Can you help?

[annethedonn]

I'm interested to know what your average business 'person' thinks about utilizing home workers (or Virtual Assistants) instead of employing on site staff (either temp/per).

This has taken off in the States very well but is a relatively new concept in the UK although there are many VAs out there. Is there a risk involved and if so, is it any more of a risk than hiring an on site perm/temp person to do the same job with the added problem of finding space and the time to accommodate them? A virtual assistant only needs to be paid for the work they do at the time so will be more cost effective in the long run. There are no agencies.

More and more people are opting to work from home, especially if they are parents and can't afford childcare. They get the best of both worlds by working from home & spending time with the kids.

Are UK businesses afraid to take the plunge?

 

[Alpha]

Anne

Firstly I do not think there is any such thing as an 'average' business person.

It strikes me that the services that you offer should be taken up more by SME's than larger businesses.

The fact that they are not could be down to several reasons.

1) They have a need for your services but because they are working IN their business not ON it they dont have time to outsource the service and therefore continue to muddle through and work much harder than neccessary.

2) Often wives, sisters, friends are employed on a part time basis and they do other things beside such as make the tea( something that cannot be done by a virtual assisstant...yet)

3) Allied to 1 above but they do not value your services without recognising the fact that by doing it themselves there is an opportunity cost of what they could be earning in the time taken to carry out the function.

Probably loads more but cannot think at the moment

 

[annethedonn]

Thanks for the info Alan. I'm not quite sure what point 3 means????

 

[Alpha]

It means that they dont want to spend the money!!!

 

[annethedonn]

Fair enough! I can understand that!

thanks Alan!

 

[Ozzy]

3 means that dont see that by paying you to do the work they are doing they could be earning more money elsewhere!

As for your service, I make use of a few people who work from their homes for various tasks although most of it technical . The benefits are flexability, lower overheads and the option to pull in or release resources as and when needed. I think its a good service but wont suit everyone - it depends on the business itself, but with the Internet, VOIP, etc the only thing you cant share is the coffee machine and photocopier !

 

[annethedonn]

Most definitely Richard! Thanks for your comments.

We also have remote IT consultants for database design/implementation, web design, networking etc.... as the company name suggests, they are all freelancers so we can be very compettive.