With the global pandemic showing no signs of slowing down, many businesses across the UK have adapted their operational models to streamline their work and optimise productivity. The rapid advancement of technology has certainly helped in this regard. Businesses have encouraged their employees to work remotely, helping them save costs while maintaining their effectiveness and value.
Many small- to medium-sized businesses in the UK have opted to outsource key functions of their business to enable them to focus on more strategic objectives and ensure that their businesses remain competitive in such uncertain times. With that being said, outsourcing virtual assistants has become increasingly popular in the UK, especially for businesses with small staff complements with limited skill sets and resources.
Why virtual assistants?
One of the main reasons for virtual assistants gaining traction amongst UK businesses is that they are multi-skilled specialists who are highly experienced with time-consuming, repetitive, and often tedious tasks critical for efficient business operations. Tasks such as email and calendar management, content creation and social media management, market research, graphic design, and administrative tasks are some core areas that virtual assistants excel in.
Often described as a “Godsend” by UK business owners, virtual assistants can be deployed at short notice for a defined cost, so businesses can choose to outsource specific tasks as and when their services are needed. In addition, businesses don’t have to provide office space, resources, equipment and furniture – all that without even mentioning not having to contribute towards taxes, benefits and associated costs of having permanent staff.
How do virtual assistants add value?
When considering these unprecedented times, it appears that an increasing number of businesses will leverage technology to their advantage and gravitate towards a more digital business model. This allows businesses to provide efficient and effective services without the need to have physical interaction with staff or customers.
With that being said, it’s easy to understand why virtual assistants are increasingly being sewed into the fabric of many businesses across the UK – quite often becoming invaluable commodities to business owners who now have time to concentrate on growing their businesses strategically.
Virtual assistants are highly-skilled and are able to complete projects and tasks quickly and efficiently without supervision. They have a unique skill set that your business may not have in-house and possess the expertise to finish complex tasks effortlessly.
Quite often, mundane and repetitive tasks – which are key to business operations – hinder a business owner’s ambitions. These time-consuming activities leave little time and energy to channel towards business growth.
It is quite often the case when businesses break up big tasks into many little ones and outsource these little tasks in order of priority. By breaking down a big task, business owners discover that some of those can be handled in-house while outsourcing what is only necessary.
The beauty of using a virtual assistant is that businesses only pay for these virtual assistants’ time without forking out additional staff costs. In addition, virtual assistants usually work according to a budget that is agreed on before any work is undertaken, so there is transparency and clarity right from the outset.
Virtual assistants also offer incredible flexibility in the type of tasks that they help with, the regularity of doing such tasks, and the level of detail they offer when helping you get your business into shape.
Virtual assistants prove their value in these instances by taking on the mantle with consummate ease. With business owners now having the luxury of time on their hands, they can focus on matters of business strategy and growth and provide more specialised services to their clients. Time is far more valuable for business owners when identifying and implementing strategic initiatives than wasting away their talent with repetitive and tedious tasks.
Final thoughts
The bottom line is that most businesses in the UK could do with a virtual assistant, even if just for a few hours a week. Of course, this would depend on their level of business activity, the complexity of their operations, and the level of expertise that the company has internally.
The beauty of outsourcing a virtual assistant is that specialist outsourcing firms have the expertise, tools and professional staff to provide a comprehensive suite of services, freeing up valuable time for UK businesses to focus on operational and strategic objectives.
Many businesses across the UK have come to realise the tremendous benefits of using a virtual personal assistant to keep their ships sailing smoothly. By using fit-for-purpose professionals only when you need them, your business is able to climb to greater heights much quicker as you are not drawing unnecessary resources to get the same work done.
While you may not need a virtual assistant for all tasks all of the time, they are a strategic tool that can be customised and deployed to get ahead of your competition. It only makes sense to use a virtual personal assistant to help you to optimise business operations – just make sure to outsource from established companies with valuable talent pools on hand.
