When it comes to a personal assistant some small business owners feel the need to have a real life person in their offices, someone who they can ‘see’ on a daily basis as they go about their business. Many of us crave stability and familiarity and there may be nothing as welcoming as that familiar face in the office each morning. You’ve simply got to have somebody nearby who you consider to be “in touch” with the business. The personal assistant is one of the most important members of staff and one which many small business owners believe is simply irreplaceable.
One of the main reasons put forward by people who think this way is a threat of “disconnection.” If a virtual personal assistant was to be employed surely it would be impossible for them to be as connected as they would need to be? Things would start to fall between the cracks; they might not receive messages about important updates or last-minute changes. Heaven forbid if they were in a different time zone, it might be almost impossible to connect with them and ensure that everything was on track as it should be.
This type of thinking may be a way for the executive or small business owner to rationalise a certain level of thinking. Yet it is not based on solid judgment. In virtually any business a certain amount of communication must be conducted virtually. Just think how inefficient the business would be if it was necessary to gather all the important people together for a meeting of some kind before any action can be taken. The same small-business owner who considers the “in person” virtual assistant to be irreplaceable will almost certainly conduct business via the phone, e-mail, SMS, online chat or social media channels with an array of different contacts and connections on a daily basis. There are a variety of different systems in place to ensure that all necessary security systems are current and that the data that flows back and forth is protected or made available as needed.
When you look at it from this point of view it becomes apparent that there is no real need to have an “in person” assistant working behind the desk in the office. Once systems of communication have been established the small-business owner can communicate with a remote, virtual personal assistant who will take care of all the necessary business and day-to-day activities as if he/she were in the office.
There are so many different first-class providers of personal assistant services. You do not have to choose an organisation or an individual who is halfway around the world if you don’t want to. Sometimes you may find that for practical and financial reasons such a choice is appropriate, but if the opportunity to pick up the phone and talk directly to a virtual assistant during standard business hours is an important consideration, then that’s the way to go.