There’s simply no way around it, these days a lot of us are busier than someone selling ice-water in Hades. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, many of you are seeing your days getting even more busy of late. Whether that’s due to an increase in client base or expansion of overall operations, chances are you’ve at least thought about getting an assistant.

But, which is better… personal or a virtual personal assistant?

Benefits of Personal Assistant

Of course one of the first benefits comes if you prefer being able to speak with your assistant face-to-face and physically hand them written communications. If you rely heavily on the reactions of your non-verbal cues and/or prefer to have your assistant only a few steps away from your office, then it’s probably best that you hire a personal assistant.

Personal Assistant Disadvantages

Personal assistants are long-term investments that are also, by their very nature, limited by proximity. Your hiring pool is severely limited to those individuals that are located within your general area and therefore, you’re limiting your reach and closing your doors to those that reside too far away to consider it a lucrative job to travel for.

Of course that’s after you’ve spent a considerable amount of time and money posting the opening, interviewing candidates, onboarding, and getting them up to the speed you need.

Benefits of Virtual Personal Assistants

Hiring a virtual personal assistant has quite a few advantages, the first of which is that you can hire from a service or work with self-employed or freelance VAs who work remotely in the comfort of their own homes. As this eliminates their need to commute, there’s never any calling in because their car broke down or being late because they’re stuck in traffic, a virtual personal assistant is available when you need them, every time you need them.

No extensive time going through the hiring and onboarding process, a VA through a trusted third-party agency means that you get the right assistant for the job. VAs are also synonymous with being able to work with any professional around the globe. Whether you need someone fluent in Cantonese or one that works on a flexible schedule, a virtual personal assistant is the way to go.

Furthermore, a virtual personal assistant is perfect for when you just need a boost for short-term projects and want to completely skip any long-term commitment a personal assistant requires.

Virtual Personal Assistant Disadvantages

Unlike Personal Assistants that dedicate their work day solely to you, virtual personal assistants generally work with multiple clients. Some may only be available for communication during specific hours but with the right third-party agency, there’s typically a system in place that monitor their VAs in order to ensure that your tasks are completed as soon as the VA is available.

When you break it all down, the advantages of having a virtual personal assistant tend to outweigh those of having a personal assistant.