Canadian VAs – How they can help you build your business

Canada is no longer just America’s next-door neighbour when it comes to the world of online business– especially for virtual assistants. Whether you’re a brand looking for someone to manage your marketing, administrative tasks or accounting. Or you’re an individual who just needs someone to help them manage their own personal online presence, whether it be blogging, social media or other– a virtual assistant is your answer! We have highlighted some of the benefits of hiring Canadian VAs, now that technology has no borders (thank you zoom). 

Business

Since Canadians are so closely assimilated with American culture, we are typically educated on American business practices, systems and ethics. This translates well in the workplace because not only do you have a versatile team member who understands your business, but you also have a valuable asset who can assist in international business practices with Canadian businesses. 

Another bonus to Canada’s multiculturalism– many people who move to Canada come here for University or College. Typically, they will have some level of understanding of another culture, language or business from somewhere else in the world. This can also level up your brand even more so than you could even imagine!

Personality

Yes, Canadians are nice, but our personalities are more dynamic than just ‘nice’ when it comes to professionalism. When you come to Canada, the culture revolves around developing relationships with your friends, your neighbours, the person you met once at the coffee shop– going the extra mile (or kilometre) to make someone feel appreciated stands out. 

Plus, our Canadian humour is second to none– or at least, so we’re told. If you’re looking for someone more ‘laid back’ or matched with your personality and you find yourself getting overwhelmed with the thought of even researching a VA that could meet your standards, try reaching out to different VA agencies. VA agencies offer multiple different VAs, as well as a larger array of services (typically). Generally speaking, you can find at least one VA that will match your personal communication style and service needs. 

Multicultural

Canada is a multicultural nation, built on settlers and people immigrating to Canada from different countries. That being said, in a society where cultural diversity is so sparse– one less company can be one step closer to change. 

If you are seeking a way to implement multiculturalism or more diversity into your business– try reaching out to Canadians! You will almost certainly find someone whose heritage is from somewhere else other than Canada itself.

Affordable

One of the biggest challenges for companies when the COVID pandemic hit was managing their budgets. Canadian virtual assistants fare more affordable than their American counterparts when it comes to being budget-friendly in terms of payroll when they are employed by American companies. 

If you are an American business, by employing a Canadian VA, you are achieving a ‘savings’ of 20-30% due to the exchange rate from American funds to Canadian funds. If you are a Canadian business, the win or loss does not affect you, as you will be paying your VA in CAD currency regardless. 

For more information about VAs, or what services we offer, please visit our website at www.canadasvirtualassistant.com.

How to Decide What to Outsource to Virtual Assistants

Juggling multiple tasks and managing your time at once to ensure productivity is a challenge. There are so many important things you need to do, yet 24 hours a day is just not enough to accomplish it all. The lack of time for other things is probably one of the reasons why you think a virtual assistant might be the solution to your pressing dilemma.

You are right. If this is the case, the most convenient thing you can do to relieve the stress brought by your gazillion responsibilities is outsourcing some of these tasks to virtual assistants. Outsourcing will help you maximize your resources and ensure that you get back your time.

If you want to know how to outsource and what tasks you can outsource to virtual assistants, this is the article for you. We prepared a step-by-step guide to help you decide what tasks to outsource to your future virtual assistants.

Step 1: Write Everything Down

One of the main reasons why entrepreneurs seek help from a Virtual Assistant is because they want to free up some of their time. The first step to determine what you can outsource is to write all down all tasks that are currently eating up your time.

From there, write down the rates you are willing to pay and the expertise you need from a virtual assistant. Doing so will give you a clear view of what you really want and make it easier for you to choose who to hire.

Taking note of your needs will serve as your deciding factor in choosing most of the tasks you’ll have to outsource and the number of virtual assistants you need. This step ensures that you see the worth of outsourcing, and you can easily decide on different options available to you.

Step 2: Group them into Categories

Categorize every task in your business according to its relevance in operations. You can divide these tasks into four categories:

1. Things you don’t know how to do
2. Things you hate doing
3. Things you don’t have time to do, and
4. Things only you can do

Create a rough list of the priority tasks out of this step, and it will kickstart your outsourcing game. These sample categories will rid you of the hassle of enumerating each task and possible confusion. Ensure that you are clear with the categories and don’t miss any critical duties within the business.

You can also use this time to assess your needs and wants as a working individual or entrepreneur to get a clear view of the kind of service you will need from a virtual assistant. With this, you can find ways on how a VA can help you become more efficient and improve your business.

Step 3: Make SOPs

Writing down all your standard operating procedures (SOPs) is helpful in deciding what to outsource to virtual assistants and in building an organized standard operating procedure. This step will benefit you and your future virtual assistants.

Be clear and concise with the tasks that enable your business to operate. List them all down, describing how they work and their impact on your operations. With this, you will realize the value of accomplishing these tasks to your productivity and how viable it is to outsource them to virtual assistants.

Also, it is best to take note of the time frame of each task when you do it or when a VA takes over. Measuring the time will give you a view of the probable costs of the labor and how many days it would take for someone to generate quality output. The recorded time will provide you a baseline for your future virtual assistants to follow and comply. 

Step 4: Create a Budget Plan

Having a budget plan set specifically for having virtual assistants will help you decide on what tasks to outsource and how you negotiate rates with your future VAs. A budget plan also ensures that you will not go overboard with your costs and expenses.

Dismissing the creation of a practical budget plan can reverse the significant effects of outsourcing to virtual assistants. Instead of benefiting from lower costs and more time, you might be working twice as hard just to meet your targets.

Remember that your goal in outsourcing is to minimize costs and improve productivity personally or within your organization. Make a budget plan out of factual data, strictly follow it, and filter top priority tasks to outsource that will yield exceptional results. 

Step 5: Take an Outsourcing Course and Make a Decision

The last step in this guide is to enroll yourself in an outsourcing course. If you plan to invest in outsourcing and in virtual assistants, you might as well learn from the experts to get best practices and avoid mistakes as much as you can.

The internet is full of people you can trust and those who will take advantage of you. Taking an online outsourcing course from a proven and tested outsourcing school will prevent this from happening and will guarantee you high productivity. 

Outsourcing courses will make everything extra easier for you. They can provide a roadmap specific for your hiring needs, a list of tasks that you can outsource, places to find quality virtual assistants, templates for SOPs, and many more.

Conclusion

Anyone can outsource tasks to freelancers or virtual assistants. Outsourcing is not limited to entrepreneurs and CEOs since VAs cater to almost all functions that their clients require. Outsourcing will help people like you take back time and generate quality output from outstanding virtual assistants.

You foster growth when you learn to let things go and trust other people to do them for you. It does not mean that you will no longer be as hands-on as you once were. Instead, it is a sign that you are smart enough to utilize more ways to become efficient and productive in your.

About the Author

Connor Gillivan is currently an Owner of OutsourceSchool.com. He has been building businesses with virtual teams for the past 10 years and recently exited FreeUp.net in 2019. He regularly shares his advice on scaling companies online and has been featured on 200+ websites. He resides in Denver, CO.

The virtual assistant business was growing rapidly before Covid-19, and like other remote work–enabling businesses, it accelerated during the pandemic. There are lots of virtual assistant companies offering admins for hire, as well as freelancers working for themselves and getting business through multiple freelancing platforms.

Why the boom? Without an office, just about every role is now remote, so the barrier of geography is less of a consideration when accessing help with everything from software development to executive admins. Also, virtual assistants can be hired on-demand for specific tasks and in an uncertain economy, the model offers a lot of flexibility for executives that need part-time support. 

Three ways to engage a virtual assistant: 

1. Hire a freelancer. 
2. Hire a contractor through a virtual assistant agency. 
3. Use a managed service provider that hires virtual assistants and manages them for you. 

There are pros and cons to each model, and with each model, there is risk. Any hire, full or part-time, has financial and time-based risks. If you hire someone and they don’t work out, you’ve lost time and money.  

1. What will they do? 

This is really a question to ask yourself, but it’s important. Before engaging a virtual assistant freelancer or company, you should be clear on what you want the assistant to do. This may sound obvious, but you might be surprised how many entrepreneurs don’t really know how much time they spend on tasks, and how hard it is for them to get what’s in their head delegated to someone else. Be specific because lack of clarity can quickly lead to miscommunication and unmet expectations. Be specific about the tasks and outcomes you expect. Typical tasks virtual assistants do are: 

• Scheduling meetings and calls 
• Calendar management 
• Email correspondence 
• Light bookkeeping 
• Sales follow-up 
• Travel planning 
• Expense accounts 
• Invoicing and payment processing 

Note that some of these tasks involve contact with customers, which will mean you want a level of professionalism that matches your brand. Outcomes mean how much time you expect each task to take on a daily or weekly basis.  

2. How are they trained and onboarded? 

Knowing if a virtual assistant is qualified and trained to do the work you need can be a challenge, especially with freelancers. There is no degree or credential to validate skills. You need to know: 

• Do they have experience with your tools? 
• Can they get up to speed on your processes?  
• Can they help you get what’s in your head into theirs? 

With freelancers, you take their word for it. Maybe they have references. Some virtual assistant agencies are little more than matchmakers, handing you a stack of resumes to choose from, but they may have done some due diligence for you. Managed service providers hire, train, and manage the virtual assistant providers and bear most of the risk for the quality of the service. The managers onboard the virtual assistant onto your tools prior to the engagement, so they show up ready to work on day one.  

3. Who manages them? 

One thing clients don’t always think about in hiring a virtual assistant is the amount of management it will require. Are you looking for more people to manage? This is an important question as the reason you’re looking for a virtual assistant is to make your life easier. You’re looking for someone you can trust to be your mini-me. You need to think about how much added management burden you want to bear. If you’re comfortable taking on new staff, a freelancer or agency might work if you find the right person. A managed service provider, as the name implies, does the performance management on your behalf. You give feedback to the account manager, and the account manager coaches the virtual assistant behind the scenes. 

4. What happens if they quit? 

The nature of part-time work is that the workers are often: 

• Not always reliable. 
• Always looking for better opportunities. 
• Serving other clients that might be a higher priority. 

We’ve all heard of (or experienced) the disappearing freelancer or contractor. They vanish and take your time and money with them. The risk is especially high with freelancers. Agencies can have turnover too, and the contractors they hire may have clients through other agencies or work as freelancers on the side. Managed services, on the other hand, mitigate this risk. Managers document all processes and train back-up assistants that can step in if your primary assistant sick, on vacation, or moves on.

5. What are their retention rates for assistants and clients? 

The first four questions have to do with how the virtual assistant company or freelancer delivers their services. This question has to do with the quality of the service they deliver as well as the quality of the experience they provide for their virtual assistants.  

• A high retention rate of clients is one of the strongest indicators available of the quality of service delivered. 
• A high retention rate of virtual assistants speaks to the value the business offers its employees or contractors.  

High turnover rates are bad in basketball and bad in business.  

6. What About Price? 

The price of a virtual assistant usually boils down to an hourly rate. Like many services, you need to look beyond the number to the value you’ll get for what you pay for. For example, if one provider costs more but can take more off your plate, it might be worth the extra money. Also, you need to look at additional expenses you might incur such as: 

• Computer 
• Software 
• Training 
• Payroll taxes 
• Your time training and managing 

7. What is your security policy? 

In the age of cyberthreats, you also need to consider the security of a virtual assistant’s hardware and software. Independent contractors and freelancers typically don’t have business-grade security systems. Some businesses, like healthcare and financial services, have strict security requirements. There are three areas of security to address: 

• Network security—is the assistant’s network secure? 
• Device security—if you provide a company device or not, what happens if the computer is lost, or the assistant disappears? 
• Human security—does the company or do you do background checks and have confidentiality agreements? 

What Kind of Relationship Do You Want? 

Ultimately how you engage a virtual assistant has a lot to do with the kind of relationship you want. Is it a short-term assignment for some not-so-important projects that you need to get done? Then a freelancer might be fine. Are you looking for long-term help from someone who will add increasing value to your team? You should look for a virtual assistant company that is aligned with that goal. Managed virtual assistant services are built to acquire and grow institutional knowledge about the businesses they serve, and to scale as needs and capabilities grow. 

Written by our partners at Prialto.

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