Virtual Assistant vs. Online Business Manager -
A Comparative AnalysisA GROWING TREND IN OUTSOURING
Since COVID-19 drastically changed the way we work, the demand for Virtual Assistant’s and remote workers has increased massively. According to a survey conducted by Virtudesk in 2021, 67% of business owners hired at least one Virtual Assistant. The top reason business owners provided for outsourcing to a Virtual Assistant is the increase in efficiency and productivity they provide to their businesses. Outsourcing to a Virtual Assistant or an Online Business Manager provides business owners with advantages such as reducing expenses, providing far greater flexibility and efficiency and you only pay for work done. No more paying for sick leave, annual leave, meal breaks or office chatter!
Virtual Assistants and Online Business Manager’s do have a
degree of cross over, however they are quite different. They have different
strengths, skillsets, and knowledge bases. Below are the key differences
between the roles and responsibilities, so you can make an informed decision
for your business as to whether a Virtual Assistant or an Online Business
Manager is right for you.
VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS - THE TASK EXPERTS
A Virtual Assistant can be defined as an independent contractor who works remotely, providing administrative services to clients. Virtual Assistants are often experienced administrators or office managers. Recently, they have started to expand into the realm of social media marketing, copywriting, graphic design, and SEO, as they become upskilled and experts in the realm of digital marketing.
In general, a Virtual Assistant will be assigned a basic set of routine tasks such as, calendar and email management, data entry and minute taking. They can prepare presentations, work on accounts processing and invoicing, although their tasks are given to them by the client, acting more as remote team members rather than business managers.
Hiring a Virtual Assistant is very cost efficient for a
business, providing management with the flexibility to easily adjust hours and
choose in detail which tasks they want to delegate. If a business is going
through a busy patch, has a staff member on extended leave or requires back
fill while a recruitment campaign is underway a Virtual Assistant will be
perfect. Further, Virtual Assistants can be perfect for startups, or small
businesses that simply would not otherwise be able to afford to hire an
administrative employee. There are huge benefits to hiring a Virtual Assistant
if you are looking for an assistant who can smash through task lists.
ONLINE BUSINESS MANAGERS - THE ONES THAT MAKE IT HAPPEN
An Online Business Manager can be thought of as a Virtual Assistant’s big sister, they are business managers who work remotely. They are highly qualified business management professionals responsible for things like; operations management, marketing, account management, business analytics, and stakeholder management, just to name a few! The key difference is that an Online Business Manager has a strategic, big picture lens rather than a task focus. Online Business Managers can be provided with a project brief by their client and have the skills and experience required to run with it. They can be project managers, team managers, change managers and so much more. Online Business Managers are leaders and use their elevated level of initiative to move things forward, often meeting with their client periodically to provide project updates, not to be delegated more tasks, like a Virtual Assistant.
Just like hiring a Virtual Assistant, an Online Business
Manager is very cost effective for a business. Online Business Managers are experts
in getting things done. If your business has inefficiencies, an Online Business
Manager can be brought in to find them and flush them out. If you have a project
that needs to be done, they can jump in and make it happen. If the business
needs a change maker, they can make the change. However, an Online Business
Manager can achieve tasks that you may on the face of it want to give to a Virtual
Assistant. Should you require someone with a managerial lens, can work without
direction, look for process improvement, with minimal check in, and more
experienced and qualified. Giving an Online Business Manager routine tasks will
enable them to analyse your business processes flush out the inefficiencies and
provide you and your team an outside view on how your processes can improve
through recommendations or training. If you want to make something happen, but do
not think a Virtual Assistant has the right skillset, chances are an Online
Business Manager is the right option for your business.
KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS & ONLINE BUSINESS MANAGERS
Skillset: An Online Business Manager possesses a very specialised skillset compared to the general administrative skills of Virtual Assistant. Online Business Managers can do the job you may need to hire four Virtual Assistants for! They are project managers, financial managers, business analysts, of human resource experts, or a combination of these things. Virtual Assistants focus on the light stuff, while Online Business Managers do the heavy lifting.
Client Interaction: An Online Business Manager might
have more direct client interaction due to their managerial position. They may
be required to build relationships, engage with stakeholders, and manage key
accounts. As a highly trusted strategic partner of the business, they may
occupy a role in the space of customer relationship management.
Pricing: Due to the vastly distinct roles an Online
Business Manager and a Virtual Assistant occupy, you will find some key
differences in their pricing structures. An Online Business Manager will often
price based on the project or on a monthly retainer, whereas a Virtual
Assistant will charge out by the hour or by task. However, some Virtual
Assistants will have monthly retained clients as a more cost-effective solution
for a small business or start up enterprise.
SHOULD I HIRE AN ONLINE BUSINESS MANAGER OR A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT?
When considering whether to hire an Online Business Manager
or a Virtual Assistant, you should think about whether you are looking for
someone to run a project, manage a team or provide recommendations to the
business. If you want someone who can work autonomously at management level, be
a partner to you and your business, help you grow and streamline your
operations, and add tremendous value, an Online Business Manager is what you
want. If you are looking for someone who can tick tasks off a list, manage your
calendar, generic day to day tasks, and be an extra pair of hands then a
Virtual Assistant is the right decision for your business.
In certain situations, your business may benefit from hiring
both an Online Business Manager and a Virtual Assistant. For instance, if you
have a large project that you want to delegate to an Online Business Manager,
you may task the Online Business Manager with recruiting a Virtual Assistant to
assist them as a project coordinator or administrator for the life cycle of the
project. Many Online Business Managers will have a network they can draw on to
assist them with projects as sub-contractors, taking this risk and cost out of
your business, if they have built this into the project fee.
CONCLUSION
As businesses start
to find creative ways to increase their profit margins and reduce their biggest
costs, salaries, the business models of online remote workers are expected to
continue to accelerate. Both Online Business Managers and Virtual Assistant
have merits in their own rights and their abilities do cross over to an extent.
Hiring an Online Business Manager to complete routine tasks is possible,
however they will tend to be contracted for this type of work to offer
recommendations on how your processes can be streamlined to be more efficient. An
Online Business Manager is a strategic business partner that can take a project
and deliver success. A Virtual Assistant is your extra pair of hands that can
back fill roles, smash through tasks that have been building up and save you
time on the generic stuff so you can focus on the business’s strategic outcomes.
However, if what you are looking for is someone who can look at the big
picture, has a strong business and financial acumen that can work autonomously
then an Online Business Manager is the right path for you.