This post has moved to its new home: Do You Need a Virtual Assistant?
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
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About Me
- Chad Bordeaux
- Lake Wylie, SC, United States
- I am a Charlotte CPA who works with small businesses on a daily basis to help them grow their business with proactive financial advice and tax planning.
2 comments:
This Virtual Assistant sounds like it might work for my company. I’ve got a couple of questions before jumping in the water. 1. Do you have to pay up front before you accept the final product? 2. What if you don’t like the work when it’s completed? 3. Is there a limit to how many times you can send it back for changes and review? Like anything new on the internet, I’m a little skeptical.
Thanks for the Comment Dutchess of York. The answer to all your questions varies depending upon the Virtual Assistant that you choose.
With the online sites, you typically agree to Business Terms that lay out all of these details and you can obviously reject any provisions that you do not like.
For Virtual Assitant Services, I have never paid in advance. Some of the services, like Elance.com, provide for an Escrow feature where Elance holds the funds until you release them to the provider. In the event of a dispute, Elance would mediate the issue and determine who was right or wrong. Personally, I have never had an issue.
As far as liking the work, this is a risk that you have regardless of whether you hire an employee or a virtual assistant. Typically, virtual assistants will guarantee your satisfaction or you don't pay. With an employee, the employment laws are set up so that you have to pay them whether they do a good job or a bad job.
Also, there is typically not a limit to how many times you can send it back for changes and review if you bid the project out by the hour. Since you are paying them by the hour, the more times you send it back the more you pay. If you are bidding a particular project out based on total project cost, then it is a good idea to state these terms in business terms within Elance.com (or whichever service you choose.)
I hope I cleared up some questions for you. If you have more, let me know.
Thanks,
Chad
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