A virtual employee can be an excellent alternative to hiring an in-house employee, especially if you are considering your first hire.
Virtual employees work remotely and are most often employed by a third-party company, so you are essentially buying a service from that company, which means you don’t have to worry about payroll processing or tax liabilities.
Advantages of Working with Virtual Employees
Technology has gone a very long way in making what was virtually impossible back then, a normal day in the office today.
Who would have thought that having an employee who’s not in the same office would be possible?
The truth is there’s more to it to working with virtual employees than just the perks brought about by technology.
Build your Business Faster
By spending less time with the tactical workload and focusing on your “CEO” responsibilities, you’ll be able to scale your business faster than you originally projected.
It helps a lot when you have an “employee” managing your non-core processes because you don’t have to worry about them getting done without running out of time.
Ease of Hiring and Recruitment
Let’s be honest: hiring is a pain!
Not all business owners are blessed with time to go through dozens of resumes or conduct interviews to find the right person. This is one area that makes virtual employees a valuable option.
A virtual agency can manage this entire process on your behalf.
Legal issues, IT concerns, and the entire hiring process, in particular, can take so much of your time if you have to do them all alone. This shouldn’t be any of your concern anymore when you have a virtual staffing service doing all of them for you.
It’s certainly faster and more convenient than trying to find every hire yourself.
Slash Staffing Costs
Paying for employees’ salaries is one thing but shouldering overhead costs?
That’s entirely different.
Hiring an in-house employee automatically puts you in charge of paying for overhead costs like office space rental, office supplies, IT services (laptops, desktops, monitors, hardware, software, etc,), and ancillary services just to name a few.
While you’re technically hiring full-time staff in virtual employees, what makes them a better alternative is that you don’t have to cover similar expenses because the virtual agency is in charge of most of them.
The third-party company that employs them will be in charge of where they work and the technology they use which gives you fewer headaches and stuff to worry about.
Business Continuity
One of the things that make hiring virtual employees a worthy consideration is that you don’t have to worry about some of the “nightmares” of hiring a freelancer.
Time and again, we’ve heard stories of freelancers abandoning work all of a sudden or just disappearing– never to be heard from again. That’s awful, especially if they left a project hanging.
In such situations, you’ll probably be going out of your mind trying to find an equally good replacement, which, as we all know, is never easy.
This is not something you’ll need to worry about if you hire a virtual employee. The third-party company they work for has processes in place to keep this from happening.
Should a new hire not be the perfect fit, the company will be in charge of finding you a replacement and taking care of everything. That gives you the peace of mind you need to keep your business running despite the temporary setback.
Drawbacks to Hiring Virtual Employees
Despite the benefits it has to offer, hiring virtual employees has its downsides too and below are some of them:
Inaccessibility
There’s no such thing as a perfect system and no matter how cautious you are, issues are bound to surface when you least expect them.
When you work with people remotely, addressing emergency problems like equipment malfunction or server downtimes can be a bit difficult. You can’t easily organize a meeting or get a hold of everyone immediately so you can keep them posted.
While it is possible, organizing your team may take some time compared to when you have them all in one location.
Lack of Social Interaction
Social interaction is arguably a huge factor in promoting camaraderie and teamwork but when you work with someone you don’t see or speak with (at least on a personal level). Because of that, collaboration may not be as smooth as you expect it to be.
Sure, you’ll still speak to your virtual employee frequently, but most of the time, these interactions are purely business-related.
Working together is far more effective when you get to actually personally talk to them, go out to lunch with them, or simply hang out.
When it comes to working with virtual employees, isolation is one of your worse enemies.
Risk to Reputation
While this perception is certainly changing, one of the biggest concerns in hiring virtual employees is that you run the risk of being labeled as a “non-legit” firm.
Will you still deliver the same quality service without a big expensive office downtown?
Some potential customers might judge your company if they find out you work with virtual employees. (But the right customers won’t care!)
How Much do Virtual Employees Cost?
Hiring a virtual employee can cost you anywhere from $140 to $1995 per month on average.
Different companies offer varying pricing plans and packages with some opting for a per hour rate that can begin from $5 up to a high of $30 depending on skills and location.
As expected, the more skilled and seasoned ones will definitely cost more.
Virtual employees living in the US or Western Europe also tend to be more expensive compared to those who are located in other countries.
Make sure to check with the company what each plan or package entails so you’ll get maximum value for your money.
Which Virtual Employee Company Should You Choose?
Going the virtual employee route obviously brings a lot of benefits to the table. Not only will you be getting the services of an expert, but you’ll also have them working for you exclusively which means you’ll have their undivided attention.
Hiring a virtual employee off of a virtual staffing company is an excellent way of having a full-time staff at a much lower price.
Read reviews from real virtual employee companies to find one that best meets your needs.
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Founded 2013, Bolton Remote is an offshore staffing solution based in the Philippines. They’re not so much a virtual assistant company as they are a simplified way to build a remote support team for your business. The team is led […]
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My Business Assistant is an outsourcing company aimed at helping small to medium sized businesses streamline their processes. The theory goes that if business can free up time, money, and resources spent on non-core processes, it usually makes sense to […]
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FlexJobs is a leading jobs board for telecommuting and work-from-home jobs. The company began in 2007 to provide a central hub of scam-free, personally reviewed remote job postings. Although headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, FlexJobs practices what they preach and have […]
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AnswerConnect is a live answering service based in Portland, US. They provide virtual receptionist services so you always have someone available 24/7 to answer your calls, respond to live chat messages, and schedule appointments. AnswerConnect helps you maximize your ROI […]
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Remote is a global HR solutions company that provides a range of solutions to help businesses of all sizes find and employ global talent. Remote is headquartered in San Francisco, CA but the company is fully remote with their employees […]
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Dynamite Jobs is an online platform aggregating and sharing the best remote jobs from hundreds of sources, posting over 300 new remote jobs each week. If you’re looking for a position where you can work remotely or if you’re a […]
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UPDATE: It appears Remote Staff Recruit is out of business. Please consider one of these alternatives. Remote Staff Recruit is a virtual assistant recruiting firm in the Philippines. Founders John Paul Grant and Matt Canty are a pair of Aussies […]
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Virtual Vocations is an online platform connecting employers with remote workers from around the United States. The site aggregates thousands of job postings every week from job boards, social media streams, websites, blogs and other places on the net. The […]
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We Work Remotely is an online job posting site that connects job seekers with remote work and employers with skilled professionals looking for remote work. The company started operations in 2011. Back then, they were one of the first job […]
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Zylun is an outsourcing center in the Philippines, catering to small and medium-sized businesses. The company opened their doors in 2010, and now employs more than 150 programmers, content writers, Internet marketing specialists, and virtual assistants. Where many other Filipino […]
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TaskUs is a “boutique” outsourcing company in the Philippines, with a sales office in Los Angeles. The company has grown from 5 employees in 2008, to over 400 today, all working out of a dedicated office space in Manila. The […]
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Outsourcing Things Done is a virtual assistant company in the Philippines. Founded in 2009, the company has positioned themselves as a premium entry in the market. Outsourcing Things Done VAs are available in a few different areas of expertise including […]