Best Reasons to Hire a Virtual Assistant (and When Not To)

Common reasons to hire a virtual assistant include repeat tasks that fill your day, work that's less than a full-time job, work that doesn't need a person in the room, a wish to start small, and wanting your own hours back for client work. This site has no source that ranks these reasons, so this page doesn't name a best one. Here's each one:

• Repeat tasks fill your day. Email, scheduling and data entry come back every week. They follow steps another person can learn.
• The work is less than a full-time job. A virtual assistant can work part time, for the hours the tasks take. For scale, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics counts workers as part time if they usually work fewer than 35 hours per week. BLS adds that its definition is for statistical purposes only and isn't a legal one.
• The work doesn't need a person in the room. If it happens on a computer or a phone, it can be done from anywhere.
• You want to start small. You can begin with a few tasks and add more once those go well.
• You want your own hours for client work. The aim is to spend your time on the work only you can do.

None of these reasons promises a result. This site has no sourced number for what a virtual assistant returns, so it gives none.

For what it costs, see virtual assistant cost.

Before you hire a virtual assistant, you need a task list, written steps, safe access to your tools, and a way to check the work. Have these ready:

• A list of the tasks, with how often each one comes up
• The steps for each task, in writing or on a short video
• Logins the person can use without seeing more than the tasks need
• One place to assign work and see what's done
• A set time each week to review the work and answer questions
• A monthly budget, and a choice between one person and a service

Here's what the first three items can look like on one page.

The access column follows advice from the Federal Trade Commission. Its guide Start with Security says a vendor or contractor has no reason to reach consumers' sensitive personal information unless their services call for it.

Know which kind of worker you're bringing on. If you hire one person yourself, that person can be your independent contractor or your employee. The IRS's common-law rules reach remote work too: a person working from another place is your employee if you can control what will be done and how it will be done. Texas has its own test: the Texas Workforce Commission uses a 20-point guide.

For an employee, part-time hours don't take a Texas business out of unemployment tax. The Texas Workforce Commission says an employer owes the tax once it pays $1,500 or more in total gross wages in a calendar quarter, or has at least one employee during 20 different weeks in a calendar year. Full-time or part-time status doesn't change that, it says.

Not legal or tax advice. Ask your accountant. The post on independent contractor vs employee covers what changes with each status.

For how a service works and how to pick one, see virtual assistant services.

If you can't fill in the first two items yet, start there. Both are useful even if you never hire.

A call with DeskTeam360 is for owners whose work has outgrown what one assistant can cover.