t matter how big your business is. It doesn’t even matter which industry you operate in. You will need to conduct research for a variety of reasons – tracking competition, finding new markets, launching a new product, etc. But doing so takes time, something entrepreneurs are always short of.

This is why successful businesses hire virtual research assistants. A virtual research assistant works remotely, conducting internet research and data compilation according to an organization’s needs.

What Can a Virtual Research Assistant Do For Me?

Following is a list of tasks you can delegate to your virtual research assistants:

• Market research
• Internet research
• Keyword search
• Email search
• Buying research reports
• Compiling research data
• Legal procedure research
• Customer surveys
• Data processing and management
• Building and updating databases

Your VA can handle just about any custom task you have in mind.

The secret to growing your business is equipping yourself with the right information – on the industry, competitors, and customers. But it’s excessively time-consuming to take this task upon yourself. Read on to find out how virtual research assistant can make your life easy.

You Save Money

1. Lower costs

There’s no denying the fact that research is an integral part of your business. Once you realize you’re wasting your time on internet research that you can instead spend on core business activities, you perhaps start looking for an in-house employee.

But here’s why it’s not a smart decision – you won’t always need the same volume of research work to be done. Which means your employee can sit ideal for a few hours every week. Or a few days every month. If you can see how expensive this is for your business, it’s time to hire a virtual research assistant. Not only are VAs adept at conducting research, but they are also a much more affordable choice. Unlike your full-time employee, your virtual research assistant will not demand benefits, leaves, and vacation time.

2. Cut down operational costs

When you’re running a small business, you need to take every cost-cutting opportunity that presents itself. Apart from saving on salaries, you also save on office rentals, supplies, and other operational costs by hiring a virtual research assistant. Sweet deal.

3. You don’t need an office

Are you a digital nomad that doesn’t believe in letting geography restrict them? Precisely why you should invest in a remote assistant. Hire a virtual research assistant and you don’t have to pay for office space, computers, internet, and other overheads. If you’re never at a place for too long, why should your VA be?

4. Pay only for work

When you build an in-house team, you pay for their downtime, vacation, and sick days. But not for your virtual assistant. Pay only for the hours you use and use the savings to grow your business. This can help you stay in control of your cash flow until you have enough money to hire full time.

Superior Research Capabilities

5. Market research

If you regularly need to conduct market research for your business, it makes perfect sense to hire a virtual research assistant. Your VA will methodically and thoroughly conduct market research and present accurate results. If you try to do this by yourself, you will not only lose precious time but may also realize you just aren’t trained in the tools essential for a holistic analysis.

6. Primary research

If you’re conducting a research project that needs you to conduct surveys or interviews, your virtual research assistant will get the job done. Let them know the details of the task and they can distribute surveys over email or conduct interviews with focus groups on the phone or in person. Hire a virtual research assistant to research your target market and present results in a ready-to-use format.

7. Secondary research

The web is an ocean of information. But it makes no sense for you to wade the deep waters for extracting the richest insights. Task your VA with secondary research. They will carefully sift through data on the internet, consult different sources, and present accurate results to you. Your virtual assistant is trained to look through the most reliable resources to ensure you have the latest information and a 360-degree view of the subject in question.

8. Accurate facts at your disposal

Your virtual assistant excels at both qualitative and quantitative research such that you have a complete picture of the research subject. They will also organize this information for you, making sure only updated and accurate information reaches you.

9. Travel research

Looking to travel for business? Get your virtual assistant to perform extensive research on the cheapest travel options. Use their services to find the best deals around the world.

10. Comparative research

If you’ve ever spent time comparing different options, features, or prices, you know how long the entire thing takes. So you don’t want to spend time researching all possible options. Ask your virtual research assistant to perform a comparative analysis for you. For example, you could ask them to prepare a list of the most affordable coworking spaces in your area. They will send you a summary of results, highlighting top choices and additional options. Trust your VA to help you with everyday decision making!

11. Data research

If you’re looking to build contact lists for your digital marketing efforts, a virtual research assistant will come in handy. Let them know what you’re looking for and they will put together an extensive spreadsheet with different data points. Easy, isn’t it?

12. Competitor research

To stay ahead of the curve, you must know what it looks like. Every once in a while, you need to check what your competition is up to. Hire a virtual research assistant to keep a tab on their social media activity, new promotions, and pricing. A trained VA will also conduct in-depth competitor benchmarking studies for your business.

13. Detailed reports

Once they’re through with the research, your virtual assistant will prepare reports to present their analysis. VAs are trained to create detailed reports with their key findings using bullet points, charts, graphs, and images. This means you get data points in an easily comprehensible manner that you can put to use.

14. Data management

If you’re spending hours analyzing data to extract relevant insights, it’s time to outsource this task. Hire a virtual research assistant for data management and bring your focus to putting data and plans to action. Your VA will manage data collection, identify gaps, contact the right people to close them, and keep your data free of errors.

15. Data privacy and confidentiality

Before hiring, you can get your virtual research assistant to sign an NDA to secure the confidentiality of your data. All virtual research assistants at Wishup sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement to respect clients’ data privacy needs.

Grow Your Business

16. Focus on the bigger picture

A crucial reason to hire a virtual research assistant is to delegate tasks you personally spend time on. When you do this, you get the time to focus on the bigger picture i.e. growing your business. Meanwhile, your virtual assistant can search the web, maintain spreadsheets, and create a database for you.

17. Trained professionals

Virtual assistants are skilled professionals that are thoroughly trained in scouting the web for information. Your VA knows just where to find a particular nugget of information on the internet. This means you get access to expert analysis and comprehensive data quickly.

18. Collect customer feedback

A research assistant can also be tasked with monitoring customer comments on social media and collecting their feedback. They can keep track of comments and complaints by customers, collect this data, and furnish this information in the form of a report.

19. Learn more about your customers

Keeping your business needs a tight finger on the market’s pulse. From buying behaviors to preferences, you must learn all there is about your customers. When you task a VA to constantly collect this information, you can really give your business a boost. Your virtual research assistant can help you learn more about your customers by interacting with them on multiple channels and gathering in-depth insights, saving you a lot of time in doing so.

20. Boost seasonal revenue

If you’re in a consumer-facing business, there’s a good chance you base your marketing campaigns around holidays and seasons. If you want to tailor promotions based on a seasonal calendar, hire a virtual research assistant to help you plan strategies. Don’t randomly run campaigns and discounts. Base them on research after understanding what your customers want and what your competitors are doing.

21. Scale up

It’s only when you understand your customers and their motivations can you think of scaling your business. Hire a virtual research assistant to conduct extensive market and customer research so you can finally focus on growing your business.

Boost Productivity

22. Focus on core business

When you run a business, your work yanks you in different directions. Before you know it, you’re at the verge of burnout. Don’t let admin and research work bog you down every day. Prioritize right with the services of a virtual assistant. Stay away from your non-core competencies by tasking a virtual research assistant to perform research work as you focus on your core competencies.

23. Enjoy flexibility

It’s common for businesses to experience seasonal peaks and slow periods. And as a business, you can’t hire when you get busy and fire when there isn’t enough work, can you? Hiring a virtual assistant effectively solves this problem. You can hire them for a certain number of hours instead of having them on your payroll forever. If you like their work, keep them longer.

24. Zero training required

Virtual research assistants are trained in conducting research over the web. This means you can get started with them with zero training time and costs!

Easy Onboarding

25. Find your next employee

Hiring the right employees is something every entrepreneur finds tricky. Finding the right culture fit and someone with the right skill set is as difficult as it gets. But if you’ve been fortunate enough to find a VA you like working, you can buy their entire bandwidth and essentially hire a full-time employee!

26. Diverse skill set

Most virtual assistants hold rich experience across several industries. This means you can leverage their expertise to go beyond the vanilla internet research. Get your VA today and find out what they can do for you.

27. No contractual obligation

Another solid benefit of hiring a virtual research assistant is that you only pay for the work you get done. There is absolutely no obligation to pay them for 40 hours a week (as with a full-time resource) if they only end up working for 20.

28. Say goodbye to stress

Your VA is essentially a support system for your business. If you frequently feel crushed under the weight of mounting tasks every day, you’re no doubt experiencing immense stress. Today, the psychological troubles of entrepreneurship are a well-documented reality. Don’t sacrifice your mental health at the altar of success. Get your day scheduled, your emails answered, and your research done in time with a virtual assistant. Say goodbye to stress!

29. Flexible subscription plans

At Wishup, you can choose from a variety of hourly and monthly plans to suit your needs. Hire a virtual research assistant and tap into the expertise of a talented professional.

30. Hire on demand

If your current workload is a little too overwhelming for your own good, it’s unarguably time to hire a virtual research assistant. The best thing about using the services of a VA is that you can hire on demand. Looking to onboard someone immediately? Look no further than Wishup.

Clearly, your business has much to gain by engaging a trained and competent virtual assistant. What if you’re on a budget? Fret not. Hiring a virtual assistant is supremely affordable. And thanks to technology, you now have amazingly qualified people at your fingertips. Make the best decisions for your business with the support of a virtual research assistant. Invest in a qualified resource for your business today.