US Virtual Assistant Myths Busted!
The times they are a-changin' - Bob Dylan
The lyrics of this famous song written by Bob Dylan in 1964 seem more relevant than ever in today’s post-pandemic times.
As businesses grapple with turbulent times and increasing competition, a silent revolution is happening on the work front, poised to redefine how business owners and entrepreneurs approach their work practices.
Virtual Assistance is the new norm and most business owners who have hired virtual assistants in recent months wonder how they survived so long without them.
Although hiring virtual assistants (often called outsourcing) has existed for the past three decades, it is only now that business owners are beginning to appreciate it a bit more. Even on a global level, hiring a remote assistant to manage your day-to-day tasks is something people are gradually getting used to.
Virtual Assistants have changed the way businesses run. With their expansive skillset and broad work experience, they add value to your businesses in remarkable ways.
However, the one question that puts most American business owners in a dilemma is – should we hire someone locally or should we seek an overseas professional?
Of course, we are all quite aware of the benefits overseas, Virtual Assistants offer. But, nonetheless, what you don't know is that US based Virtual Assistants bring with them their own set of advantages!
Surprisingly, some misconceptions and myths about US based Virtual Assistants make some business owners hesitant to hire them. In this blog, we discuss these myths and debunk these myths to show you how investing in a US based VA could be an investment in your company's success.
But first, let's look at how Virtual Assistants are invaluable for your business.
The Importance Of Virtual Assistants In Business
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Virtual assistants can manage most of your tedious and recurring but essential tasks so that you can focus more on growing the business. Furthermore, they are more cost-effective than on-site employees as you don’t need to spend on overheads or other expenses while hiring them.
Virtual assistants are also more productive and offer much higher quality work output than on-site employees. In addition, they possess valuable skills, a wealth of work experience, and the disposition necessary to function well in a remote setting.
Virtual Assistants help you save time that you can use to grow your business
Time is money. Every hour you save on managing everyday tasks can be fruitfully used to grow your business.
Hiring a virtual assistant lets you concentrate on other, more crucial facets of your company. This is frequently mentioned as one of the primary motives for using a VA, and there's a good reason behind it.
Instead of spending most of your time on tedious tasks, you can hire someone to do it for you at a low cost. Now that you have more time on your hands, you can use the time you save to find more customers, close more deals, and raise your company’s profitability.
Hiring a Virtual Assistant is highly cost-effective
Start-ups and entrepreneurs usually have financial constraints in the early days of their business. Due to this, they may put off hiring top-level talent who are pretty expensive to hire for their business.
Fortunately, there is a solution to this dilemma of hiring good talent but saving money simultaneously.
The solution is pretty simple.
Hire a Virtual Assistant.
You can easily hire a virtual assistant with multiple skills at a fraction of the cost it would cost you to hire an on-site employee. However, apart from the minimum per-hour wages, there are other costs associated with an on-site employee, such as office overheads, health benefits, holidays, taxes, etc., which make them prohibitively expensive.
On the other hand, virtual assistants have their own workplace setup and usually charge an all-inclusive hourly fee, which is substantially lower than an on-site employee. Moreover, you can hire them for a few hours per week or month based on your requirements and scale up as and when required. Additionally, they are already skilled and trained in quite a few toolsets, which helps reduce the onboarding time required to get them up-to-date with your organization.
Now that we’ve understood the benefits of hiring a virtual assistant let's jump right back into those myths and break the stereotypes that might keep you from hiring US based virtual assistants.
Read our blog: How to hire a Virtual Assistant: The ultimate guide for Entrepreneurs
Myths About US Based Virtual Assistants
Myth 1: US based virtual assistants are costlier
While there may be certain truthfulness in this myth, it is quite the opposite when compared to hiring in-house employees locally. Often, the cost-benefit associated with hiring overseas virtual assistant services is used as a comparison factor when looking at the cost of hiring a US based virtual assistant.
While labor and operating costs in the US are still higher than in Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Asia, the gap is reducing, and staying domestic has many other advantages. More often, these advantages outweigh the additional expense when considering their abilities, native knowledge, communication skills, and ownership mindset.
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Myth 2: US based virtual assistants are undergraduates
Entrepreneurs most commonly have this question hovering over their heads – if they hire a US based Virtual Assistant, would they get someone who is barely a high-school graduate? Someone who has not finished his higher studies, etc.?
While the same may be true in a few cases, it is not so for most US-based Virtual Assistants. Moreover, the virtual assistant job is sometimes so demanding that they must constantly equip/upgrade their skill sets to prove valuable to their employers.
Their constant need to upskill themselves sometimes makes them more qualified and talented than those who have only done their college education.
Moreover, virtual assistance agencies such as Wishup ensure that every US based Virtual Assistant hired by them is a college graduate with experience and training in more than 200 skill sets.
In addition, they run extensive background checks and profiling to ensure that you get somebody who is very creative and strategic in their thinking.
Myth 3: There are legal and admin hassles when hiring a US based Virtual Assistant
Whenever people talk about hiring employees in the US, the first thing that comes to mind is the costs associated with healthcare benefits and other legal obligations they need to incur while hiring one.
On the contrary, you do not need to worry about any of these costs when hiring a virtual assistant compared to hiring an on-site employee.
Entrepreneurs and startups looking to expand their teams can easily onboard a virtual assistant within 24 hours from Wishup without worrying about paperwork or long-term binding contracts.
Moreover, the US based Virtual Assistants by Wishup are prevetted and trained in 200+ skill sets to start being productive for your organization from day one.
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Myth 4: Privacy & Data Security gets compromised
Quite often, when business owners are hiring a Virtual Assistant, they are worried about data theft or cyber security issues that come with the VAs. For example, a University hiring a Virtual Assistant for research purposes can be concerned about their research being stolen or have data privacy issues with the VAs.
This fear is quite prevalent in the American business community. People in the United States believe they might lose their critical data if they hire a virtual assistant.
While the same may be true in some cases, the best way to circumvent this problem is to make sure you hire virtual assistants from reputed virtual assistance agencies such as Wishup. They conduct the required due diligence on their employees and have enough safeguards in place to prevent a data breach/security issue.
Myth 5: US based Virtual Assistants don’t take ownership of their projects
There is a myth regarding the US Virtual Assistants that they work on a transactional basis only and are not ownership driven. American business owners believe that the US VAs hardly care about their businesses and work only to get paid.
Again, the same may differ from person to person, and it would not be fair to classify all virtual assistants as the same. While one could experience this if one works with a freelancer, it would not be the case if you work with a professional virtual assistant services company.
At Wishup, we ensure that all our US based virtual assistants are concerned about your company's achievements and work proactively towards your success. The virtual assistants assigned to your company are selected after a comprehensive in-house matching process to ensure they understand your company’s objectives and have the skillsets to help your company grow.
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Myth 6: US based Virtual Assistants are lazy
Virtual assistants worldwide are known for their efficiency and high productivity levels. The same applies to US based virtual assistants, too, so classifying US based virtual assistants as lazy would be pretty wrong. It is a myth that is best ignored.
Myth 7: The availability of talent is limited when hiring locally
This is a common misconception among business owners that "If I hire locally, I will limit myself from the large pool of global talent."
We bust this myth right here for you.
Talent has no boundaries, and sometimes the best VAs could be located right next to you. While hiring a VA, it is better to emphasize the skillsets the VAs have and the value they can add to your organization rather than where they are located.
Wishup hires only the top 1% of all American applicants in its team and trains them in more than 200+ skill sets to make them highly efficient and productive. Moreover, the virtual assistants are well-versed in your native language and have excellent communication, multitasking, and business handling skills, making them indispensable to your organization.
So be it a US based virtual assistant or one based overseas, be assured that Wishup will only offer you the best.
Look Beyond The Myths And Hire The Best Virtual Assistant For Your Organization
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We hope we addressed the myths regarding US based virtual assistants to your satisfaction. Hiring a US based virtual assistant is a smart move for your company, as they are both multi-skilled and talented, and being native, they can also understand your culture and work expectations better.
The secret to getting the best out of your virtual assistants is to hire them from a top-notch agency like Wishup, which invests considerably in its processes and training to ensure that all its virtual assistants easily meet their clients' expectations.
If you would like to know more about our US based virtual assistants and how they can help you increase your productivity, do visit our website or write to us at [email protected]