A lot of small business owners are no doubt feeling the pinch of looming recession. But apparently so is the demand for outsourced business assistance. Our very own VAinsider Club is proving that economic downturn is no match for a virtual empire of home office entrepreneurs. In just one year 100s of virtual assistants have signed on to an exclusive network of business experts, marketers, speakers and coaches. Not to mention a very active RFP forum.
In a recent press release, our VAnetworking.com founder, Tawnya Sutherland, said this:
While the VAnetworking.com Forum itself enjoys a free membership base of over 10,000 people-many of them very active in the ongoing discussions there-we knew that within this market there was a segment of VAs who were prepared to invest in something geared specifically for their entrepreneurial growth and development. Right here, in the throes of a US recession, we’ve got this tightly knit group of business owners coming together to uncover very real income opportunities.
In addition to unmatched networking and educational opportunities, virtual assistants who join VAinsiders receive immediate access to various takeaways to use in their own businesses, including over 125 business templates, e-books, tutorials, charts, articles, coupons and sample contracts.
What’s incredible to me is that VAinsider membership numbers continue to increase. This tells me 2 things:
- Women entrepreneurs know that outsourcing is not just good for business, it’s good for business during tough economic times. It makes sense, for example, to ramp up a marketing campaign when clients are scarce. It makes even more sense to hire a high end VA (read: VAinsider) to help execute that strategy. It’s cost effective and you get results much faster than if you were to try to hire and train for such in-house (oh the pain).
- Women entrepreneurs understand the importance of staying sharp, focused and in the know. Recession be damned. It’s always the right time to shoot for the stars.
It would seem that recession may be pushing this bandwagon right up a hill instead of down.
As well during these recession times, business entrepreneurs will have to start looking at more economical ways to find administrative help and hopefully look outside their corporate box and notice Virtual Assistants. VAs can SAVE YOU MONEY! Here’s a cost comparison between a full time employee and a Virtual Assistant: https://www.vanetworking.com/virtual-assistant-cost-comparison.htm
I can’t help but agree with Tawnya. Although I am not from the United States, we (Filipinos) are still greatly affected by whats happening in the US Economy. Prices going up, unemployment rate increasing, companies closing down. But the brighter side of it is, we Virtual Assistants can be there for small – to mid size entrepreneurs, helping you save money on employment or equipment costs.
Absolutely, Karri. I have actually been able to change my specialty and my target market as a result of being a VAinsider. The information that is available to a VAinsider provides all of the tools to help any VA reach for the stars.
Businesses can benefit from spreading the work over the equipment and expertise of REAL experts and skilled people. Often VAs are driven about what they do; we keep expanding our skills no matter what the project. Employees are often hampered from expanding skills beyond those immediately necessary. VAnetworking (https://www.vanetworking.com) permits potential clients to post the need, while open and specialty (VAinsider)forums help members solve problems quickly, network and grow our skills.
The resource of VAnetworking offers a tremendous service to clients seeking VAs and VAs seeking to expand.
This is one of the points I really make sure to talk to potential clients about. With more people working from home, they don’t have the budget or the physical space to hire an in-house assistant so its more economical to hire a VA.