As a Buyers Agent, you probably began your business with the idea of being free from the usual chain full-time jobs that tie you down. Who doesn’t want freedom, right?
But I’m also assuming that you’re working long days and late nights to keep up with the demands of growing the business, satisfying and retaining your clients. SO where is that freedom you pictured out to begin with?
In our fast-paced time, a new trend is emerging, helping Buyers Agents and Buyers Agencies cut the chains that hold them back from claiming that “freedom” they’ve always dreamed of: VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS and FREELANCERS!
But a few questions arise..
What is the difference between a VA and a freelancer?
Is it worth it to hire a VA?
Where can I find the virtual assistant best fit for my business?
And the list goes on and on and on.
If you are a Buyers Agent or Buyers Agency who is looking into outsourcing tasks in your business, you might be wondering what the best place to hire a virtual assistant is. In this article, we take a quick comparison between The Growth Hub’s GROWTH Model versus manually hiring from Upwork/Fiverr.
Virtual Assistant VS. Freelancer: What’s the Difference?
First, let’s understand the difference between a Virtual Assistant and a Freelancer. They are both remote workers, but there are some key differences between them that YOU need to know to make sure they get the RIGHT PERSON for your business.
Let’s take a quick look at the difference between a VA and a freelancer:
| Virtual Assistant | Freelancers | |
| Type of employment | Usually employed by a Virtual Assistant agency | Self-employed professionals |
| Tasks covered | Trained and skilled in various administrative and business-related tasks such as email management, appointment scheduling, social media management, customer service, and more | Skilled in a particular area and are typically hired for specialized tasks such as website design, graphic design, writing, and other creative tasks. |
| Work Style | May work as an extension of your team, and are usually managed by the agency to ensure that they are meeting your business requirements | Offer their services to businesses on a project-by-project basis. |
| Work load | Typically full-time or part-time remote workers | Can work with multiple clients at the same time |
By understanding the difference between these two types of remote workers, you can make an informed decision about which one is best suited to your business needs.
If your business is looking at scaling your business by outsourcing those nitty-gritty admin tasks, you should most likely hire a virtual assistant who can handle multiple tasks, ensuring that everything is taken care of.
If you’re just looking for someone to take on a one-off project such as a website design, a freelancer might be the one suitable for you in that particular area.
But here’s the thing: business has recurring tasks that usually take up too much time, but they’re not really generating income for the business. They are important to be done, yes, but these tasks might be the culprit why you’re spreading yourself too thin.
That’s one more difference between a VA and a freelancer: A VA can help you in streamlining your recurring tasks, but a freelancer, most likely, cannot because that is not their role.
To be able to attain that “freedom” I mentioned earlier, you should be able to ‘detach’ yourself and leave your business on autopilot.
How? By onboarding a Champion virtual assistant! But where do you find them??
What’s the best place to hire a virtual assistant?
There are a lot of platforms where you can find talents to help you scale your business, and because of the wide options, there lies the challenges.
Let’s explore the top sites Upwork and Fiverr, versus the fully-supported GROWTH Model from The Growth Hub. But first, keep in mind that when it comes to hiring Virtual Assistants vs. Freelancers, the key difference is in the level of support provided.
Ready? Let’s dive in!
Upwork and Fiverr
From their dashboard, you will essentially see that these platforms are the marketplace if you are finding FREELANCERS, project-based talents.
While these are extremely good sites to find help, if you’re looking for constant support in your business, these platforms will have some limitations and might not be a good fit for your business.
Here are some challenges that you might also encounter if you decide to find a team member in Upwork/Fiverr:
- Quality of Talent: Freelancer platforms like Upwork give you access to a large pool of talent, but it’s up to you to find the right person for the job. Since anyone can sign up as a freelancer, you might find people who submit impressive CVs but their quality of work does not support their portfolio.
- Consistency and Reliability: When working with freelancers, time zone, language, and other communication challenges might become an issue. There’s always the risk of them not showing up for work, delivering subpar work or disappearing altogether.
- Time and Effort: Hiring through a freelancer platform requires significant time and effort from you to sift through candidates, verify their skills, and manage them. Yes, you instantly become the HR department of your business, going through the hiring process on your own!
- Cost: Freelance platforms are often perceived as more cost-effective, but that’s not always the case. There might be some cases that project-based freelancers charge way up in contrast to the quality of the output of the project. This is definitely not always the case, but it happens.
Additionally, freelancers may not have the same level of training and support that Virtual Assistants have, making it harder to manage and ensure that they are meeting the needs of scaling your business.
True enough, most businesses opt to find talents via Upwork and Fiverr because it might seem like the easiest and cheapest option, but there are more considerations you should think about, aside from the cost.
If you are not careful, these “cheaper options” might just cost you more not just in terms of money, but also in effort, time, and stress.
The Fully-Supported GROWTH Model by The Growth Hub
At The Growth Hub, on the other hand, we provide ongoing support and training to our virtual assistants Champions to ensure that they are meeting the needs of their clients and that they are happy in their work.
- Quality of Talent: We have already done the work of vetting and selecting highly skilled and experienced Champions for you!
- Consistency and Reliability: With us, there’s a guarantee of consistent service and reliability, as we have a reputation to uphold and often have multiple backup resources.
- Time and Effort: We have a more streamlined hiring process as we take care of everything from candidate selection and recruitment to training, performance management, and administration.
- Cost: Hiring a Champion through us can be a bit expensive upfront, but we have systems in place to ensure the VA’s productivity and prevent delays, resulting in long-term cost savings.
In short, Champion Virtual Assistants and Freelancers have different roles and responsibilities when it comes to helping businesses manage their workload. And this is the secret ingredient in scaling your business!
While freelancers are great for specialized tasks, our Champion Virtual Assistants are ideal for ongoing administrative and business-related tasks that require ongoing support and training.
Still thinking, “is it worth it to hire a VA?” The answer is a resounding YES!
Looking for the best place to hire a virtual assistant? The Growth Hub is the answer!
Which Option Is Right for You?
If you are still observing the balance scale whether you’ll hire from freelancing platforms or get the fully-supported GROWTH model, we recommend that you watch this short video explaining the benefits and stability of the GROWTH model compared with other platform services in the market.
Say goodbye to the inconsistent, time-consuming, and stressful hiring process you have to go through when you surf the freelancing platforms out there and say hello to a stable, streamlined, and hassle-free system of the GROWTH Model!
As our client, Joe Tucker said, everything here is in place and you just have to focus on the things that matter most in your business. He found the answer to the itching question, “Is it worth it to hire a VA?” with The Growth Hub!
If you’re ready to discover what a virtual assistant can do for you and your business, let us know! We’d love to talk with you and let you know how your business can go on autopilot with the right systems, strategies, and team members in place.
Claim that freedom you’ve always dreamed of, because you CAN.
