An assessment tailored for you

September 23, 2022
Author
broadstone.io

In these uncertain times many businesses are exploring ways of reducing costs and improving resilience.

There is growing pressure to lower the costs of utilities including electricity and, as winter is coming, heating. Rental fees and growing interests might urge companies to reduce their office floorspace or to move to less costly locations. And while reducing salaries of your core talent is in most cases not desirable and could prove to be detrimental, a gradual reduction of unutilised capacities can be a promising path to take.

Such a need is exacerbated by the unpredictability of what is to come. Many people have been worried about economic downturns in Europe and also in the United States. Businesses are forced to face these uncertainties even if the profitability of their operations is not tied heavily to energy prices.

Working from home gained enormous traction during 2020. Hybrid work, the combination of working some days from home and some days in the office, is a combination of remote and office presence that is mentioned with increased frequency as the pandemic gradually (and hopefully) subsides.

Virtual assistants offer services to companies not simply remotely, but as contractors. They invoice just the amount of work they perform, similarly to the way any other supplier, expert or consultant would, and unlike the way regular salaried employees are paid. In most cases Virtual Assistants account for their contribution on an hourly basis by meticulously and continuously keeping track of tasks performed and time invested.

The challenges of today’s business environment and the benefits offered by remote work and in particular virtual assistance are a good match for several reasons:

  • Having at least some of your tasks paid for on an hourly basis can reduce the risk of unutilised capacities, as in months with fewer tasks your expenses will be lower. If this coincides with months that have less revenue to begin with, all the better. An obvious example for such a kind of a beneficial correlation is outbound invoicing for receivables. When your turnaround is lower, you will most likely have fewer invoices to issue anyway.
  • With some of your staff being contractors, a possible downturn is easier to weather, considering that these contracts can be closed easier, or even better, reduced to just a few hours of work a month if needed, to be reignited when conditions allow or require so. In contrast, letting go and then rehiring staff is a considerable hassle, not to mention interpersonal pain, damage to the spirit of the remaining team, and even legal risks.
  • Having some of your workload handled outside of your office, opportunities for reducing floorspace or finding a more affordable location became easier to take advantage of. Since a virtual assistant covers their own expenses, not just including the utilities and office space but also equipment such as computers and broadband, cost reductions are more readily available. An employee who works from home might need compensation for at least some of these related expenses, and to have their equipment provided by your company.

We have created a self-guided assessment that can help you better understand how remote business administration services can support you specifically. Based on your answers you can gain insight into:

  • what the consequences of your previous experiences with remote work are and what they mean for you in the future
  • what tasks you have that could be handled through a virtual assistant or an employee who works fully remotely
  • what are the skills required related to the tasks identified this way
  • how your experience (even when negative) and your tasks can be combined for a better outcome

The questionnaire can be accessed here and should take about ten minutes or less to complete. We ask for your contact information at the end of the assessment so that our expert can provide you with a human insight into the matter. However, a preliminary result is provided immediately once you submit your answers at hand. Registration is not required.

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