Written in Partnership with Bruntwork
Running a business requires taking on many responsibilities and tasks. In many cases, it can be overwhelming, and entrepreneurs find themselves being stretched in every direction.
The struggle becomes all the more pronounced as a business continues to grow, says BruntWork CEO Winston Ong. Often, it may require greater efforts to help support this growth, pushing business owners to acquire new resources to avoid overloading themselves and to help keep the business on track. For these reasons, many entrepreneurs find value in hiring a virtual assistant.
The global virtual assistant market size was valued at USD 5.82 billion in 2020 and continues to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28.5%, according to a recent report by the market research database Grand View Research. While virtual assistants have become increasingly popular among large enterprises and startups over the past couple of years, they were previously limited to administrative tasks and roles.
How Virtual Assistants Have Evolved
The definition of virtual assistants has evolved from mere assistants to flexible, multitalented multitaskers. “The actual skills and experience required from virtual assistants vary from one company to the next,” says Ong. “But, what’s sure is that the idea that a virtual assistant could be more than some kind of secretary is becoming popular among entrepreneurs.”
This transition is primarily driven by companies’ tendency to optimise their staff and get more than what they paid. If businesses find the right person to work with, they may get more than just someone to do the tedious administrative work. Most virtual assistants are equipped to do other essential tasks to help the business operate efficiently.
“Judging by today’s trends and client demands in outsourcing, virtual assistants who stick to basic clerical work aren’t likely to be successful,” shares Ong. Some business owners want their assistants to be adept in web design and other marketing tasks.
“Most executives would ask their virtual assistants to help with their marketing campaigns. At the same time, they want help fixing their schedules and setting appointments,” adds Ong.
How BruntWork’s Virtual Assistants Fare Against Other Assistants
As a category in the labor market, virtual assistants seem to have emerged in the past few decades with the rise of the Internet. Though many still classify them as offshore administrative contractors, it’s one of the most evolved roles of the decade.
At the dawn of the new era of work from home, BruntWork intends to meet the growing demand for competent and multiskilled virtual assistants by expanding its pool of potential contractors. According to Ong, the company won’t be looking for workers in a single geographic region (for example, the company now hires contractors from the Ukraine among other Eastern European countries). Not only will this open the company for differently skilled workers, but to bilingual contractors as well.
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