The Benefits of Virtual Assistants for Online Entrepreneurs

Online entrepreneurs, startup founders, and busy executives often find their days overwhelmed by routine tasks like scheduling, email triage, and data entry. Studies show that many leaders spend over a third of their workweek on such administrative “busywork”. As leadership coach Cameron Herold famously said, “If you don’t have an assistant, you are one!”. In other words, every minute spent on low-value chores is a minute taken away from growing your business. Virtual assistant services solve this problem by providing trained remote professionals who handle those tasks for you. By delegating to VAs, entrepreneurs can focus on strategy and revenue, rather than inbox and paperwork. Paul Østergaard, co-founder of MySigrid, emphasizes that the goal is to achieve “work-life harmony without compromise.” By leaning on a VA, you can be a high-performing leader and “regain time for family, health, or much-needed rest”.

Figure: A dedicated virtual assistant working remotely, handling tasks so the entrepreneur can focus on strategy.

Key Advantages of Hiring Virtual Assistants

Virtual assistants (VAs) offer multiple benefits that directly boost an online business’s efficiency and bottom line:

• Save Time & Boost Productivity: Delegating routine work to VAs frees up hours each week. Entrepreneurs report spending far less time on email, scheduling, bookkeeping, and other admin. In fact, one analysis found that 94% of employers said remote staff were as productive or more productive as on-site workers. Startups that outsource non-core work tend to grow about 15% faster (25% vs. 10%) than those keeping everything in-house. By contrast, the busiest entrepreneurs who do little delegation burn out fast. A survey showed “expert delegators” (those who use assistants effectively) had much higher revenue and profit growth than those doing it all themselves.
  
  
• Reduce Costs & Increase Profit: Hiring a VA is far more cost-effective than a full-time, in-house hire. You pay only for the hours or projects worked, and save on benefits, office space, and equipment. For example, a business can save up to 78% in operating costs by using remote assistants instead of local staff. Research by Global Workplace Analytics estimates a U.S. employer saves about $11,000 per half-time remote worker per year – roughly $22k per full-time. Those savings (plus lower hiring/onboarding costs) mean more budget for growth. One remote-outsourcing agency reports its clients free up 20+ hours per week and hundreds of dollars by outsourcing key tasks. In short, virtual assistants quickly pay for themselves – the ROI comes from focusing you on high-impact work.
  
  
• Access Global Talent & Specialized Skills: Virtual assistants aren’t limited by geography. You can hire top talent from anywhere, whether it’s a finance whiz, marketing whiz, legal-savvy assistant or a multilingual support agent. Many VAs bring specialized expertise: social media, CRM tools, bookkeeping, or industry-specific knowledge. MySigrid’s assistants, for example, are trained in niche skills like financial compliance, accounting software (Xero, QuickBooks), or real estate CRM. As MySigrid notes, their approach “combines the expertise of dedicated virtual assistants, specialists, and advanced technology”, providing fractional resources that empower businesses to scale with unmatched talent. In practice, this means your project manager, content writer, or executive assistant can hit the ground running on Day 1.
  
  
• Scalability & Flexibility: VAs let you scale your team instantly. If your workload spikes, you can quickly increase your assistant’s hours or add another VA – without long hiring processes or commitments. During slow periods, you can cut back easily. This contrasts with full-time hires, who need benefits and raise expectations. Paul Østergaard explains that MySigrid has already built “the remote staffing engine so you don’t have to”. In other words, the heavy lifting of recruitment, training, and HR is handled by the VA agency. This turnkey model means you get reliable support on-demand, enabling even startups to scale rapidly with remote teams.
  
  
• Improved Work-Life Balance: Finally, hiring a VA can dramatically improve your quality of life. With an assistant managing the day-to-day details, entrepreneurs can reclaim time for family, rest, or strategic work. As Østergaard puts it, using a VA lets you be a top performer and still have time for what matters most. Many founders report feeling “peace of mind” knowing their VA is organizing their schedule and tasks. Reducing stress and burnout by outsourcing drudgery means business leaders can make better decisions and enjoy life beyond their desk.
  
  

Top Tasks to Delegate: Virtual assistants can handle almost anything that does not require your direct presence. Common tasks include: managing your email and calendar; scheduling travel and appointments; processing receipts and preparing expense reports; customer support (phone, chat, email); data entry and bookkeeping; research and report preparation; social media posting and basic content creation; and even personal errands like paying bills or making reservations. By making a list of every routine task you do, you’ll quickly see how a VA can take it off your plate.

Virtual Assistant vs. Other Options

Virtual Assistant vs. Executive Assistant: Traditionally, an Executive Assistant (EA) is an in-office hire who supports a CEO or executive directly. A remote executive assistant (or virtual executive assistant) provides many of the same services (managing a calendar, drafting correspondence, etc.) but works off-site. The key difference is flexibility and cost: a VA can often handle senior-level tasks virtually and often at a fraction of the price of a local EA. With today’s digital tools, you can treat a VA much like a full-time EA – except you avoid office overhead and can scale hours as needed. As one MySigrid client puts it: having a dedicated VA helped him “stay organized and respond to clients more promptly”, directly boosting satisfaction.

Virtual Assistant vs. Full-Time Employee: Hiring an in-house employee means committing to salary, taxes, benefits, and workspace. By contrast, hiring a VA is typically on an hourly or monthly basis with no hidden costs. You only pay for the support you use, and you’re not tied to long-term commitments. This makes VAs ideal for startups testing new projects or entrepreneurs who value agility. Of course, managing freelancers or multiple remote contractors can add complexity. That’s why services like MySigrid offer full-time VAs as employees of the agency, ensuring reliability and continuity. All MySigrid VAs are full-time, committed team members, so you get the consistency of an in-house staff member without the administrative burden.

Outsourcing vs. In-House: Outsourcing administrative support to remote professionals often beats the cost and hassle of building a local team. A 2024 analysis found that over half of small businesses plan to increase outsourcing for operations and IT, drawn by the cost savings and flexibility. With overseas assistants (for example, in the Philippines or Latin America), businesses often pay 30–60% less than equivalent U.S. salaries. As Paul Østergaard notes, MySigrid “built that system” (recruitment, compliance, infrastructure) so clients don’t have to. In short, outsourcing via a remote staffing solution lets you bypass the headaches of setting up an in-house operation, while giving you immediate access to vetted talent.

Tools & Technology for Managing VAs

Remote teams thrive on the right tools. Today’s best remote work tools ensure virtual assistants stay connected, organized, and productive. Common platforms include: Slack or Microsoft Teams for instant messaging; Zoom or Google Meet for video calls; Asana, Trello, ClickUp, or Monday.com for project management; Google Workspace/Microsoft Office 365 for document collaboration; calendar apps (like Google Calendar) for scheduling; and CRM tools (HubSpot, Salesforce) for client management. Financial tasks are often handled with cloud accounting software such as Xero or QuickBooks. Many VAs also use AI-powered tools: for example, they might use ChatGPT or Jasper.ai to draft emails and content, or transcription tools to convert meeting recordings to text.

MySigrid’s approach highlights this tech leverage. They note that they “equip our remote staff with the latest AI-powered tools and systems, enabling them to deliver seamless, world-class support in a hybrid work setting”. In practice, this means their assistants have secure access to clients’ tools (calendars, CRM, file storage) and use automation (IFTTT, Zapier) to streamline workflows. In fact, many companies are combining human VAs with AI automation: one study found 53% of businesses plan to use more AI-driven assistants for customer service. However, the human touch remains irreplaceable in many situations. Virtual assistants handle nuanced tasks – calming upset customers on a call or making judgment calls – that AI bots can’t replicate.

Figure: Even simple hardware like a laptop and headset can enable a virtual assistant to provide 24/7 support. Agencies like MySigrid ensure assistants have “state-of-the-art” collaboration platforms and AI tools.

Industry Examples

Virtual assistants aren’t one-size-fits-all – their impact is felt across industries. Here are some examples:

• E-Commerce & Online Retail: Busy e-commerce founders often use VAs for customer support, such as managing helpdesk tickets, live chat, and social media inquiries. A VA can answer order questions, process returns, and ensure no customer goes unanswered. In practice, clients have found that outsourcing these tasks results in “faster response times and higher customer satisfaction”. During peak sales (like holiday seasons), you can simply increase your VA’s hours or add another assistant instead of scrambling to hire temp staff. VAs also handle content and social media: they write product descriptions, craft blog posts or email newsletters, and schedule posts on Instagram, Facebook, etc. In fact, 43% of small businesses report spending 6+ hours per week on social media marketing. A social media VA can take over that workload – scheduling posts, engaging with followers, and tracking analytics – so your brand stays active. The result is that small startups can offer “big company” service quality on a modest budget, building loyalty and freeing founders to focus on growth.
  
  
• Real Estate: Realtors and brokers frequently leverage VAs to grow their pipelines. MySigrid advertises a Real Estate Virtual Assistant (REVA) who can handle “lead generation and follow-up” – for example, finding prospects, initiating contact, and nurturing leads until they’re ready to buy or sell. Administrative VA tasks are crucial too: a REVA will manage calendars, set up property showings, and organize paperwork to streamline your workload. Many real estate VAs also run marketing: crafting listing flyers, posting on social media, or even updating real estate websites with new listings. At closing time, VAs coordinate transactions – handling contracts, liaising with lenders and title companies, and ensuring no detail is missed. In essence, a real estate VA becomes a virtual transaction coordinator and marketing assistant, letting agents spend more time with clients and sales, and less time on admin.
  
  
• Healthcare: Doctors, therapists, and clinics are constant targets of admin overload, from patient intake to billing. A trained healthcare VA can lift that burden. They can collect new patient information and handle medical intake forms so that charts are ready before appointments. They can manage appointment schedules and send out reminders, preventing double-bookings and no-shows. Importantly, VAs can verify insurance coverage and obtain pre-authorizations for procedures, reducing later claim denials. They can even assist with medical billing and claims follow-up – submitting insurance claims and chasing unpaid balances to improve cash flow. In short, healthcare VAs handle the paperwork and phone calls so medical professionals can focus on patient care.
  
  
• Finance & Accounting: Financial advisors, CFOs, and accountants also benefit from VAs. A finance VA might handle routine reporting, data entry, and bookkeeping, or manage the advisor’s calendar and client communications. According to one survey, 62% of business owners who hired VAs saw better time management. MySigrid specifically trains its VAs in industry tools and compliance, so they can input accounting data, prepare reports, or check regulatory forms. This means advisors get specialized help (for example, reconciling Xero books or organizing documents for tax season) without paying for a full-time assistant. VAs also let financial teams scale up during peak times (quarter-end reporting, busy tax season) and scale down later. Overall, finance firms using VAs enjoy lower overhead and faster client service – one advisor noted that with a VA he can “respond to clients more promptly, which leads to better satisfaction”.
  
  
• Marketing & Creative: Digital agencies and marketing teams often hire content-writing VAs or social media VAs. For example, a VA can research keywords and draft blog content, create simple graphics with Canva, schedule ad campaigns, or manage email newsletters. They can also track campaign metrics and report on performance, giving the core team more time for strategy. In practice, a marketing VA might do everything from keyword research and competitor analysis to engagement on social channels. Delegating these tasks lets creative staff focus on the big picture – product innovation, brand strategy, or client pitches – while the VA keeps daily marketing operations on track.

Each of these industry examples shows how virtual assistants add real value: improving response times, scaling operations, and freeing founders to drive growth. As one e-commerce CEO put it after hiring a MySigrid VA: “I don’t know what I did before… you truly make everything possible!”.

Leveraging AI and Remote Collaboration

Modern virtual assistants don’t just use basic tools – they often leverage AI to work smarter. Many VAs use AI-driven automation in their workflows. For example, they might use ChatGPT or other text generators to draft first versions of emails, content, and reports, or AI transcription tools to summarize meetings. MySigrid highlights that it “integrates AI tools into their virtual assistant platform” so clients can automate routine tasks. However, the human element remains key: while 53% of companies plan to use AI-powered chatbots more for customer service, there will always be cases requiring empathy, judgment, and personal touch – exactly what human VAs provide.

Good project and team management software are also essential. Popular choices include project trackers (Asana, Trello, ClickUp), time trackers (Toggl, Clockify), and file-sharing systems (Google Drive, Dropbox). These tools help you delegate and monitor tasks. For meetings and communication, virtual assistants typically use video conferencing tools (Zoom/Teams) and chat apps (Slack/Microsoft Teams). MySigrid even offers a custom Task Management & Collaboration platform to ensure quality and continuity. By combining these technologies with dedicated VAs, entrepreneurs can run their businesses from anywhere in the world – as if they had a full team in the next cubicle.

Figure: Simple remote-work tools – a laptop and headset – allow virtual assistants to communicate and support clients anywhere. Agencies like MySigrid ensure assistants have “state-of-the-art” collaboration platforms and AI tools.

How to Hire and Manage Virtual Assistants

Getting started with a VA is straightforward. First, define your needs: list the tasks you want to delegate (administrative, technical, creative, etc.). Decide if you need a full-time assistant or part-time support. You can hire a freelance virtual assistant directly (via Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer) if you want project-by-project help. Alternatively, use a remote staffing service like MySigrid, which provides pre-vetted VAs and handles HR aspects.

When selecting an assistant or agency, look for skills and experience relevant to your industry. For example, real estate agents might prefer VAs familiar with MLS platforms, while tech startups might seek assistants comfortable with GitHub or analytics tools. Consider time zone and language, too – a remote executive assistant on your time zone can cover extended hours of support.

Once hired, onboard your VA effectively: provide access to the tools they’ll use (email, databases, CRM) and share your standard procedures. Communicate clearly – use shared to-do lists and regular check-ins (daily or weekly). Treat your VA as part of the team: give context for tasks, and be open to questions. Over time you’ll learn to delegate tasks effectively by writing clear instructions and handing off authority (for example, giving them power to schedule meetings or approve expenses on your behalf).

Managing a remote team also means building trust. Start with small tasks and gradually increase responsibility as you see results. Use productivity tools to monitor progress (like Trello boards or Asana tasks). Many entrepreneurs find that the more they communicate and document processes (even creating simple SOPs), the smoother the arrangement. Remember, your goal is to offload the execution fully – if your VA raises a problem, let them solve it without micromanaging.

Conclusion & Next Steps

Virtual assistants offer massive leverage for online businesses. By outsourcing routine and specialized tasks to skilled remote staff, entrepreneurs save money, increase productivity, and unlock growth. As research shows, leveraging virtual teams can significantly boost startup success and survival. In short, VAs let you scale with speed and agility.

If you’re ready to reclaim your time and scale your operations, consider partnering with a reliable VA service. MySigrid’s clients – busy founders and executives around the world – enjoy dedicated support without the hassle of hiring and managing staff. To explore how a virtual assistant can transform your business, book a free 20-minute consultation with MySigrid now. For more insights on remote work and delegation, connect with Paul Østergaard on LinkedIn – MySigrid’s co-founder and a leading thinker in remote staffing and work-life balance.

Sources: Data and insights in this article come from industry studies and expert interviews. The information above integrates research findings with practical examples across e-commerce, real estate, healthcare, finance, and marketing sectors to illustrate the value of virtual assistants.