I've been thinking about something and wanted to know if anyone had any opinions about this...

I've seen posts where VAs say that they will keep an eye out for people looking for part time admin help and market to them. From what I've seen, most employers only pay about $10 - $15 per hour for part-time help and the only extras, usually, are the employees taxes (and maybe unemployment and such). My question is this... If you charge $30 per hour for your services and the client is looking to pay $12 per hour (plus taxes and such which are minimal), it would still be more cost efficient for them to hire someone to work on-site. Wouldn't it?

I figured $12 per hour for 20 weeks plus about 15% in taxes. This would be a cost of $14,352 per year. If I charge $30 per hour and they hire me for 10 hrs per week, I would make $15,600 per year and be working fewer hours. Am I missing something here?

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Stephanie
New VA in the research phase :daisy:

Hi Stephanie,

You bring up a good point and it makes good sense to compare those numbers! Let me add to the numbers.

$14,352 does not include:
*Cost of office equipment they have to provide and pay for.
*Cost of phone service or any other related services.
*Cost of software that they may need to purchase on your behalf.
*Cost of office supplies that they would have to pay for.
*Cost of breaks or downtime. Some, if not all states require that employees have to be given a break after working for so many hours.
*Cost of hiring someone and then replacing that person if it doesn't work out. A VA will almost always have a higher skill set which will result in greater productivity for the client etc.

It's just a different way of looking at it when comparing the numbers side-by-side!

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Doreen R. Patrick, MVA, ACS, CIVA
www.virtualbusinesspartners.net

I agree with Doreen, you have to market the fact that you have much more experience and professionalism than then will ever find in an employee for 10-12/hr. You'll be able to perform the functions efficiently. Where entry level employees are spending company time learning, and just working to be on the clock.

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Sarah Bernstein
Jackson Administrative Outsourcing
www.jacksonao.com

Thanks for straightening me out. I just new there was something I was missing...lol (I guess I just think that office furniture and such grows on trees).

When I was thinking about it, I was weighing the fact that, sure it may cost more, but they'll be wasting less (higher caliber of work, not paying for down-time, etc).

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Stephanie
New VA in the research phase :daisy:

I have been looking at this as well in my practice. I am a newbie and i don't have any clients just yet but this is the way I point out my reasoning to pay $25 per hour vs $10 for a part-time employee.

- There is no "overtime"
- My clients may pay a little more for my services than a p-t employee, but I can do the work of a full time staff member for a little more than p-t pay (when factoring in overhead and extras)

Like I said, I have no clients yet, but those potentials I have spoken with are interested after I break it down like that

Excellent points! Never thought about it that way. I'll make sure that I'll factor them all in when I chance upon a client that needs more convincing. : )

I think you need to come up with a concise way to present this to HR managers looking for p/t assistants. I believe in the resources there is a employee vs VA chart. You can probably customize it as needed to show the benefits of using a VA. If they are concerned with the fact that you are offsite and they are local. I would offer to come in and pick up things one a week if that would make them feel better.

Tamika

Originally Posted by tamikarjohnson

If they are concerned with the fact that you are offsite and they are local. I would offer to come in and pick up things one a week if that would make them feel better. Tamika

I have thought about offering a pick up and drop off and I decided that I can do this in a specific radius in my area. I will offer this to clients who need a little convincing if that is the only thing holding back. But to do this you really need to be able to fit this in to your schedule as it is a commitment which takes away some flexibility of your own time. And remember it takes away billable hours so you should charge for your travelling time

Jennifer

I did see one VA agency that offered to send and pick up items locally using a courier service and the fees were billed to client... Just an idea.

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Kimberly
Facebook Marketing Magic!