It’s tough to choose between Online Business Manager vs. Virtual Assistant. Online Business Managers can help to move your business on to the Internet. They can help to handle the workload and cut yours in half. They can also transport your business in to the 21st century and thus save you money.
However, Virtual Assistants can handle almost all tasks that require consistency and repetition. That is a valuable skill that you can’t find in most workers. They will also save you a lot of time and money by working per task instead of per month.
What to choose?
Let’s weigh the pros and cons shall we?
What is an Online Business Manager?
Online Business Managers, or OBMS, are very goal oriented people. They’re more concerned with development, advancement, and turning a profit, than getting small tasks over with. They’re hired to look at the bigger picture. They are brought in so that your business can grow in the long run and take advantage of the Internet. OBMs are not implementers. They are strategizing, forward-thinking, big-picture thinkers. OBMs stand at the forefront of a client’s business, side by side with the entrepreneur themselves.
Online business managers don’t come cheap, it’s true. However, their value and their ingenuity is undeniable. OBMs can establish proper channels through which customers can fully communicate with your business. They can also establish ways to get more data from your customers to improve your revenue stream. This way you can improve your products and services and expand them to a greater audience. A ll of this is far more valuable than a single task done promptly by a virtual assistant. However, the flip side is also true. Let’s take a look at virtual assistants next.
What is a Virtual Assistant?
The first thing you need to know about virtual assistants is that they save you time. These are tasks that need to follow a standard operating procedure and that need to be done quickly. These tasks are repetitive, and akin to an assembly line. Managers, executives, and directors need to focus on more cognitively taxing tasks and relieve themselves of these. These are jobs for virtual assistants. VAs are the implementers. They take the orders and they make things happen with the help of detailed instructions.
VAs are usually very task oriented and you’re placed in contact with one that understands what you need. They are specifically trained to get your most mundane tasks out of the way.
Plus, they don’t charge you the amount that your employees do. Hence, you can pay for a small assignment to be done for the lowest price point possible. This is much better than going through the hassle of finding someone to take care of all your mundane tasks. Instead, getting someone that is available for a small fee and will deliver within a few hours is more feasible. In terms of economics and time, VAs make the most sense.
However, perhaps the most useful aspect of a virtual assistant is the time that they save. They can be called upon at any time during the day or night. Virtual assistants keep rotating between shifts and your task can be handed to another capable worker. This is invaluable to a small business, especially one that needs things done at the drop of a hat. Hired workers may be more valuable and produce higher quality work, but for speed and consistency, VAs are the best.
Online Business Manager or Virtual Assistant
Goals
Long term and short term goals are both necessary for a business to thrive. If you don’t take care of the day to day tasks, your business won’t continue to bring in revenue. However, if you neglect changing trends and don’t change your modus operandi to fit the times, you’ll get left behind. That is just a fact of life. Hence, both virtual assistants and online business managers are necessary to keep a balance.
If you need help expanding your business beyond geographical borders and increasing revenue streams, you need OBMs for the job. If you’re concerned more with delivering orders on time and maintaining a tight shift then VAs will do the job well.
If you’re not sure what you need to invest in, look at the overall workings of your organization. If the big picture is forming, yet there are hiccups in the daily operations, go for VAs. However, if your operations are top notch but you’ve been standing still in terms of expansion, go for an OBM.
Investment
As far as investments go, both OBMs and VAs are worth the money. For OBMs, you require them to invest fully in your company and manage its goings on day to day. For VAs, you want your work done; period. You don’t care for any excuses or hurdles; you simply want your orders delivered.
In this case, the money that you pay for your virtual assistant tasks may be very effective in the short term. However, you will only begin to see the fruits of your investment in an OBM in the long-term. Hence, both of these entities are necessary to spend on in order to succeed in business.
Experience
When it comes down to experience you have to go for online business managers. Virtual assistants are trained on specific tasks and consistency. However, they’re not trained to handle tasks that require strategy and analyzing.
Assistants take orders. Managers disperse orders and ensure that these orders are being implemented and followed up on. Both OBMs and VAs are valuable resources. You just have to know when to use one and for what purpose.
To learn more and find out what you need in your business, contact us today.
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