Hiring a VA · 8 min read ·
Should I Hire a Virtual Assistant? A Decision Framework
Short answer
You should hire a virtual assistant when delegable work consistently exceeds five hours a week, you can afford three months of retainer without strain, and you can spend two to three hours in the first fortnight explaining how things are done. If all three are true, hiring now is almost always cheaper than waiting.
The three-part test
Hiring works when three conditions hold at the same time. Volume: there is genuinely enough delegable work to fill the hours. Affordability: you could commit for three months without stress. Availability: you can invest a few hours up front to hand work over properly. Missing any one of the three is the usual reason a VA arrangement fails.
What hiring a VA actually costs
Rates commonly start around $20 per hour. Agencies tend to prefer monthly retainers because consistent hours produce far better results than ad-hoc requests. Expect roughly $1,000 per month at the entry level, $2,000 for a growth-stage workload, and $3,000 or more for senior executive support. Setup and onboarding fees should be zero — ours are.
The hidden costs people forget
- Your onboarding time: two to three hours in the first fortnight.
- Tool seats: an extra licence in your CRM, helpdesk or project tool.
- Review time: 15 minutes a day for the first two weeks, then a weekly check-in.
Risks, and how to reduce them
Risk: you hand over work with no instructions
The single biggest failure mode. Fix it by recording a short screen walkthrough for each task instead of writing long documents. Your VA turns those recordings into SOPs.
Risk: the VA disappears
This is why agency-managed support differs from a marketplace freelancer. We keep backup cover, so if your VA becomes unavailable we step in immediately.
Risk: confidentiality
Every VA should sign a confidentiality agreement before touching an account, and should work inside your tools with least-privilege access rather than shared passwords.
Signs you should wait
- You cannot name five tasks to hand over.
- Cash flow makes a three-month commitment genuinely risky.
- You are about to change your business model and the workflows will all be replaced.
Signs you should hire now
- You are turning down or delaying work you could deliver.
- Response times to customers are slipping.
- You are the only person who can do anything in the business.
- You are working evenings on tasks worth a fraction of your hourly value.
How the hiring process works with us
- Submit an inquiry describing your workload.
- We review and schedule a discovery call.
- We match you with a suitable virtual assistant, usually within 3–7 business days.
- Your VA is onboarded with a documented task system and begins work.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a minimum contract?
Yes, a three-month minimum commitment, with optional trial periods so you can make a confident decision.
Is hiring a VA cheaper than an employee?
Usually. There is no payroll tax, equipment, office space, holiday cover or recruitment cost, and you pay only for the hours you need.
What if the match is wrong?
Tell us early. We re-match rather than leave you managing a poor fit — that is a core reason clients use an agency instead of a marketplace.
Want us to look at your workload?
Send us the five tasks you'd hand over first. We'll tell you what kind of support fits — and match you with a vetted VA in 3–7 business days.