No matter what industry you’re in, eCommerce, real estate, finance, etc., administrative tasks and paperwork are inevitable. Making travel arrangements, managing your calendar, answering emails, responding to customer inquiries, doing research — all these are essential in business. Unfortunately, they are also tedious and time-consuming, which is why many business owners are looking into hiring virtual administrative assistants.
As a business owner, your time is better spent growing your business. This includes going to important meetings with potential business partners and shareholder or brainstorming business development ideas. This could also mean attending conferences that will help you forge important connections and learn new business ideas and strategies. Sadly, for many entrepreneurs, especially those who are just starting out, most of their time is actually wasted on basic admin assistant duties.
Small Business Statistics You Need to Know
According to statistics compiled by Small Business Trends, only 80% of businesses started in 2014 made it to their second year. Even fewer, a measly 56%, of those businesses survived until their fifth year.
The same article listed the top causes of failure for these businesses. Here’s why 44% of the businesses started in 2014 didn’t make it to their fifth year:
- 42% said there was no market need for their product/service
- 29% ran out of funds
- 23% said that their team composition was not right
- 19% succumbed to the competition
- 18% said that issues with cost and pricing caused their business to fail
- 17% had problems with the user-friendliness of their product
- 17% did not have a business model
- 14% were not able to market their product/service properly
- 14% did not provide proper customer service
- 13% attributed their failure to improper timing
Issues such as poor marketing, bad team composition, and customer service problems, can be resolved with the help of an administrative VA. Hiring an admin VA to help you deal with the crucial but repetitive tasks in business is an excellent investment.
When you hire virtual assistants, they can deal with the routine work. This allows you to focus on the more important business aspects and decisions that only the business owner or CEO can do.
Read on to know more about what administrative virtual assistants are and what they can do for your business.
What is an Administrative Virtual Assistant?
An administrative virtual assistant, or admin VA, is someone who is trained to deal with the routine but essential tasks in business. Think of them as a virtual office assistant. They function similar to your typical in-house executive assistant, administrative assistant, or administrative support. The main difference is that an admin VA will do all these administrative jobs while working remotely from their home office.
Like any office admin assistant, your admin VA’s duties can include: answering calls and emails, scheduling meetings, data entry, etc. A virtual administrative assistant is a great entry point into virtual staffing.
Also Read: Virtual Administrative Assistant
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