“Other than doing technical ‘fix-its’ with my computer…I do it all! I have found that this keeps me very limited in growing my business and taking on new clients. I wish I had someone to help but how can I justify hiring someone when I can do work myself…when I have time?”

This is a very common issue for many small business owners. All work, whether revenue generating or not, needs to be done to keep business running smoothly.

We need to reconnect with our goals for our business and our vision for its future. We need to focus on why we started this business in first place. Focusing includes deciding how much our time is worth.

But, how do you put a value on your time? How much is each hour of each day worth, especially when you are doing projects that are not generating revenue or increasing your customer base?

This is an all to familiar phrase to so many people, especially small business owners. There just never seems to be enough hours in day to get all revenue generating tasks done, not to mention abundance of administrative tasks that seem to always be piling up.

For most, only known alternative to doing work yourself is to hire a temporary employee. This has always been how most have received help with their administrative overflow.

Well, not anymore. Now you can get help with office tasks from professional, self-employed Virtual Assistants (VAs).

But, why would you choose a VA over a temp? Well, there are many differences between two… differences that we will cover here and that will point out benefits and advantages of utilizing services of a VA over help of a temp.

1.Temporary employees (temps) are just that, temporary. They’re here today and may be gone tomorrow. A VA, on other hand, is available on an ongoing basis or can be called upon, at short notice, when an extra pair of administrative hands is required.

2.VAs take a vested interest in success of their clients and their businesses. VAs believe that absolute best job possible will not only help their own reputation but will also help to build client’s business. The more successful client is, higher possibility of more work needing to be done by VA or more referrals. A temp, however, may look at assignment as just a means of padding their resume or getting a paycheque.

3.Training and experience is also an issue when comparing VAs to temps. VAs are generally those that have had many, many years of experience out in workforce. This knowledge, along with any additional training and schooling, allows them to provide a wide gambit of services, all of which they have had many years to perfect. VAs also tend to be more apt to upgrade their skills in order to provide their clients with most up to date and professional services that they can possibly provide.

Temps, on other hand, may be those that are right out of school with little or no ‘on job’ experience, or those who are simply looking for something to fill their time. Not to mention, when a temp is hired, they have to be trained. Now, if that temp is not available when next assignment crops up, another temp will have to be brought in and thus more time is needed to train that employee. And so on.