Most start-ups and small businesses that are juggling with many responsibilities face difficulties keeping track of their deliverables. Of course, it’s not possible to accomplish everything and be everywhere. But then, how can they ensure that they do not miss out on any new opportunities and challenges with time constraints and other constraints that small business owners face? Imagine getting a person who can streamline your operational tasks while keeping a check on timelines. Sounds impossible? Hiring a virtual assistant or VA is the best solution for small businesses. However, finding the right virtual assistant with a budget or other limitations may not be easy. Additionally, finding the right person who has relevant experience and skill set is yet another challenge.
To hire a virtual assistant for your business, you must first identify virtual assistant providers. These providers help start-ups and small businesses to hire virtual assistants without going through a long hiring process or a huge cost. But the question is: how can you find the right platform to look for the best-fit VA? In this article, we have explored the top 10 platforms to hire virtual assistants for small businesses. Read on to gain a clearer picture of the offerings of these platforms and how they fit into your unique requirements.
Are you wondering who a virtual assistant or VA is and what a VA does? A VA is typically a freelancer or an independent contractor who offers operational, administrative, and marketing services and support to their customers. They usually help with task delegation, resource utilization, and ensuring efficient business operations, functioning like a personal or an executive assistant. However, they mostly work remotely or from their personal office, which could be outside the organization’s premises.
A VA’s job role usually involves:
Other than this, specialized VA roles include more technical job responsibilities and usually involve some basic marketing functions like:
Though there are various large businesses and organizations hiring VAs to handle their routine operational and business administrative and marketing tasks, VAs are especially helpful for start-up companies or small to mid-size businesses that are aiming to scale fast. Entrepreneurs, at times, may not have enough budget to hire an expensive resource or have a team of employees onboard to handle operational requirements. Hiring a virtual assistant enables efficient business operations at lower cost. A VA also streamlines all functional and regular tasks to keep your business running seamlessly. However, with rapid technological advancement, businesses may even be able to outsource tasks like recruitment, software development, search engine optimization (SEO), and more advanced tasks and operations to a VA.
So, let’s explore the best platforms for hiring virtual assistants.
Zirtual, an outsourcing company based in the US, is one of the best platforms to hire virtual assistants. It is usually touted as a top choice when you’re looking for VA services as its virtual assistants bring unmatched skills, have relevant experience, and also hold professional degrees.
They are also trained to offer best-in-class services and understand the requirements and budgetary constraints of small businesses. They also understand that all start-ups need help managing operational and professional tasks as the business is in the growth phase. One of the top benefits of using this platform is that Zirtual offers trained VAs who are meticulously evaluated and hand-picked.
The platform also assures that it will provide an alternative in case the VA is not able to perform well. Zirtual also boasts of gauging the business requirements and matching the best VA who is a perfect fit for the company’s needs. What’s more? The platform offers reasonable packages that suit small businesses or solopreneurs who can’t afford huge costs at the onset of their business journey.
The platform also offers plans without any contractual obligations. You can pick a VA as per the tasks where you need the most support. For example, online research, social media management, data entry, website maintenance, etc.
Another platform to get your tasks accomplished faster without having to work hard in researching or going through the learning curve yourself. Fancy Hands enables you to easily hire virtual assistants on a task basis, and you can subscribe for at least three tasks per month. Each individual task is valued at around 20 minutes.
In case it takes longer to complete a task, you are notified in advance of the total number of subscribed tasks that your order will take. Another benefit is that the unutilized requests can be carried over to the following month if you are a member who has subscribed to this platform.
Fancy Hands is a top choice for your business in case your preference is to get things done in a fast turnaround time without much back-and-forth for negotiating the prices. The standard turnaround time offered by the platform is 48 to 72 hours.
This platform was created as an on-demand tool for quick action, and its site maps all VAs who are logged-in and also tracks their locations. However, the only catch is that you may not get the same VA every time you request. Whoever is logged in may accept the tasks when you are placing your order.
Talking about its pricing, Fancy Hands is available with four pricing plans and the pricing options are based on the total number of requests. The Small Plan includes three requests and is priced at $17.99 per month.
The Medium plan caters to five requests at $29.99 a month, and the Large plan comes with 15 requests at $74.99 a month. However, the XL plan caters to 30 requests and is available for $149.99 a month. Though the platform offers a simple pricing structure, at times, the rates could work out to be expensive for complex tasks.
This platform is best suited for simple and quick tasks that need to be done quickly. Sign up to try out this platform, which serves English-speaking clients all over the world.
Popular for its end-to-end digital solutions, Insidea is one of the top VA companies providing custom-made services focusing on user experience and end-customer satisfaction. To hire a virtual assistant, the company begins with discovering and analyzing the client’s business needs and then aligning with a pre-vetted and trained VA.
Their virtual assistants are experts at multi-tasking and are skilled at managing emails, setting up client meetings and responding to queries, performing secondary research, and making sure that the business is streamlined and efficient.
This platform is best for businesses of various sizes and entrepreneurs who wish to delegate their routine administrative tasks, handle client inquiries, manage social inboxes, program management, and maintain client relationships. It is specifically advantageous for industries such as EdTech, HealthTech, SaaS, e-commerce, and FinTech. Inside is the best choice for tailored experiences that are aimed at understanding the business’s needs and providing a personalized service.
The Vas are committed to exceeding the expectations of their customers and are experts at multitasking.
One of the best platforms for small business owners and entrepreneurs who are looking for experienced and trained VAs, VA Staffer is a great choice to consider. This Philippines-based VA provider’s best aspect is that it provides hourly VA tasks that can be a great initiative for start-ups and small and mid-size business owners who have budget constraints.
The platform enrolls virtual assistants after a thorough screening process to make sure they possess the required competencies and experience to provide top-notch services. You’ll find VAs with varied skills and expertise, meaning that they can cater to your specific needs, and you can always get a virtual assistant who can assist you in achieving your goals.
This top platform to hire virtual assistants also provides a committed project coordinator along with a VA to guarantee top quality and timely deliveries. What’s more? Their packages are quite affordable and there’s a set-up fee for leveraging tools to enable better efficiency.
Globally well-known for hiring freelance VAs for small businesses, this is another top platform that has gained huge acceptance because of its easygoing model and simple structure. When you hire virtual assistants, Upwork establishes details such as the price and delivery time before the deal begins, ensuring reliability.
The search and filter options enable you to limit your options depending on various factors like skill set, experience, VA’s hourly rate, etc. This makes it easier to identify the best fit for your company. Upwork doesn’t charge any upfront fee, and the payout for virtual assistants depends on their experience, expertise, and the task they are appointed for.
Similar to most VA services, you can hire virtual assistants at a per-hour rate, and to monitor their productivity, this platform offers cutting-edge built-in time-tracking software.
Similar to Upwork, this is another top website to hire virtual assistants. Boasting a huge client base with the likes of companies such as Amazon, NASA, Facebook, Google, and Deloitte, this platform offers top-notch VA services for efficient business operations.
If a business has a small budget, Freelancer also provides resources for the company’s size, budget, and skills. The platform also offers time tracking to get your job done on time. Freelancer doesn’t ask for any setup or consultation fees. You just have to follow their hiring process, beginning with creating your profile on the website. Then, post your job ad as a next step, and go through all the likely candidates’ applications. Freelancer also has an expert team of recruiters who assist you to choose the best candidate and hire a virtual assistant for your small business.
This platform is best suited for small and growing businesses that are trying to hire virtual assistants for the first time and have no clue about the process. Once you sign up on this website, you will get to know why this platform is so hugely popular throughout the globe. You can hire a freelancer for even a very small task, and that too at a cost-effective rate.
The best aspect of hiring VAs from this platform is that you won’t be required to pay a contractual fee, and there is no sign-up. That’s not all! The response or turnaround time is very quick after you reach out to a virtual assistant. You could also post an ad for your task with the desired requirements and assess the reviews posted by previous clients. The only point to consider is that the platform doesn’t supervise the ongoing activities, which may make you question the reliability as provided by vetted VA companies like Zirtual.
This one is an India-based company offering the best virtual assistant services, especially in the IT sector. Virtual Employee provides flexible work hours that suit a specific time zone. By hiring VA services from Virtual Employee, you will get to collaborate with varied and bilingual talent.
The platform assures hassle-free communication as the VAs are fluent in English. Their virtual assistance is top-class as the platform only hires highly experienced virtual assistants with robust tech backgrounds. However, Virtual Employee’s services are not just limited to IT. They cater to personal assistance, customer support management, data entry experts, and a lot more. The pricing plans are tailor-made and accommodating for both small businesses and startups.
Additionally, you can consider hiring either part-time VAs, full-time VAs, or even task-based VAs. The cherry on top is that the platform offers a free trial for a week. You can also choose task-based VAs, which can be very profitable for small businesses.
This US-based website is known for offering cost-effective solutions particularly suitable for small businesses for any help they may need. Best for its custom solutions, 24/7 Virtual Assistant has filters that help you choose Vas depending on their education, experience, and expertise in this industry.
The virtual assistants on this website are highly trained and experienced and are willing to take extra initiatives to ensure that their clients are satisfied and delighted. Another aspect that is different about 24/7 Virtual Assistant is their dedication to security and privacy.
They leverage the latest technology to enforce security measures to safeguard your data and have strict guidelines to ensure that all your information is managed in a professional and classified manner. Talking about its pricing, the website doesn’t have any long-term contracts and you can keep paying for the services you avail.
When compared to the other VA companies, Prialto offers managed VA services to improve your company’s efficiencies for professionals, entrepreneurs, and enterprise teams. They have 13 years plus of experience and over 1.3 million hours worth of professional support. Prialto’s differentiator is its consultative approach, which makes sure that their VAs are not just doing their designated tasks but also contributing actively to enhancing overall productivity. Prialto’s service assures a blend of executive, operations, sales, workflow and relationship management, and general administrative support custom-made to the particular requirements of individual professionals, start-ups, teams, and also enterprise-level clients. Prialto is most suited for professionals who are busy with strategic tasks and cannot make time for admin jobs, larger teams, enterprise-level teams, and organizations that need a managed service to handle administrative jobs. The website’s consistent and proactive support promises hassle-free services.
This platform has become popular and is under the limelight because of global clients, such as Google, Facebook, and Virgin. Having said that, they not only help big businesses but also have a proven record of offering efficient VA services to small businesses too. With time etc, you can be sure that when you hire a virtual assistant, you will get professional and reliable service, and the VAs are experts at their job.
They have a rigorous screening process and also offer continuous training programs to their virtual assistants. And do you know the cherry on top? Their virtual assistants are not only talented but also approachable. They are always available to align with your business requirements and key objectives to provide best-in-class support. Additionally, the US-based customer support always helps when you are in need or have a question. Their pricing is cost-effective, and you also get a free trial for the first task.
This US-based platform is a shining model in the virtual assistance marketplace, with its expert management team boasting over 15 years of experience in this business. Their VAs possess top-notch skills, along with college degrees and relevant certifications, and are trained and prepared by their management to provide their best services in any work environment.
This platform also caters to the requirements of small businesses and their modest budgets. Global Hola’s carefully chosen, and highly trained VAs are ready to help you with any admin, sales, or operational tasks. Each virtual assistant brings with them a range of industry experience and is the best fit for you. If you feel otherwise and the VA doesn’t align with your system, they are ready to offer another expert from their large and experienced pool.
This platform makes an effort to gauge your business, its goals, and requirements, and then assigns a VA that perfectly fits your needs. This helps your new VA to deep dive into the job role headfirst and start making an impactful difference right at the onset. Be it a start-up, a small business, or an entrepreneur, Global Hola’s commitment-free and flexible packages are custom-made for you. So, try this platform for your online research, social media management, data entry, or website maintenance tasks.
This platform deserves recognition for its different approach to providing VA services. Outsourcing Angel is a socially responsible platform based out of Australia and the Philippines. They not only aim at providing top-notch assistance but also have a socially responsible approach to task management. Their team includes talented and professional virtual assistants who are able to manage an array of tasks, from digital marketing to administrative support. However, what makes them stand out is their dedication to creating a positive social change. If you hire virtual assistants from this platform, the firm provides food aid to some needy communities located in the Philippines. Doesn’t this make them a brilliant choice for socially conscious businesses? The platform’s commitment to top quality service and impactful or meaningful social change places them in a niche of their own.
Think of having a VA who effortlessly juggles between a couple of languages. Sounds unbelievable? If you are looking for bilingual support, then WoodBows is one of the top options. Based in India and the Philippines, this platform provides top-notch bilingual support with the global talent they have onboard. Whether you’re a firm in real estate, graphic and web design, or social media marketing, WoodBows’ highly talented virtual assistants are the best option for efficient business operations.
They only have top and experienced talent on their panel, ensuring their virtual assistants have a minimum of a decade worth of industry experience. They help you in scheduling appointments, setting up meetings, managing finances, customer service, and a lot more. Their virtual assistants are also supported by their supervisors to ensure quality and error-free work. With WoodBows, you can rest assured that your company’s business goals will be met.
Because of its leading VA services, this platform has garnered the limelight of various recognized platforms, such as CNN and The Washington Post. They particularly cater to small businesses, solopreneurs, and startups. They’re a preferred choice for highly rated startups and small businesses; all thanks to their proficiency in social media marketing, graphic design, and website development. Ask Sunday offers a dedicated virtual assistant who delivers tasks just as you would like them to be. If your VA takes an unplanned leave, the platform offers a backup VA who takes over the tasks so that your deliverables are not affected.
If you are a start-up or small business owner looking to hire from any virtual talent websites, consider the offerings each top platform has and accordingly choose. You may want to consider factors like their communication, affordable costs, easy hiring process, expertise, etc. However, implementing a tool. To plan, manage, and track resources, resource utilization, productivity, and remote employee management eases a VA’s role.
A comprehensive, award-winning cloud-based resource management software, eResource Scheduler provides a clear picture of all organization’s data, resources, and projects in one integrated online platform. The tool comes in handy if you want to check someone’s availability, assign allocations or schedule them to a project.
If you need to check any project’s status in real-time or find the most suitable resource for specific skill sets and expertise, the tool makes it easy to do so in just a few clicks. The comprehensive and visual dashboard and detailed reports help track resource utilization, stay on top of remote employee management and plan and schedule resources very easily. Imagine your VAs using the tool’s Gantt charts and dashboards to get a quick snapshot of any data that may be needed. Your VAs can also do task delegation with ease, leading to higher operational efficiency.
What’s more? By planning and adjusting schedules, allocating the right resources to various tasks, or flagging any potential challenges, this resource management tool ensures timely resolution in a cost-effective manner. eResource Scheduler’s time-tracking and workload management features aid in assigning tasks to employees in a balanced manner, which prevents over or under-allocations. This award-winning, multi-user tool is available on a free trial, which helps gauge the various benefits it offers.
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