There’s a misunderstanding that if you delegate some of your business tasks to a third party, such as a VA, it will cost you a lot of money. However, outsourcing can actually have the opposite effect and can even make you some money. What I mean is that whatever you will be paying can be easily recovered as you will be able to spend more of your time concentrating on important tasks such as sales and marketing for instance.
One thing you should know about hiring a VA, is that it can cost you anywhere from $15.00 to $75.00 per hour or more – There are just too many different scenarios and expertise levels depending on the tasks needed.
For new Virtual Assistants that are just starting off, they will probably offer you a less expensive rate as opposed to the more experienced VA – You might even get a VA who is just starting out and will charge less so they can get the experience, knowledge and get their foot in the door.
The more experienced VAs who have been working in the industry for a few years, they will charge a higher rate but it’s worth it as you are paying for experience and that goes a long way.
Then of course, you have those that will offer you extras, such as technical support and that’s where you will find the much higher rates such as $50 – $75 per hour or more.
There are also VAs who offer to charge per project – for instance someone who offers social media management services. So rather than charge per hour, they will charge you a set price for the setup of social media accounts (if necessary) – finding followers – posting blogs etc.
In addition, you may need a VA whose specialty is in Kindle formatting – this can also be charged per project rather than per hour. The different niches are too many to name but you get the point that there’s someone out there who’s great and professional and exactly what you need.
So, there are many different scenarios that will have an influence on what you should spend to hire a VA for your coaching business. A good way to plan is to make yourself a budget, and then by working together with your VA, you can figure out the best way to work together that will be worth your while.
The main thing is that you need to decide exactly what jobs/tasks you need to source and find that ‘perfect VA’ that will be a delight to work with. So don’t make a decision based on the rates they charge (whether it be high or low) – When you interview them, you should get a good indication of their expertise as well as their work values. Then you should have enough information to decide who would be best suited to be your VA. You an also refer to my blog post 25 Questions you need to ask a potential VA first! for help in choosing what questions to ask potential Virtual Assistants.