In today’s fast-paced business landscape, entrepreneurs and executives are turning to virtual assistants to reclaim time and mental bandwidth. By offloading routine tasks to skilled assistants, leaders gain valuable “mind space” to focus on strategy and growth. This streamlining of business operations is especially impactful when leveraging human virtual assistants who provide proactive, anticipatory support that far exceeds the capabilities of AI tools. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore how human virtual assistants – particularly through services like MySigrid – empower entrepreneurs, startup founders, C-level executives, and business owners to work smarter, not harder.
Modern executives often find their days cluttered with administrative support tasks – from managing calendars to sorting emails – that distract from core business objectives. Research shows managers spend about 25% of their time on administrative tasks, even though only 6% consider it a key priority. This misallocation of time can lead to burnout and stalled growth. As one study noted, if you try to do everything yourself, “you’ll burn out before your business can even grow. You’d be so drained, with no mind space for innovation or other areas of your life.”
Delegation is the antidote. By entrusting tasks to capable assistants, business leaders free up hours in their day and reduce stress. In fact, CEOs who excel at delegating generate 33% more revenue than those with poor delegation skills. This is because delegating routine work allows leaders to spend time on high-value activities like strategy, relationship-building, and innovation. Virtual assistants – whether remote staffing hires or through a managed service – have become an indispensable tool for creating this leverage in a sustainable way.
Virtual assistant services have surged in demand as companies embrace remote work and seek cost-efficient growth. The global virtual assistant services market, valued at over $4 billion in 2020, is projected to grow at double-digit rates annually. Entrepreneurs and business owners are drawn to the model for its flexibility: you can outsource tasks to skilled professionals working from anywhere in the world. This not only lightens your workload but also taps into global talent pools, allowing you to hire the “best talents... at a lower price” by leveraging geographies with lower costs of living. The result is a win-win: you get more done at a lower cost, and your assistant enjoys a fulfilling remote role – a key aspect of scaling with remote teams.
With advancements in artificial intelligence, it’s natural to ask: Can’t AI assistants handle these tasks? AI-based assistants and productivity tools (from scheduling bots to smart email filters) do play a role in business operations – they automate repetitive tasks, provide data-driven suggestions, and work 24/7 without fatigue. However, AI assistants are predominantly reactive, doing exactly what you prompt them to do. They lack the human qualities needed for nuanced, proactive support.
Human virtual assistants, on the other hand, bring emotional intelligence, creativity, and foresight to the table. While an AI might capably schedule a meeting or send a reminder, a human assistant can interpret context and read between the lines. For example, a human VA understands tone and urgency – they know which client emails need a same-day response and can calm an upset customer with empathy. They can “adapt on the fly” when plans change, whereas “AI... follows rules and routines, but struggles when the unexpected happens.” If an important meeting needs rescheduling due to a flight delay, a human assistant will proactively rearrange your calendar and notify all participants – something outside the rigid scope of AI.
Most importantly, human assistants build relationships and institutional knowledge over time. They learn your business inside and out: your preferences, your key clients, your long-term goals. This enables them to anticipate needs without constant prompting. As one business owner noted, a great virtual assistant “is excellent at anticipating my needs” – they can sense when you’re overwhelmed and step in to reorganize priorities, or remind you of a preparation task you haven’t thought of. AI might be able to analyze patterns, but it “can’t build relationships [or] understand the context behind your decisions, nor can it anticipate your needs” the way a dedicated human can.
Rather than viewing it as AI vs human, savvy entrepreneurs use **AI **to augment their human assistants. The combination is powerful: “AI works best when it’s paired with human support – like a Virtual Assistant”, where the VA uses AI tools for efficiency but adds creativity and empathy on top. In practice, this means your human virtual assistant might use AI software to draft emails or analyze data quickly, then apply their judgment to finalize communications or make recommendations. The human premium lies in critical thinking and the personal touch – qualities that ensure your operations not only run smoothly, but also intelligently and personably.
Traditional in-person executive assistants (EAs) have long been the right-hand support for CEOs and executives. They work on-site, managing calendars, travel, and office logistics. However, the rise of remote work has shown that most executive support tasks can be done virtually, with significant benefits in flexibility and cost. Remote executive assistants or virtual executive assistants perform the same functions (calendar management, travel booking, project coordination, etc.) from a remote location, often with the help of cloud tools and video conferencing.
The key differences between hiring a remote virtual assistant and an in-office assistant boil down to cost, scalability, and talent access. Hiring a full-time, in-person EA is expensive when you factor in salary, benefits, office space, and the recruitment process. On average, a company spends over $4,000 to recruit and $2,000 to train a new in-house employee before even paying their salary. In contrast, virtual assistants offer a cost-effective model: they often work on a subscription or hourly basis, and you avoid overhead like office rent or full benefits. One study found businesses can save up to 78% on operating costs by hiring a virtual assistant instead of a full-time in-house executive assistant. For a startup or a small business, such savings are game-changing for the bottom line.
Remote assistants also provide flexibility in scaling your support. If you only need part-time help, you can engage a VA for, say, 10-20 hours a week, rather than committing to a 40-hour salaried role. As your needs grow, you can easily increase the hours or add more VAs. This scalability is much harder with on-site staff, where adding headcount is a lengthy and costly process. Additionally, with a remote staffing approach, you can source talent from anywhere. This means you’re not limited to local candidates; you might find an excellent executive assistant in another country who has the exact expertise you need (and often at a lower cost due to differing labor markets). Geographic freedom also enables 24/7 coverage – for instance, an assistant in a different time zone can handle tasks overnight, a huge perk for executives who operate across global markets.
Another advantage of remote VAs is that they often come through agencies or platforms that handle vetting and training. This ensures you get a pre-vetted professional without spending your own time on recruitment. Services like MySigrid provide premium remote executive assistants who typically have 10-15+ years of professional experience and undergo continuous training and quality oversight. In essence, you gain a highly skilled team member without the usual hiring hassle. As a bonus, virtual engagement tends to foster strong documentation and communication practices (since all collaboration is through calls, chat, and task management systems), which can actually lead to more organized operations than ad-hoc in-person interactions.
Perhaps the greatest value a human virtual assistant provides is peace of mind. It’s not just about getting tasks done; it’s about knowing someone has your back and is thinking ahead on your behalf. A competent human VA acts as a second brain, managing details so you can focus on the big picture. This kind of proactive support is where human VAs truly shine and where AI tools fall short.
With a skilled virtual assistant, you won’t need to constantly prompt or micromanage; they’ll often come to you first. For example, if you have a conference next month, a proactive assistant will not only book your travel, but also ensure you have all the tickets, accommodation, and even your presentation materials ready ahead of time. They might remind you, “Next week you have back-to-back meetings; shall I order lunch in for you and arrange a 15-minute break at 1 pm?” Such foresight in task management translates into tremendous mental relief for busy executives who no longer have to remember every little thing.
At MySigrid, proactivity is a core focus of the service. Their virtual executive assistants are trained to “manage your schedule proactively” – they will block time for tentative appointments to avoid double-booking, reach out to set up meetings with people you need to connect with, and continuously plan ahead on your calendar. The MySigrid team even documents each client’s preferences in a Client Fact Book, so the assistant knows your travel habits, meeting style, and personal likes/dislikes from day one MySigrid | Premium Executive & Personal Assistance. This means your VA can make judgment calls as if they were you. One MySigrid client review highlights this benefit: “My VA helps free up a lot of my time so I can focus on more productive work. I love the consistency of the service provided by Sigrid. They have all the training and documentation in place so that even if another VA has to handle my concern, this VA already knows my working style and expectations and can deliver the results I want.”. This level of seamless continuity – where a backup team can step in with full context – simply isn’t available when you hire a lone freelancer or rely on AI alone.
Human VAs also excel at holistic task management. Instead of seeing tasks in isolation, they understand how tasks interconnect. For instance, planning an executive’s board meeting isn’t just about sending calendar invites; a great assistant will also prepare the meeting agenda, ensure the executives have the necessary briefing documents, confirm the conference room or Zoom logistics, and maybe even arrange a follow-up task list after the meeting. Project management is often part of a VA’s repertoire – many act as de-facto project managers for their executives, coordinating across teams. Unlike basic AI assistants, a human VA can coordinate with multiple stakeholders (legal, finance, marketing departments, etc.) to drive a project to completion. They think cross-functionally and can chase down answers or push people for updates in a way AI cannot. This comprehensive support means you’re not just delegating tasks, you’re delegating outcomes and trusting your assistant to figure out the steps in between.
When you have this kind of trusted partnership, it’s liberating. You gain “mind space” to strategize and simply breathe, knowing nothing critical will fall through the cracks. Entrepreneurs often find that with a reliable VA handling day-to-day minutiae, they can finally tackle that new business idea or expansion plan that’s been on the back burner. In short, a human virtual assistant doesn’t just lighten your load – they actively multiply your capacity by handling the details and keeping an eye on what’s next.
Investing in a virtual assistant is not just a tactical move to free up time – it’s a strategic decision to enable business growth. By outsourcing work that isn’t the best use of your time, you can redirect focus to growth-oriented activities. Think about a startup founder who spends 20 hours a week on scheduling, customer emails, and routine paperwork. Those 20 hours could instead be spent meeting investors, refining the product, or acquiring new customers. A virtual assistant for business growth takes over the support work, so the founder can drive the company forward.
Delegation through a VA can also improve the quality of decisions and work. As your virtual assistant becomes a trusted partner, you can bounce ideas off them or have them do research and present findings. Many experienced VAs have backgrounds in project management, marketing, or operations, and can offer valuable insights. They’re not just drones executing tasks; they can be a sounding board and an accountability partner. For example, if you set a goal to launch a new marketing campaign, a proactive VA will remind you of milestones, gather performance data, and ensure you keep on schedule – effectively acting as a project manager to push the initiative over the finish line.
The data backs up the impact of delegation on growth. A Gallup study of entrepreneurs found that those who delegate effectively can grow their businesses faster; CEOs with high delegator talent saw not only more revenue, but also higher overall growth rates. Another analysis noted that business owners who offload routine tasks and focus on strategic work can increase productivity and reduce stress by significant margins. In practical terms, handing off tasks like travel booking, invoicing, social media updates, and inbox management to a VA can easily recover 10+ hours per week for a busy founder. That time recovery is akin to hiring another you – allowing you to tackle projects that directly contribute to revenue or company value.
For small businesses and startups, virtual assistants provide scalable support without the commitment of full-time staff. You can start with a few hours a week and ramp up as your operations grow. This agility in scaling is critical in early growth stages when workload can increase unpredictably. And for larger businesses or executives at the C-level, virtual assistants (or remote executive assistants) ensure that leadership talent is focused on leadership work, not caught up in admin. A highly competent VA essentially up-levels an executive’s effectiveness, enabling them to handle a larger scope and volume of responsibilities – a direct boost to organizational capacity.
Given the clear benefits of using virtual assistants, the next question is how to hire one. Many entrepreneurs consider freelance marketplaces like Upwork or Fiverr to find virtual help. While these platforms are great for one-off projects or specialized gigs, they come with challenges for long-term executive support. Freelance VAs operate as independent contractors, which often means juggling multiple clients and having less availability. There’s also the overhead of finding the right freelancer, vetting their skills, and hoping they stick around.
In fact, freelancing platforms can carry hidden costs in time and uncertainty. Paul Østergaard, co-founder of MySigrid, points out that freelancers on gig platforms spend up to 16 hours a week on unpaid tasks like bidding for projects and updating their profiles – time that doesn’t directly benefit clients. Why do we need MySigrid when we have Upwork? Part One
Freelancing… | Paul Henrik Østergaard https://www.linkedin.com/posts/paul-h-ostergaard_why-do-we-need-mysigrid-when-we-have-upwork-activity-7249424106784194561-ghFw#:~:text=average%2C%20freelancers%20spend%20up%20to,do%20you%20know%20they%E2%80%99ll%20be. For clients, this translates to higher turnover and retraining. You might hire a great freelancer for one project, but there’s no guarantee they’ll be available next month when you need more help. As Paul notes, “Each time a freelancer moves on, you have to train someone new. Onboarding someone new every few months can seriously impact your workflow, adding unnecessary stress and cost.” Why do we need MySigrid when we have Upwork? Part One
Freelancing… | Paul Henrik Østergaard https://www.linkedin.com/posts/paul-h-ostergaard_why-do-we-need-mysigrid-when-we-have-upwork-activity7249424106784194561ghFw#:~:text=average%2C%20freelancers%20spend%20up%20to,removes%20these%20uncertainties%2C%20giving%20you. Inconsistent availability and constant re-onboarding make it hard to build the trust and rhythm that a true assistant partnership requires.
MySigrid’s model was designed to solve these pain points by providing a subscription-based virtual assistant service that emphasizes continuity, quality, and proactive support. Unlike a typical freelancer marketplace, when you sign up with MySigrid you get a dedicated Executive Assistant who is essentially an extension of your team. Clients often stay for years with the service because of the stable, long-term relationship that forms MySigrid | Long Term Executive Assistant. There’s no need to constantly search for new assistants; MySigrid handles staffing, training, and even contingency plans if your assistant is unavailable. For example, MySigrid maintains a 24/7 backup team and detailed client documentation so that if your VA is sick or on leave, another trained assistant can step in without skipping a beat MySigrid | Premium Executive & Personal Assistance. MySigrid | Premium Executive & Personal Assistance. The result is zero downtime in your support – a level of reliability hard to achieve with ad-hoc freelancers.
Another key differentiator is the team-like support structure MySigrid offers. When you hire a MySigrid VA, you’re not limited to the knowledge of one person. Your assistant can tap into a wider team of specialists at MySigrid for specific needs MySigrid | Premium Executive & Personal Assistance. Need a graphic designed or some quick bookkeeping? Your dedicated VA can consult a MySigrid specialist in that area to get it done, all coordinated under the same subscription. This “hive” competency model means you have access to a breadth of skills (IT, travel planning, SEO, etc.) without having to separately hire multiple freelancers for each skill set. Compared to a platform like Upwork where you’d manage several contractors for different tasks, MySigrid gives you one point of contact (your VA) who orchestrates a multi-skilled team behind the scenes. You get the simplicity of dealing with one person and the capability of an entire support department.
Lastly, services like MySigrid provide a Customer Success Manager to each client, ensuring the partnership is always aligned and smooth MySigrid | Premium Executive & Personal Assistance. This adds a layer of oversight and continuous improvement – if you ever have an issue or evolving need, there’s someone to talk to who can adjust the service. Essentially, MySigrid is bringing an agency-level experience with the personalization of a dedicated assistant. This stands in contrast to freelance hiring, where you are the manager, HR, and quality control all in one, which can be burdensome.
To summarize, human virtual assistants play a pivotal role in modern business by streamlining operations and offloading the mental load from busy professionals. While AI and automation have their place in boosting efficiency, the true liberation for executives comes from having a competent human assistant who can think ahead, adapt, and manage tasks holistically. Services like MySigrid exemplify this with their emphasis on proactive support, continuity through backup teams, and a scalable team-based approach to virtual assistance.
For entrepreneurs, startup founders, and executives, partnering with a virtual assistant is about reclaiming your most precious resource – time – and ensuring that no opportunity is missed due to overwhelm or oversight. It’s about having a trusted right hand who not only handles what you assign, but also suggests what should be handled next. The ROI of a great virtual assistant is measured in smoother days, strategic progress, and yes, often in tangible business growth and cost savings. When you’re freed from the grind of administrative tasks, you can step into the CEO role of steering the ship with clarity.
If you’re ready to experience the peace of mind that comes with dedicated virtual support – and join the ranks of business owners scaling efficiently with remote talent – consider exploring a service like MySigrid. With a simple subscription, you gain a long-term partner invested in your success, without the hassle of hiring and constantly managing freelancers. Your time is your most valuable asset, and investing in a virtual assistant might just be the highest-leverage decision you make for your business growth.
Ready to streamline your operations and reclaim your focus? Book a consultation with MySigrid to discuss how a premium virtual executive assistant can transform your work-life balance. You can also reach out to MySigrid’s co-founder, Paul Østergaard, on LinkedIn—he’s passionate about helping leaders achieve more by doing less themselves. Don’t let mundane tasks hold you back; outsource them to a trusted virtual assistant and watch your productivity and business soar.