Pay as You Grow - The Alternative Resourcing Option to Unburden your Growing Business

An alarming report in the SMH yesterday reports on the shock in store for small to medium sized business next year. Apparently, fewer than half of Australia's small businesses are adequately prepared to deal with a further round of family friendly workplace laws that will take effect next month.

Virtual Angels has an alternative resourcing option for your small business with their unique offering of "Pay as You Grow" resources. Our Angels are self-employed therefore you will not be subject to these additional burdens on your business.

A survey of 352 small and medium businesses found many were ill-prepared to deal with the third industrial relations regime in four years when the final stage of the Fair Work Act comes into effect on January 1.

The new laws include a ''modern awards'' system and 10 new national employment standards replacing the minimum employment conditions that were part of the Howard government's Work Choices legislation.

Businesses face compliance obligations and risk fines, says one of the report's authors, David Griffiths, of the consultancy CompliSpace.

''What is clear from this study is that a great number of companies remain unaware and unprepared for the substantial changes,'' the report says.

''Employers who ignore 'modern awards' may be in for a rude shock given that the flexibility clause contained in each award could mean their current common-law agreements no longer insulate them from obligations to pay overtime, penalty rates and leave loadings.''

Among the new national employment standards are:

> the extension from 12 to 24 months of unpaid parental leave that employees can request;

> the introduction of an entitlement to redundancy pay for all workers, not just those covered by awards;

> entitlement for carers of preschool children and children under the age of 18 with a disability to request flexible working arrangements.

Other changes provide for the extension of the definition of de facto partners to include same-sex couples and the removal of the restriction allowing an employee to take a maximum of 10 days carer's leave in any 12-month period.

Fewer than half of the businesses surveyed know of, understand or are prepared for the industrial relations changes and less than half understand the compulsory flexibility clause in each award. More than half of the companies surveyed were considered at an extreme or high risk of falling foul of the laws, given their lack of preparation.

The survey identified call-centre employees among those to be covered for the first time by the new awards system.

Administrative staff across all industries could fall under a new clerks/private sector award.

Part-time workers in some industries would also be entitled to shift loading.

The survey covered businesses that employ more than 100,000 staff across 25 industries and was conducted from August to earlier this month.

Contact us today to Find Out How you can unburden your business.

Grow Your Business - with the right people

If you run your own business from home what happens when you have more work than you can handle, or move to commercial premises and need to grow your business with a limited budget?

There are lots of issues that you nee to consider before making a decision as to how to resource your growing business.

What duties do you need your person to perform and do you have enough work to keep them busy full-time? Or is part-time the answer? Do you have office space, a desk, PC and printer for this person in your current set up, or does a virtual assistant fit the bill? What skills, experience and values do you need and look for? How much can you afford to pay them?

Small business owners sometimes find it difficult to decide whether an employee should be permanent or casual and the deciding factors include how much regular work there is and whether employment will be ongoing.

Virtual Angels offers solutions to all of the above confusion by offering virtual, part-time, permanent or casual employees - basically whatever fits your current situation. It's a try before you buy situation - if work increases, then your Angel can grow with your business, if work decreases or is sporadic, your Angel will be flexible and work as and when you need them. Some of the key benefits though is you pay as you go, you test the waters and you don't over commit. Your Angel is an employee who works with you in an ongoing basis so you don;t have to keep re-training - it's simple and flexible.

Going straight to permanent employees and getting this wrong can be a costly exercise not just financially but in terms of time and stress. You must know your legal obligations with regard to worker's compensation insurance, superannuation, taxation, record keeping requirments, holiday and other leave entitlements and OH&S. Hiring a Virtual Angel removes all of this cost, time, stress and risk - our Angels are self-employed and take care of their own insurances. You receive one invoice a week from Virtual Angels - it's simple and risk free.

Your employees can make or break your business so choose wisely. Contact us today for a free assessment on how an Angel can grow your business today.

Life after Redundancy

It's hard not to feel upset when your role is made redundant and your self-esteem certainly takes a battering, even if you are usually a stoic, positive person. However, it's important to remember that it is the ROLE and not YOU that has been made redundant. Also keep things in perspective, redundancy is a situation that features in the life cycle of most businesses. Financial crisis and technology are just two reasons why your role may no longer be required. But businesses always need people and are looking at ways to redeploy people - redundancy is usually the last resort after all who wants to see all of that experience and knowledge walk out the door? Having said that, there is no such thing as "a job for life" any more and people are realising that if they must remain positive and open minded about next steps down the career path.

There are steps you can take to ease yourself through this challenging transition.

Prepare Yourself

Seek professional advice if you are unsure of your rights. These professionals will advise you on what your rights are, how to negotiate with your employer if necessary and help you sort out your finances for the road ahead.

Before going to see a professional career advisor, employment lawyer, or financial advisor do your homework and work out your budget. Separate what are essential costs like mortgage repayments etc and non essential items such as holidays or eating out.

Remain Positive

As much as we know it's not personal it's hard not to take redundancy as such, even people who take volountary redundancy face a dramatic change of life and most of us go through this change cycle feeling at first denial, followed by anger and grieving before we learn to accept the new situation. Try and remmebr this is a natural process that everyone goes through and try and remain positive. Seek the counselling of a good friend, your partner or a career development professional to help you through this tricky time. There's an old Buddhist saying "Everything passes" - remember this - time will too and that time is best spent remaining positive and optimistic throughout.

Don't Give Up

Persistence is a very important trait to develop if you are not naturally inclined. Remember as you go through the job hunting stage there will be knock backs but it's a case of picking yourself up, not taking it personally, and moving on to the next opportunity. If you do get knocked back for a job, always seek feedback from the agency or the employer. It's important to take on board constructive criticism and use that information for future applications. If your resume needs reviewing there are plenty of professional resume writers who will assist you and if your interviewing skills need polishing up seek the help of a professional or practice with your partner or friends. Filming yourself is a great way to get insight into how you come across during an interview.

Be Open Minded

I think it's important to remember that the world of work is changing and as mentioned before, we need to be smart about doing our research about the type of work our skills and interests are suited to, to understand our values and what is important to us from a new employer. Employers are now seeing the benefits of offering employees more flexible work arrangements such as part time, flexitime, hours off in lieu, work from home opportunities, etc. Remember to ask any potential employer what might be available at the time of interview. Even if it's not mentioned in the job ad it doesn't mean these type of benefits are not available.

A New World of Work

Hi there,

Sorry it's been a while since our last post...... I do hope you find the following as interesting as we did....

According to a recent article in The Age newspaper, nearly a quarter of employees do some of their job away from the workplace. This new trend of flexibility is allowing people to start living the life they have always dreamed of and allowing them the time to combine their hobbies, interests, family commitments, and volunteering resulting in a more rounded, balanced lifestyle that is satisfying all of their needs and wants.

Whilst one person is training for the Olympics, technology is allowing them to pull out their laptops, iphone or Blackberry and work from pretty much anywhere without missing an important email or phone call or deadline.

Figures from the Bureau of Statistics show nearly a quarter of Australian workers do some of their work each week away from the office.

Nearly 2.5million Australian employees take work home, fit it into weekends, or squeeze it in around training for the London Olympics.

Men in managerial positions were most likely to work from home (31per cent), followed by technicians and tradesmen (18per cent), while women working from home were most likely to be professionals (39per cent) or clerical and administrative workers (23per cent). This is encouraging news for our Virtual Angels who are mostly work from home professional mums.

Eight per cent, or one in 12 Australian workers, work more from home than any other place. The majority (83per cent) of those were aged 35 years or older, and most (55per cent) were women.

Most people are beginning to realise that without the flexible work conditions on offer from employers that they will just not be able to pursue and fulfil their dreams. They are looking for flexible employers who will offer this as part of the package at interview..

Why would an employer ask a person to choose between their passion and happiness when they can offer them flexible working conditions – after all they can only benefit from that persons positive and happy attitude at work.

There is a trend towards flexible working. Obviously technology is allowing it in many cases, but also people are a lot more savvy, and organisations are a lot more savvy - they are willing to create a good environment for people to work in.

Another example where working from home can benefit both parties is when an employee breaks a bone or perhaps cannot physically get to the office because of family sickness.. people often report that they actually do more work from home than they would in the office anyway, there are no distractions, no interruptions and no ciggie or coffee bar breaks. Overall, employers are realising that flexible work arrangements can result in high productivity and a rise in general well being, both must be high on the list for employee engagement and retention.

Technology has been critical in making it possible but now we need a shift in mindset from our leaders who only have to trial these flexible work programs to see the benefits for all concerned.

Until next time,

Caroline @ Virtual Angels

Virtual Angels are offering businesses a FREE BUSINESS ASSESSMENT

Short and sweet today.....

To help small / medium business owners understand how a Virtual Assistant can help them to grow their business and save valuable time and money, Virtual Angels are offering a Free Business Assessment - simply click the logo, complete your details and a Virtual Angels representative will contact you within 24 hours to arrange the assessment.

Have a great day!

Suzanne @ Virtual Angels

Work from home mums are helping the Economy

Women from all over Australia are leading the way in helping their families by starting their own business, taking work from home roles and considering part-time or job share opportunities. I have always maintained the people on our Virtual Angels database are mainly highly educated, experienced and professional women who value the flexibility of working from home in their chosen professions and maintaining their career and profile. Now more than ever they are exploring innovative ways of re-joining the work force albeit remotely and what is not widely appreciated is that not only is this helping to sustain their own families but they are helping to kick-start Australia’s economy in general.

Small and medium sized business has always been the life blood of Australian business but would it surprise you to know that in recent figures from the US around four out of five businesses are started by women and 80 percent are mums. Apparently the number of women entrepreneurs are growing at twice the rate of men. These figures do not surprise me in the least. I believe women are naturally more entrepreneurial in spirit, they have this ability to adapt themselves more readily to change and be innovative in the way they address the needs of their family. The old saying ‘necessity is the mother of invention” in itself is so true. I remember a conversation a friend and I had a while ago. She is from the country and her mother grew up in the country. I am originally from London and have always lived and worked in the city. Her mother’s comment was that I would make a good ‘country wife’ because in her experience the most successful country wives were those who grew up in the city because they went to the country looking for opportunities and then had the nous and drive to make it happen. I imagine this is what is happening out there at the moment and necessity is driving this growth.

When women work from home for other companies, they are still helping the Australian economy recover. Companies benefit when they allow their employees to work from home. When pay needs to be cut or frozen, “homesourcing” can serve as a form of benefit by allowing employees to enjoy the cost savings of reduced commuting expenses and flexibility and other benefits of working at home.

Companies that “Homesource” decrease their overheads by reducing office space, IT equipment and other associated employee costs.

Traditionally, outsourcing has meant shifting work to overseas companies and is basically a way for a business to complete internal business tasks outside of the office. The process saves time and money, allowing the small business owner to pay for services only when they are needed. Not only does this remove a salary from the budget but all of the associated employee benefits package, it limits tax responsibility and reduces required office space, supplies and utility bills. Work-at-home mums who are self-employed could save businesses large and small millions of dollars annually.

There is more support than ever for Australian businesses from companies like Virtual Angels with a database of over 1900 people who are ready to work, who do not charge their Angels to register who have experience and degrees in a wide variety of backgrounds. With technology, virtually anything can be done from one’s home office.

It’s a win-win situation for the businesses and the mum-professionals; not to mention an advantage for the economy.

For more information on how Virtual Angels can help your business survive in these uncertain times visit our website - virtualangels.com.au

The Fresh Ideas for Work and Family Grant

I thought in today’s blog we would just bring to your attention the Fresh Ideas for Work and Family Grant. A government initiative that you and your small business may be eligible to apply for and which you may not have heard about yet.

This initiative will assist small businesses put in place flexible work arrangements for their people. The program provides grants of up to $15,000.

To be eligible you must be:

• A small business in Australia with fewer than 15 employees
• A sole trader that employs between 1 and 14 employees

Family friendly work arrangements benefit both employers and employees. Employers benefit from improved efficiency, increased staff retention and better health and safety. Employees enjoy increased job satisfaction, reduced health issues and better work-life balance.

For more information go to:

http://www.deewr.gov.au/WorkplaceRelations/FreshIdeas/Pages/default.aspx

Have a great day!

Employ Local Vs. Off-Shoring?

One question raised by potential clients when thinking about taking on a local Virtual Assistant is “how will the cost of this local option compare to me employing a Virtual Assistant based overseas in India or the Philippines where hourly rates appear to be well under those we can offer at home?”

The answer, I would suggest, is that there is more to be considered than just cost when making this decision and that a low hourly cost may be an illusion when it actually comes down to how long it is taking your VA to complete the work.

Obviously, a $5 per hour VA who takes 20 hours to complete an assignment is less affordable than a $25 per hour VA who does it in just 3 hours. Lack of experience, lack of local knowledge, more learning time, re-doing work, are just some of the reasons why the cheaper option will in the end cost you more.

Cultural differences and communication breakdowns also may add to the time it takes to complete an assignment and although Time Difference is often quoted as a benefit to Virtual Assistance, i.e., “go to bed and the work will be ready in the morning when you wake up” it can work against you if you are having to wait until your VA is up to be able to get something done quickly in real time not to mention the inconvenience of working in the middle of the night with them when you are trying to make a deadline!

There are many things to consider besides hourly rate when looking to appoint your VA – cheapest is not always best!

If you would like more information, visit Virtual Angels

Until next time.....

Caroline & The Virtual Angels Team

Small Businesses Can Now Hire Virtual Assistants More Affordably Than Ever and Do Their bit for the Environment

I note from various recent press releases, particularly out of the US that virtual assistants are being used more and more of late and what happens in the US and the UK is usually a good indicator of what will happen in Australia.

A recent survey from the US suggested that some businesses have up to 50% of their workforce working from virtual locations. We still struggle here in Australia breaking down the mind set of employers and convincing them of the benefits of virtual workers, so I urge Australian business owners to not take my word for it but look at some of the comments coming from business owners in the US already benefiting from this under used resource pool. They talk about the convenience, flexibility, and financial benefits of remote work. Some of the media reports I have been reading have cited small businesses looking to replace their bricks-and-mortar staff with virtual assistants in order to save as much as 50% on office expenses in this uncertain economy.

When a small business starts to look for a VA, the process may be quite daunting as there are so many people out there offering these services. Virtual Angels offer a personalised, service to all their clients and take the time to understand your individual needs and will carry out a tailored search of our extensive national database to find you the most suitable candidate for you and your business. Our clients are assured of the best possible Virtual Assistant to fit their business needs.

Another obvious benefit that businesses may not have thought of is the reduction of carbon emissions that hiring a virtual assistant or team of virtual assistants can provide your business. We shouldn’t under estimate the amount of savings to be had by office staff not driving into the office every day. Gallons of fuel will be saved along with the harmful emissions into the environment. It may seem insignificant but it is a big start for businesses to be more environmentally aware and to build on this for the future.

For more information on how a virtual assistant can help you save time and money in your business, visit virtualangels.com.au

Have a great weekend!

Caroline

How a Virtual Assistant can help your business especially in this challenging financial climate!

Hiring a virtual assistant from Virtual Angels can help a small business to succeed in today’s market. I would suggest that many business owners just don’t realise how many benefits an outsourced VA would bring to their business immediately. These people are so experienced they can ‘hit the ground running’ from day 1!

This challenging financial climate for small business could well be viewed as an opportunity to grow but you must have the right resources in place to free you up to develop the business. Here are some important things to think about right now:

1/ Plan Ahead – don’t be too short term in your overall business planning – think about where you want your business to be in five years from now and think about investing in the future. You may well be missing a fantastic opportunity to get one over on your competitors right now. As they shed resources you can monopolise and leverage off a very flexible resource – your Virtual Angel. You can control the budget and use your VA for 2 hours or 20 depending on what is happening in your business at the time. Remember you are helping to stimulate the economy by keeping people working albeit in a part-time capacity – this is usually enough for them to keep their cash flow going and help them survive this bleak period of unemployment – so do your bit for the community and at the same time maximise your business opportunities.

2/ Change Your Mindset – We all need to get our head around the fact that the future of business is going to depend more and more on trusting virtual workers. We must adopt a more outcome focussed mindset and apply these outcome oriented KPI’s to our workers. Micro-managing people and looking over their shoulder constantly is unproductive and time consuming. Trust your professional Virtual Assistant, apply deadlines and be clear on expectations – you will be amazed at the results.

3/ Stop Being a Control Freak – So you think you are the only one who can run your business, eh? You are the one who started this business because you have a passion and you believe in the service or product. There comes a time when we all have to let go and let other people come in and help us otherwise you will run yourself ragged trying to be all things to all people and your business will simply not grow. Before you know it you will be frazzled and in a heap and possibly fail. Build your resources slowly but surely and trust. Allow us to find you the perfect person for your business who shares your values and your passion, first and foremost.

4/ Learn to Delegate – Stop being too busy to explain and delegate. Your Virtual Angel is an experienced professional, you usually will only have to explain things once and they will get it. Believe it or not he or she may even suggest a new and better way of doing things and before you know it you have a streamlined and efficient process in place. A little bit of time spent up front explaining how things need to be run will be worth the investment.

5/ Guaranteed Return on Investment – This will be the most cost effective and life changing investment you ever make. A Virtual Angel will change the way you work forever and free you up so much time you didn’t think you had. I would almost guarantee you will get your return on investment in the first few weeks of hiring your angel because at last you will have the time to personally follow through on all of the sales leads and opportunities you were missing before.

Take action NOW. Give us a call and start making your business really work for you. Find the passion you started with….I think it’s hidden under all of those invoices over there that need doing!

Have a productive day!

Caroline & The Virtual Angels Team

Resourcing in a Recession

As we can all see, hear and feel around us. Things are tough in the labour market. Hundreds are losing their jobs and organisations are suffering on under resourced trying to keep their heads above water, especially small to medium businesses. Hiring freezes are on and the costs associated with taking on another employee can make small business owners think twice about getting help - even though additional help is desperately what they need. For some struggling small businesses there is no choice, they simply cannot afford another person so business owners are forced to work longer hours and probably are not doing what they do best and that’s promote and sell their business.

An affordable alternative to hiring an employee, for a small business, is a Virtual Assistant – through Virtual Angels of course!

Essentially, we will find you a highly productive, professional who works off site saving you time and money. The virtual worker is available on an as-needs basis – whether it be 2 or 20 hours a week. . A virtual assistant can answer the phones once they’ve been re-directed, coordinate diary’s, design and deliver marketing campaigns, organise travel, proofread and format documents and presentations, update blogs and create newsletters, handle customer support, transcribe dictation, create a new website or logo and keep your book-keeping and accounts in order, and much, much more. If it can be done remotely using phone, Internet, email, and/or fax, a virtual assistant can take care of it.

I think it’s a shame more small businesses do not know this amazing assistance is available to them. For small and soloist business owners trying to keep costs down, there isn't a more low risk and affordable way to get work done and continue growing through this recession.

Until next time......

Caroline

Who has heard of Homesourcing?

Apologies…it’s been a while since we last blogged but things have been hectic to the say the least. However, interesting article and new buzz word has come to my attention that I thought I would share with everyone based on the fact this relates to exactly our field and sector.

Who has heard of Homesourcing?

I looked it up in good old Wikipedia and here’s the definition:

Homesourcing also known as homeshoring is "the transfer of service industry employment from offices to home-based employees with appropriate telephone and Internet facilities". Homeshoring is best thought of as a combination of outsourcing and telecommuting.

Homesourcing refers to hiring employees or engaging independent contractors. Homesourced workers are sometimes required to come to an office for training from time-to-time.

Traditionally, employers were most likely to homeshore call-centers and other customer service processes. However, this trend is changing as employers realize a wider variety of work is amenable to homeshoring. Knight Ridder Newspapers reports "it's no longer just call centers and information-technology jobs. Now it's architects, accountants, tax preparers and financial analysts."

According to researcher IDC Homesourcing is expanding by about 20% a year and homesourcing is "on track to explode".

Advantages of homesourcing

• Worker preference – homesourced workers often need to work from home or strongly prefer to work from home. They appreciate this opportunity, and therefore are loyal.

• Reduced costs for the employer as homesourced workers often provide their own telephone equipment and computer systems. Employer also saves on cost of office space.

• Using homesourced workers that are local to the area where they are calling precludes the prejudice that is sometimes created from regional accents, mannerisms and rates of speech.

• Possible tax advantages for the worker using part of their home for business purposes.

• it provides the employer the ability to provide work to individuals who through disability are unable to travel to a workplace

Well isn’t this just we have been talking about for 4 years now?! Suddenly there is a surge of interest for home based workers – not only by small to medium business but now the corporates are waking up to the idea. It certainly gives me hope that during these trying times for some families that our employers are beginning to wake up to the fact that this method of resourcing makes perfect sense – for all parties. Keeping costs down for employers and keeping Aussie’s working!

Speak to you soon

Caroline and the Virtual Angels Team