11 Ways To Effectively And Affordably Leverage Virtual Assistants For Your Business

What is a good way to leverage virtual assistants to streamline your tasks, particularly when your budget is tight?

These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most successful young entrepreneurs. YEC members represent nearly every industry, generate billions of dollars in revenue each year and have created tens of thousands of jobs. Learn more at yec.co.

1. Assign Them Tasks with Measurable ROI

One key way to make a virtual assistant’s cost justifiable is to find a clear set of tasks that have a measurable and specific ROI and can cover all or most of the cost of that virtual assistant. That way the rest of the tasks you delegate feel like they’re icing on the cake. – Ryan D Matzner, Fueled

2. Look for Entry-Level Assistants

If a virtual assistant doesn’t have much experience in the field and you’re on a budget, that means you have the opportunity to train them in a way that best suits your company specifically. They won’t be tempted to follow old rules from other companies because they’re starting fresh with yours. You can use this to your advantage, especially if your budget is low. – Thomas Griffin, OptinMonster

3. Create Systems That Are Clear and Easy To Follow

If you’re operating on a thin budget, there is no margin for error for how your virtual assistants are spending their time. To keep them on task and productive, make sure to have clear and easy to follow systems in place for each specific task you ask them to do. – Ben Walker, Transcription Outsourcing, LLC

4. Carefully Track Your Expenses Against the Work They’re Doing

If your budget is tight but you’re hiring a virtual assistant, you must keep track of the expenses so you don’t end up paying out of pocket. If you look at it and realize that you don’t have enough to pay a VA what they deserve, it’s best to rethink how else you can get those tasks done. By constantly reassessing what you’re working with, you’ll be able to leverage a VA to your advantage. – Chris Christoff, MonsterInsights

5. Take Time to Properly Onboard Them

You won’t have to spend as much extra money on fixing mistakes that your virtual assistant makes if they experience a proper and thorough onboarding process. It isn’t wise to spend little to no time training someone and then expect them to do everything the way you prefer. You need to make sure they’re fully prepared for the job by providing them with the resources and time they need. – Jared Atchison, WPForms

6. Train Your Assistant on Social Media

There are plenty of business owners out there who hire specialized social media marketers to help with various areas of their marketing strategy. They will usually pay these people to create and share posts on their accounts. Instead, leverage your virtual assistant by offering certified social media classes and then allow them to take over the role. – Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner

7. Find Someone Who Thinks Like You

If you find an assistant who thinks like you, your tasks will be easier because instead of doing it yourself, they can already do it for you. Small, detailed instructions will be easily understood once you find someone who sincerely cares and has the same agenda as you. – Daisy Jing, Banish

8. Limit Work to Simple, Routine Tasks

Virtual assistants can be very helpful in reducing the workload at a reasonable cost. However, you should limit the amount of work assigned to virtual assistants, otherwise, it can become cost-prohibitive and lead to quality issues. It’s best to outsource routine, fairly simple tasks to virtual assistants. Tasks that are sporadic or require extensive training are not ideal for virtual assistants. – Matthew Podolsky, Florida Law Advisers, P.A.

9. Start Small

If your budget is tight but you still want to leverage virtual assistants, start small. A virtual assistant can work for you for one day a week or even just a few hours a week and still help you streamline your tasks and save time. By starting small you can see if having a virtual assistant works for your business while not spending a ton of money at the same time. – Stephanie Wells, Formidable Forms

10. Have Them Tackle Payroll Work

Virtual assistants are usually jack-of-all-trades who are more than capable of handling multiple tasks at once. If you’re looking for a way to save money with an assistant, you can train them to handle payroll work. – Blair Williams, MemberPress

11. Hire One Assistant to Manage the Others

Early in my company, I couldn’t afford in-person staff. I found it helpful to delegate specific tasks to specific virtual assistants. To streamline this process, I’d suggest hiring one “senior” assistant who you work closely with, to manage and oversee the other assistants, to make sure things are up to par. Creating this hierarchy can help with a budget and gets a lot of things done faster! – Rachel Beider, PRESS Modern Massage