SVA Forum

Call Partner · Joined: 22 Aug 2007 Posts: 63 Location: Newcastle

Mervyn King tells us we are travelling along a bumpy road as the economy rebalances and many companies are again looking at how they can become more efficient. Already the jobless numbers are starting to creep upwards. Higher energy prices, raw material & transportation costs are rapidly bringing our economic growth to a standstill. It could be very easy to be pessimistic about our own opportunities over the coming years.

In truth, if we market ourselves correctly this should be an excellent time to benefit as many businesses will look to trim their biggest overhead which is usually the wage bill. We all know that employing a VA is a cost efficient strategy for a business, but factor in that the client usually gets a better skill set anyway from a highly experienced VA used to running their own business and meeting tight deadlines, and it becomes almost silly to ignore you.

The worst thing we can do is get sucked into the doom and gloom that’s around. With the right message, our marketing pound will go further than ever now!

Very Happy

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Michael
www.callpartner.co.uk
Trade call handling for VA's, Book Keepers & Secretarial Service providers.

sara - Office Bird · Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 9:52 am Post subject:

I think you are spot on their Michael and have been thinking the same thing to myself for a while now. I started to worry that I had started my business at the wrong time but then I started thinking about the benefits of the economic slump as you so elequently put it!

When peoples cash flow is really bad a VA can help with it. Sending invoices, chasing non payers and even re-working the cashflow forecast to give people a better understanding of where their business is and what they need to do to get through the tough times. You can help people re-organise the amount they take from the business as drawings so they can budget effectively at home.

I'm not sure where a company would stand if it were to make someone redundant and them hire a VA. They would have to be careful with that one.

Thanks for lifting my mood Michael, maybe I shall go off and design a new showcard! Very Happy

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Sara
Office Bird
Your Perfect Business Partner

www.officebird.co.uk

ASAP Admin · Moderator Joined: 12 Jul 2006 Posts: 854 Location: Glasgow

MyComRes · Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 11:00 am Post subject:

I agree entirely - locally I am reading/hearing about redundancies. With the right marketing this could raise the VA profile and catapult us into a high demand zone.

I would imagine employing the services of a VA would not cause a problem having made someone redundant. They may only require a couple of hours assistance in place of a full time employee.

If they don't realise straightaway...it will dawn eventually that they do require assistance. What better way to budget than to retain a VA Wink

Has anyone already encountered this, are you receiving more enquiries? What are you doing to raise awareness?

secretary4hire · Star Poster Joined: 08 Nov 2006 Posts: 347

Lyndsay, that happened SOOO many times when I worked in the bank and an actuarial company. Employers will always find a way round it.

As for VAs benefitting from the economic slump, it's funny I was watching a documentary a couple of weeks ago and thought this and actually mentioned as much to my husband. So glad I'm not the only one who thinks it may happen.

"Every cloud has a silver lining"

Marj
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Marj Beattie
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Bev · Joined: 07 Sep 2007 Posts: 55 Location: London

I'm glad this topic has come up because I get a little worried that I'm entering the VA industry at the wrong time but I'm glad to hear you all seem positive about things :)

OfficeStuff · Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 3:20 pm Post subject:

I'd been thinking the same myself for a while now, and wondering how to get it across to the local employment pool...

Shall think on it some more!
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Carole Meyrick
Office Stuff
Perfectly Practical Office Support

caroline · Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 11:41 am Post subject:

I was thinking in a similar way - in fact I've been asking if there is some way of doing a VA vs Employee cost calculator for a little while.... So far the quotes have been ridiculously high!
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janet · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 1:59 pm Post subject:

I've just been searching for postings about the relative costs of VAs and employees. I guess we have mentioned this under various headings. However, I came across Caroline's last message and wondered if she had found anything since, as I was thinking recently exactly along the same lines.

I know the rule of thumb is (or used to be) that an employee cost 2.5 x their salary but I'd like something more concrete than that.

I don't major on cost because I'd like to focus on the business advantages generally, but I'd like a little more to back up the whole message of cost-effectiveness.

If anyone knows of a posting which dealt with this more recently, please do point me in the right direction. Otherwise, if Caroline found what she was looking for, I'd be really interested in seeing it if possible.

Thanks!
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Janet

Berni Jones · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 4:16 pm Post subject:

What a brilliant post!

To raise awareness of the sort of voids that VA's can fill at the moment, I am sending out a monthly email newsletter to all my clients and associates just to keep the profile of VA's up, and to let them know I am still around!

I am also getting positive feedback from the breakfast network events I go to. Companies are really interested to see how I can cut their costs, and I have seen an upturn in the amount of prospective clients wanting me to chase their outstanding debts, etc. I have also been going into companies telling them how I can cut down on their expenditure.

I look forward to other comments on this post, but maybe we should raise a glass to ourselves this weekend, that all is not lost!!

Berni

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first4admin

janet · Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 3:01 pm Post subject:

Please see my previous post. I'd be so grateful if someone could help me on this. Has anyone ever tried to cost an employee vs a VA?

Thanks,
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Janet

Sally@Stonetext · Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 3:34 pm Post subject:

Well I worked out that on average an employee wastes just over 2.5 hours per week on non business related "stuff". If you then factor in cost of computer and other office equipment, cost of office space etc (this will vary according to location) and the PAYE/NI (approx 2.5 times salary) - the final cost is frightening!! In some places they are talking about charging companies for parking spaces that they provide for staff (even if it is on private property). If you want to get a square footage price, contact a local business centre and they should be able to quote you prices for physical office space.

Hope this helps.
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Sally
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janet · Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 7:11 pm Post subject:

Hi Sally

Yes, thanks, I hadn't even thought about car parking!! I'm really trying to get my head around how I/we can present this all really clearly. I'd love eto say to a prospective client something like, "Well, here's a formula. What does a PA in London/Glasgow/anywhere cost to employ? What would that be per hour over a year? Now what about NI/PAYE, pension, benefits, computer, office...etc. Add in..... Would she be 100 per cent concentrating on your work every hour of that year? So how does this compare with a VA rate of ...."

If this inspires anyone who loves number crunching out there, all well and good. Otherwise, I'll keep working on it and see what I come up with - and then get back to you for some polishing! But don't hold your breath, please...
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Janet

Burford Secretarial · Moderator Joined: 08 Nov 2006 Posts: 540 Location: Kent

Hi after seeing this thread I decided to do a bit of looking on Google and after about 1/2 hour I found a thread on a forum which works out the cost of actually employing someone - it is an Excel spreadsheet which you can fill in the blanks but the consensus is it is difficult to be exact as it depends on what each employer is offering but you could use something similar if you wanted to:

www.techscribe.co.uk/ta/cost-of-employment.htm.

I hope this helps.
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Charlotte Burford

Burford Secretarial
www.burfordsecretarial.com

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janet · Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2009 1:10 pm Post subject:

Charlotte - sorry for delay in thanking you for this. I have downloaded the spreadsheet and am working on it - it's really helpful. The explanatory page on the site, which suggested that comparisons of contractors with employees which concentrated too much on the financial and not on other benefits were unhelpful, was wise. I'll see how I get on and let you all get your virtual red pens to it!
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Janet