As the Covid-19 pandemic is slowing fading, there are new fears of a recession. With many small-to-medium companies barely surviving, many businesses post-Covid have had to innovate dramatically. This is not only to stay afloat, but to acquire sufficient revenue to thrive. However, as a recession is nearing, an even more aggressive approach is needed to protect your business and to scale up more rapidly. This approach accepts the use of a virtual assistant business or BPO to assist companies with their staffing solutions.
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What is BPO in simple words?
The term business process outsourcing, or BPO, refers to a company contracted to another company to assist with their business processes. In other words, the BPO completes the business tasks in a structural way, with the goal of assisting the business in growth endeavors. These business processes can be the backbone of a company, such processes assisting in the operational smooth functioning of a business. If successfully implemented, these processes can add a 70% success rate to a project. However, these tasks are also mundane, repetitive, and can be accomplished for less by a virtual assistant.
What is a virtual assistant?
Where a task cannot be automated, hiring a virtual assistant is the best solution. A virtual assistant is a person who works remotely. Such a person can be located in a different country, and in a different time zone. Virtual or remote assistants differ according to their unique skill sets. There are various types of virtual assistants, ranging from a virtual personal assistant to a virtual graphic design assistant. Although not living locally, the assistant will come with a skill set on a par with the best talent found in the country of the hiring company.
The two main benefits of making use of a virtual business assistant
There are two notable benefits to onboarding a virtual assistant business: saving money and increasing cash flow. Even though it is widely known that a virtual assistant can save a business money, the lesser-known fact is that they can also help a company with their cash flow.
How a virtual assistant can save you money
The obvious saving is on staffing costs. When you hire a virtual assistant, the cost is lower than hiring an onsite employee. What this means is that a company:
- does not pay the virtual assistant a pension
- plus. does not have to pay taxes
- does not need to offer paid leave
- also, does not need to hire a substitute employee to cover the staff member on leave
- does not need to pay sick leave
- and does not need to pay medical insurance.
Save on business operating costs
Additionally, since a virtual assistant covers their own costs, this also means savings to the hiring company. The remote assistant will be working from their own home office. The business will therefore not be called on to spend money on office equipment such as laptops, cellphones or other technology, or office furniture. Also, you are saving on rental fees and business Wi-Fi costs.
How a virtual assistant can increase your cash flow
To grasp the benefit of how a remote assistant can increase a company’s cash flow, you need to know the importance of cash flow itself.
Why cash flow is vital for a business
For a business, especially a small- to medium-sized business, to be prosperous and healthy, besides monitoring profits and petty cash, a business must keep an eye on its cash flow. Cash flow is the flow (in and out) of money entering and leaving a business. A positive cash flow means that more money is coming in than going out, thus, a positive, rather than a negative cash flow. For your business to be as healthy and prosperous as possible, you must keep an eye on profit, cash flow, and petty cash. Although all are important, there are differences between the three that are useful to know so that you can make better-informed business decisions. More, a business can have good profit margins; however, if the cash flow is negative, the business can run into trouble. This can impede growth, hurt decision-making, and can lead to the collapse of a business. Therefore – remember, cash is king!
Your cash flow and a virtual assistant
Many entrepreneurs build a start-up venture but lack sufficient cash to outright scale their business. In many cases, they need either to hold back or to find alternative ways to drive growth. Moreover, in business, speed matters. Companies that are too slow, even those trying to recover post-pandemic, will fall short. Therefore a business must shape up, and do so with speed.
However, since investing in a virtual assistant costs you less than does an onsite employee, the cash flowing out of the business is reduced. Here most companies see a savings of around 60% on their business expenses, mostly after only three months of hiring a remote assistant. The savings can then be used to stabilize the business cash-flow model and help the business to upscale at lightning speed.
Going the outsourcing route
Outsourcing can be beneficial to your company. Yet many business owners are reluctant to offboard mundane tasks. The result is that they are stuck with repetitive and time-wasting work that could have been achieved by a virtual assistant at a fraction of the cost, rather than doing it themselves. There are many more benefits to outsourcing, such as saving you time. For those who have taken the plunge and hired a virtual assistant, the impact has been immense. These companies are now in a better financial position and are able to take their business to the next level.