Ultimate Guide to Virtual Assistant on Demand
Virtual assistant on demand refers to a service that fulfils administrative and other Internet-related tasks for your business only when required. On-demand virtual assistant (VA) services are distinguishable from standard VA services that have fixed work schedules. For instance, if you partner with Virtuale Staffing, a standard virtual staffing agency, your assigned VA will only serve you during the agreed shift.
But what if you have a sudden urgent task that needs to be done during off-work hours? If this is a common occurrence in your business, then you are better off with an on-demand VA than a regular one. You need to understand that VA on-demand service is quite different from a normal virtual assistant agency.
In this guide, you will learn whether or not a VA on-demand service is right for you, what are its advantages and disadvantages, and the top five companies that provide such a service.
Table of Contents
- Who Should Hire a Virtual Assistant on Demand?
- Disadvantages of VA On-Demand
- Top 5 Virtual Assistant on Demand Companies
- Recommended Alternative to VA On-Demand
Who Should Hire a Virtual Assistant on Demand?
Having an on-demand VA is akin to having a 24/7 personal helper. Imagine being able to seek assistance wherever and whenever you need it. You could let someone do urgent tasks right after waking up in the middle of the night or during a holiday.
- Startups — Virtual assistant on-demand presents enormous benefits to entrepreneurs and businesses that are yet to have a clear or fixed workflow process for their operations and/or require assistance on an irregular basis.
- Anyone with ad-hoc tasks — Regular companies can also utilize this type of service on an as-needed basis, usually during off-work hours when their employees can’t do overtime or are asleep.
- Companies with seasonal spikes in workload — On-demand virtual assistant services are also suitable for companies that want temporary staff during peak seasons when the workload is occasionally higher than normal.
For instance, some e-commerce businesses typically receive large order volumes on specific occasions such as Black Friday and Christmas Eve. Instead of hiring a temp (temporary employee), they’re better off using a VA on-demand service to handle the extra work. Once the extra work is no longer needed, they can easily stop using the service. - Companies that don’t want long-term commitment — VA on-demand services typically require no contracts and are billed hourly (most do).
Note that on-demand virtual professionals are remarkably proficient in what they do and the companies that loan them out usually have dedicated teams to help expedite the work. This means that you don’t have to spend too much time training the VAs for the tasks required.
Disadvantages of VA On-Demand
As convenient as virtual assistant on-demand seems, it’s definitely not for everybody. Here are its drawbacks:
- Higher costs — On-demand service is usually more expensive than hiring direct or working with a traditional virtual staffing agency. And it’s usually by a factor of 2-5, which is a tremendous difference.
- Different staff to work with — You almost certainly won’t get to work with the same person every time when hiring a virtual staff on-demand service since a dedicated staff won’t be assigned to you. Instead, you work with whoever is available at a certain period. For instance, if you hire an on-demand VA service to do some tasks today, and then again two days later, the staff that initially serviced you might not be available as they might be serving another client. This can be problematic for those who want to consistently work with the same individual.
Top 5 Virtual Assistant on Demand Companies
- VAXtra — $20 per hour
- Magic — $35/hour
- Task Bullet — $11 per hour
- Virtalent — £27 per hour
- Time etc — $29 per hour
1. VAXtra
VAXtra is an outsourcing company that provides virtual assistant services including web development, graphic design, SEO, and other admin tasks. It is based in Australia but has offices in Southeast Asia. VAXtra claims to have low prices, however, its on-demand package is substantially more expensive than its normal full-time VA package.
Package | Virtual Assistant on Demand |
Price | $20 per hour |
Features | No set-up fee No minimum contract, cancel anytime You only pay for the time an assistant is working on your task (minimum flag-fall 1 hour) Pre-paid billing of 10 hours White label service 100% Client Happiness Money Back Guarantee |
2. Magic
Magic is an agency that employs college-educated remote workers, referred to as “magicians”, who work as teams, which allows it to offer its services 24/7. The company is specially equipped to help startups, as it says, “startup pace is in our DNA”. The only concern we found is that it doesn’t support phone calls with assistants, which is a bit odd and might pose problems to clients who prefer to sometimes give instructions vocally.
Package | Consumer Hours (Managed by Account Manager) |
Price | $35/hour |
Features | Get 24/7 access to a team Magic’s assistants. Your team is managed by experienced staff to ensure efficiency and quality results. |
3. Task Bullet
Task Bullet is a virtual assistant agency whose mission is to “innovate and streamline business processes for maximum efficiency”. The company has a special commitment to the people of the Philippines, where most of its virtual workers reside. Task Bullet’s services include data entry, admin support, real estate, social media, web development, research, and many more. We chose this company since it provides one of the cheapest options for on-demand virtual services to date.
Package | Starter Bucket |
Price | $11 per hour |
Features | Billed at $220.00 for 20 hours of virtual assistant services 90 days to consume the billed hours |
4. Virtalent
Virtalent is a virtual staffing agency based in the UK. The company’s remote workers have an average of 15 years of experience before joining the team. Moreover, the service provider matches clients with the best VA it can find. Plus, a dedicated account manager will be provided to help manage your new VA.
Package | Entrepreneur |
Price | £27 per hour |
Features | UK-based Virtual Assistants, available when you need them Get custom matched to an experienced VA Extra time billed by the minute – not hour Secure portal access and all the tools needed to work with your VA remotely Any unused hours roll over to the next month |
5. Time etc
Time etc is a company that employs US-based VAs led by Penni Pike, a former assistant of billionaire Sir Richard Branson. The service provider has a stringent 10-stage selection process for its assistants, with each of them averaging 12 years of experience. It also has a free trial and offers a money-back guarantee.
Time etc doesn’t really offer an on-demand service per se, but it has the “unused hours rollover” feature for 20 hours plan and above, which basically means that you can extend any unused hours. The service gives you a month to consume all of your hours.
Package | Ten Hours Plan | Package | Twenty Hours Plan |
Price | $29 per hour | Price | $28 per hour |
Features | Dedicated U.S. assistant Expertly matched to you Add extra assistants (free) Share with your team (free) Money-back guarantee No unused hours rollover | Features | Dedicated U.S. assistant Expertly matched to you Add extra assistants (free) Share with your team (free) Money-back guarantee Unused hours rollover |
Recommended Alternative to VA On-Demand
Virtual assistant on-demand services are great and all, but they’re not viable for your long-term staffing needs as pointed out in the “Disadvantages” section. They’re great for certain situations, but they’re really not the most cost-effective option. Once you get the hang of using remote workers and want to keep someone permanently, you’d best hire VA directly or avail of standard remote work agencies (like us).
In fact, even if you are still dipping your toes in your online business, we can still provide a cost-effective and valuable remote staff.
Why?
For one, we are aggressively competitive. We are willing to provide a phenomenal virtual assistant for as low as $5 per hour and you can try them out for 20 hours before you are willing to commit to a bi-monthly or monthly plan. Think of the money you’ll save compared to buying $20-$30 on-demand services.
Note that we also provide an account manager to ease communications between you and us as well as help manage your new VA.
What? Our rates are too reasonable? You can thank our innovative methodology in running our business for that. If you’re not sold on the idea and have a few more questions, you’d best hear the answers straight from the horse’s mouth. That’s right. I want to save you time by allowing you to ask me directly. Let’s schedule a call.