Entrepreneurs and executives often find themselves drowning in data entry and other routine tasks that eat into their productive hours. In today’s fast-paced business world, delegating these repetitive duties to a virtual assistant (VA) can be a game-changer. Not only do VAs free up your schedule, but they also offer a cost-effective way to streamline operations. 7 Types of Outsourcing: A Complete Business Guide. In this article, we’ll explore why data entry tasks are perfect to outsource to virtual assistants and how doing so can drive efficiency, productivity, and growth for your business.
A virtual assistant is essentially a remote executive assistant – a skilled remote worker who provides administrative support to businesses and individuals Assist Review — World’s First “Human-Like” AI Virtual Assistant | by UmAir Sabir | Medium. VAs can handle tasks such as scheduling appointments, managing emails, data entry, content posting, and conducting research. AI Assist Review — World’s First “Human-Like” AI Virtual Assistant | by UmAir Sabir | Medium. They are often hired on an on-demand or per-project basis, making them a flexible and cost-effective solution for businesses. AI Assist Review — World’s First “Human-Like” AI Virtual Assistant | by UmAir Sabir | Medium. Think of a VA as you would a consultant: an expert you bring in to handle necessary tasks so you can focus on your core business.
Data entry is a prime example of work that fits perfectly with a virtual assistant. It’s important to keep your databases, spreadsheets, and CRMs up to date, but these tasks can be extremely time-consuming. The good news is that low-complexity, high-volume tasks like data entry can easily be offshored or delegated to remote assistants. 7 Types of Outsourcing: A Complete Business Guide. In fact, according to industry experts, delegating routine data processes can boost operational efficiency by 20–25% and reduce fixed overhead costs. 7 Types of Outsourcing: A Complete Business Guide. Rather than bogging down your in-house team (or yourself) with tedious data work, a VA specialized in data entry can do it faster and often more accurately.
Hiring a virtual assistant for data entry offers numerous benefits. Below, we break down the most impactful advantages – from time savings to cost reduction – and explain how each benefit can help entrepreneurs and business owners scale their operations.
One of the biggest benefits of delegating data entry to a VA is the significant time savings. Every hour you spend manually entering data is an hour not spent on strategic work like product development, sales, or client relations. By offloading data entry to a virtual assistant, business owners reclaim those hours and can refocus on high-value tasks that drive growth.
For example, CEOs and startup founders often find themselves working late nights to update spreadsheets or CRM records. A virtual assistant can take care of these updates during the workday (or even after hours, if they’re in a different time zone), giving you back much-needed time. In turn, this boosts overall productivity – you and your core team can accomplish more, because routine tasks are being handled in parallel by your VA. It’s not surprising that virtual assistant has become the #1 in-demand remote freelance job title in 2024, according to FlexJobs Top 10 Remote Freelance Jobs In 2024, According To FlexJobs. Growing companies recognize that their executives’ time is better spent on leadership and innovation, not data drudgery.
Moreover, virtual assistants can often perform data entry faster and more efficiently than an untrained person juggling it between other duties. It’s their dedicated job, so they tend to be adept with the tools and methods to get it done quickly. Many VAs even use productivity hacks or software automations to speed up tasks. In short, hiring a VA for data entry means work that might take you 5 hours could be done in 2 hours, while you invest those freed 5 hours into strategic initiatives.
Hiring a full-time in-house employee (with salary, benefits, office space, etc.) solely for data entry may not be cost-effective, especially for startups or small businesses. Virtual assistants offer a far more affordable alternative. With a VA, you typically pay only for the hours or tasks you need, without the overhead of a full-time hire. Many companies report significant cost reductions by using remote assistants. In fact, 59% of companies use offshore outsourcing specifically to access global talent and reduce costs by up to 50%. 7 Types of Outsourcing: A Complete Business Guide. When you outsource tasks like data entry to a remote assistant in a lower-cost region, the savings can be substantial.
Some estimates suggest that businesses can save anywhere from 15% to as much as 70% on staffing costs by outsourcing administrative tasks. 7 Types of Outsourcing: A Complete Business Guide. Sigrid | Outsource Accelerator. The exact ROI of hiring a virtual assistant will depend on your situation, but consider this example: If you, as a business owner, value your time at $100/hour, and you spend 10 hours a week on data entry, that’s $1,000 of your time. Hiring a VA for those 10 hours might cost a fraction of that, yielding a high return on investment in terms of both money and opportunity cost. Outsourcing isn’t just about cutting costs; it’s about getting more done for the same budget. By reinvesting the savings (both time and money) into growth activities, your business can generate more revenue, effectively increasing profits.
It’s worth noting that outsourcing is a proven strategy for businesses looking to stay lean and competitive. Over 70% of companies surveyed in 2023 said outsourcing has become a key part of their business strategy. 7 Types of Outsourcing: A Complete Business Guide. And when outsourcing is used as a strategic tool rather than just a cost-cutting move, companies are 38% more likely to report above-average revenue growth in their industry. 7 Types of Outsourcing: A Complete Business Guide. In other words, leveraging virtual assistants and remote staff can directly contribute to your bottom line and growth trajectory.
Every entrepreneur dreams of scaling their business, but scaling your team can be a logistical and financial challenge. Virtual assistants provide a flexible staffing solution that grows with your business. Need extra help for a data migration project this quarter? You can increase your VA’s hours or add another VA temporarily. Facing a slow season? You can scale down easily. This kind of flexibility is hard to achieve with traditional full-time staff or local hiring.
Because VAs work remotely and often on a contract or freelance basis, you’re not locked into long-term commitments if your needs change. This agility means you can respond to business needs in real-time – ramping up support when you’re dealing with large volumes of data entry (say, after a big marketing campaign or during annual accounting prep), and trimming back when things stabilize. As a result, you only pay for what you need, when you need it.
Remote staffing also enables you to tap into a global talent pool. If your business is growing, you’re not limited to local candidates to fill support roles. You can find experienced data entry specialists virtually anywhere in the world. Many successful startups begin by hiring a couple of virtual assistants, then scaling up to a larger remote team as they secure funding and expand. With modern collaboration tools, it’s easier than ever to integrate a VA into your operations seamlessly, regardless of location.
Importantly, utilizing VAs is a low-risk way to scale. Instead of investing the time and money to recruit, onboard, and house an employee, you can onboard a virtual assistant in a matter of days. Services like MySigrid specialize in helping companies build a remote team efficiently by providing pre-vetted, trained virtual assistants who can hit the ground running. MySigrid, for instance, offers subscription-based remote executive assistant services that are “more efficient than a traditional secretary, and superior in quality to other virtual assistant services” Sigrid | Outsource Accelerator. This kind of partner takes the guesswork out of remote hiring and lets you scale with remote talent quickly and confidently.
When you hire a virtual assistant, you’re often hiring someone who specializes in the task at hand. For data entry, this means a VA who is meticulous, fast, and experienced with databases and software. You gain access to skills that you or your small team might lack. Perhaps you need someone who knows Excel or CRM systems inside out, or who can quickly learn to navigate your industry-specific database. There are VAs out there with exactly those skills, ready to contribute.
Because VAs build their careers on being reliable support professionals, they tend to have strong attention to detail. Delegating data entry to a competent assistant can actually improve the accuracy of your data. Rather than rushing through it at the end of a long day (and potentially making mistakes), you have a dedicated person ensuring everything is correct and up-to-date. Quality data entry means fewer errors in your records, which in turn means better decision-making based on that data.
Additionally, virtual assistants often bring experience from working with multiple clients or industries, which can translate into valuable insights and best practices. They might suggest a more efficient way to organize your data, or introduce a tool that automates part of the process. In this way, a good VA doesn’t just do the task; they often help optimize the task workflow. Over time, these improvements can lead to better operational efficiency across your business.
Perhaps the most important benefit of using a virtual assistant for data entry is the freedom it gives you to focus on your core business. Every founder and executive has unique skills and priorities – whether it’s strategy, relationship-building, innovation, or leadership. If you’re spending hours on administrative work like data entry, you’re not leveraging your highest-value skills. By outsourcing such tasks, you gain the mental space and time to drive your business forward.
Consider this: if you free up 10+ hours a week by handing off data entry and other administrative support tasks, that’s 10 hours you could spend meeting with clients, refining your product, or devising a marketing strategy. Over a year, those reclaimed hours compound into major progress. This is why many business owners credit outsourcing with helping them scale faster – it’s not just about doing the same work for less cost, but about enabling the leadership to do more of what only they can do.
Outsourcing data entry can also reduce burnout for you and your core team. It’s draining for highly skilled employees to juggle creative or strategic work and tedious data chores. Removing that burden keeps your team focused, motivated, and creative. In turn, this fosters innovation and growth. A remote executive assistant can handle the day-to-day minutiae (from updating spreadsheets to formatting documents and even content creation for reports), while you steer the ship toward your business goals.
In the era of artificial intelligence, you might wonder: can’t we just automate data entry completely? It’s true that AI tools (from OCR software to advanced bots) can assist or even handle parts of the data entry process. AI can automate repetitive tasks like data entry, saving time, money, and improving accuracy in many cases. AI Assist Review — World’s First “Human-Like” AI Virtual Assistant | by UmAir Sabir | Medium. However, the real sweet spot for efficiency is combining AI with a human virtual assistant, leveraging technology and human judgment together.
Think of AI as your speed and error-reduction tool, and your human virtual assistant as the quality-control and problem-solving layer. For example, an AI tool might quickly scan and input data from receipts or forms, while your VA checks the outputs, fixes any inconsistencies, and handles exceptions or complex entries that the AI might misinterpret. As one industry expert noted, HVAs (human virtual assistants) and AI can work together efficiently to maximize productivity and achieve business goals. AI Assist Review — World’s First “Human-Like” AI Virtual Assistant | by UmAir Sabir | Medium. Instead of making HVAs obsolete, AI actually empowers them to deliver faster service.
MySigrid’s services are a great example of this “human premium” approach. The company emphasizes human-centric, premium executive assistance enhanced by technology, meaning clients get the personal touch of a dedicated assistant, supported by modern tools for communication, automation, and security. This ensures you get the best of both worlds: the efficiency of cutting-edge tech and the nuanced understanding of a real professional. When your virtual assistant uses AI scheduling tools, automation scripts, or other software, you effectively have a mini hybrid team of human + AI working for you. The result is a highly efficient workflow where mundane parts of data entry are automated, and the nuanced parts are handled with care and context by the VA.
The rise of virtual assistants goes hand-in-hand with the broader remote work revolution. Business leaders have realized that talented professionals don’t need to be in the same office (or even the same country) to contribute effectively. Remote staffing has become a mainstream strategy for companies of all sizes. In 2023, an estimated 64 million Americans – 38% of the U.S. workforce – did freelance work, reflecting how common remote and flexible work has become. Gig Economy Statistics and Market Trends for 2025 - Upwork. This trend isn’t limited to the U.S.; globally, organizations are embracing remote talent to stay competitive.
For you as a business owner, this means there’s a huge pool of remote talent available to help in virtually every area of your business. Virtual assistants are part of that pool, and the stigma that may have existed around remote work decades ago is gone. Hiring remote workers for business success is no longer a radical idea; it’s a proven model. Many startups today are “remote-first” from day one, building distributed teams via tools like Slack, Zoom, and cloud platforms. By leveraging VAs, you’re plugging into that global talent network with minimal friction.
Another advantage of remote virtual assistants is the possibility of around-the-clock operations. If you hire VAs in different time zones, your business can literally be productive 24/7. Imagine closing your laptop at 6 PM, and your VA on the other side of the world starts processing the day’s data entries, managing customer inquiries, or updating your content. By the time you start the next day, those tasks are done. This kind of continuity was previously only possible by having night shifts or international offices – now, even a 5-person startup can achieve it by smartly using remote assistants.
Ready to reap the benefits? Here are some tips for getting started with virtual assistants and building out your remote team efficiently:
By following these steps, you’ll set a strong foundation for a productive partnership with your virtual assistant. Many entrepreneurs find that once they successfully delegate data entry, they start entrusting their VA with other areas – from social media posting to scheduling meetings and beyond. This is how you gradually build an efficient remote team that multiplies your productivity.
In summary, using virtual assistants for data entry tasks is a smart move for modern businesses. The benefits are clear: you save time, cut costs, improve accuracy, and gain the flexibility to scale your team as needed. Most importantly, you free yourself and your key team members to focus on growth, strategy, and innovation, instead of getting bogged down by routine paperwork. Whether you’re a startup founder or a seasoned executive, a reliable virtual assistant can be a secret weapon in your productivity arsenal.
As the business world continues to trend toward remote work and outsourcing, early adopters of virtual assistance stand to gain a competitive edge. They can operate leaner, move faster, and adapt quickly to new opportunities. The combination of a human premium service with the latest technology means you don’t have to compromise on quality to reap the efficiencies of outsourcing. Services like MySigrid exemplify this blend – offering dedicated human assistants supported by efficient processes and tools, so entrepreneurs get top-notch support without the usual overhead.
Ready to unlock the benefits of virtual assistants for your own business? For a tailored solution, consider reaching out to MySigrid. MySigrid’s remote executive assistants are equipped to handle everything from data entry to high-level administrative support, giving you the leverage you need to scale. To learn more, visit MySigrid (our website) or book a consultation now to discuss your needs and find the perfect staffing solution. You can also connect with co-founder Paul Østergaard on LinkedIn for insights on building and scaling successful remote teams. Don’t let data entry and administrative tasks hold you back – embrace the power of virtual assistants and focus on what you do best: growing your business. Sigrid | Outsource Accelerator, 7 Types of Outsourcing: A Complete Business Guide.