Ours is a small company, with a few people in the office. We need help here and there, but I”™m not ready to hire another person. Do you have any suggestions?
Bridging the gap between hiring the next employee and handling temporary surges in workload is a challenge for just about every small-business owner. One option to consider is a virtual assistance service. Another is building a relationship with a temporary staffing company.
Bringing on board a new employee means a full-time commitment, even if you”™re just filling a part-time position. Every week that salary needs to be paid, regardless of how much work needs to get done. And that can be a burden for a company that doesn”™t have a constant need. Eventually you have to pay for vacation time and sick days, which is an overhead cost you have to cover without getting work done.
Effective, efficient
Virtual assistants and temporary staffing agencies allow the business to consume and pay for hours as needed. An outside service usually brings a higher skill set, or different skills at different times, for a lower overall cost. You can also ramp up or down and make changes in staff without having to consider unemployment, reviews, skill training or the other facts of life that go along with having employees.
Most business owners are good at being frugal. That doesn”™t mean cheap, but it does mean watching the pennies as well as the dollars. Sometimes, it”™s about figuring out how the pennies add up. Take a look at the following example: price per hour for an outside service is going to be higher, but the overall cost is lower.
Hiring a part-time employee for $20 per hour, 20 hours per week, with 20 percent for overhead and withholding, equals $6,240 per quarter. Compare that to paying an outside service twice the cost, $40 per hour (keep in mind costs vary widely, and this price is for example only). Consume exactly what”™s needed, 60 hours of help the first month, 25 hours the second and 50 hours the third month. That adds up to $5,400 for the quarter, $840 less than having a part-timer on board, plus no vacation or sick days.
Outside support means a lot more skill flexibility. Let”™s say month one there”™s a need for accounting support. Month two is all about getting a direct-mail program out the door. Month three the company wants help making phone calls to customers. A single, low-mid skill, part-time employee may not be able to cover all these bases, but a temporary staffing agency can.
The business may need highly skilled, executive level support, just not all the time. Fulfilling Web site charges and orders, sending out marketing packages, accurately preparing technical reports and planning events are all great applications for virtual assistants. They can be your right hand, on a very part-time basis.
Who”™s right for you?
Now let”™s look at the difference between temporary staffing and virtual assistants, and why you might choose one over the other.
Virtual assistants provide skilled administrative or technical services. They typically work remotely, have their own equipment and charge only for hours worked. This means your company saves on space, computers and lunch breaks. They bring years of experience to the table, which means they can provide advice, design and implement systems, as well as pitch in on routine matters. They are highly skilled at working independently, with little or no direction.
Temps usually work in your office. If one person isn”™t a fit for your company, the agency can send over someone else. Temp agencies fill a variety of staffing needs, from finance and accounting, to administrative support, sales and marketing, human resources and operational help. You don”™t have to spend time advertising, searching for and testing candidates. The agency does all that for you.
How do you figure out which you need? My suggestion is to interview both virtual assistants and temporary service agencies. Find out what each can offer your firm. Compare that to the needs you”™ll have over the next several months.
Take into account work space and equipment availability and the breadth of skills you”™ll need. Ask for references and check them out. Try one, see if it works.
Keep at it until you have resources in place you can count on. Figure out how to close the gap between not enough hours in the day and not ready to hire the next person.
Semi-annually evaluate the cost/skill/benefit of using outsiders as compared to adding staff, to determine if it”™s time to put someone on board as an employee or keep going as is with outside resources.
Looking for a good book? Try “Temps: The Many Faces of The Changing Workplace” by Jackie Krasas Rogers.
