Nearly 71% of the US population continues to work remotely after the global pandemic of Covid-19 struck the world. According to several employers and HRs, it is more effective in terms of time, cost, and productivity to work from home. Many organizations went remote to eliminate the cost of renting or owning an office, allowing them to hire virtual assistants for their business.
Moreover, in the last few years, we have seen a promising trend among companies investing in their employees’ mental health. However, working from home allows employees to have more focus and flexibility, incorporating work into their lives rather than having it run them. In addition to that, employers and managers are continuously making efforts to reduce the workload on their teams by assigning them the tasks they are good at and are willing to do. To enhance the productivity of full-time employees, they are hiring virtual assistants for non-core tasks like sending emails, data entry, Handling customer queries, and internet research.
To handle the administrative tasks that keep businesses from pursuing opportunities, Pavel came up with a solution to provide services to help run the business so owners can work on the business. For example. To get to know more about his company and how trained virtual assistants at VirtuDesk are making lives easier, we interviewed Pavel Stepanov, Founder & CEO of VirtuDesk.
How and when did you come up with the idea of starting a Virtual Assistant company? Were you inspired by anything?
It’s a bit of a funny story to tell. I established my company [VirtuDesk] almost by accident. I used to run my real estate business as a broker having 12 or even 16-hour workdays. The monotonous administrative tasks made me realize that I needed a virtual assistant for myself. I hired my first-ever Virtual Assistant in 2015 to perform business operational tasks so I could stay clear and focus on my business’ core functions. I quickly found that my virtual assistant’s efficiency not only saved me time but scaled my business faster than I could imagine. I felt that there is a need for Virtual Assistants by many entrepreneurs, businesses, and agents. We are at a time of the fastest growth of new businesses in our nation’s history. Realizing the market need, I created Virtudesk and, along with it, strategically created systems within the organization that ensured Virtudesk’s VAs were well-vetted, properly trained, and efficient at their jobs.
How long does it usually take for VirtuDesk to bring new VAs on board? What are your requirements for a Virtual Assistant before hiring them?
It is a very timely and efficient process but does include high attention to detail sourcing the VA that specifically matches our clients’ needs. Most of our Virtual Assistants are working from the Philippines and are working virtually, which is why we have one of the top training programs for our Virtual Assistants to be armed with the tools and systems to do their job remotely. When bringing new Vas on board, we do discovery with our client to find out what tasks need to be delegated or for what purpose we need a VA. In addition to that, we make sure that our VAs know how to perform their tasks by providing them with 5-10 day training which they need to graduate before they’re assigned to a client. Coaches and Trainers at my company [VirtuDesk] make sure to provide up-training and support to our virtual assistants so they can succeed with clients. By providing work-from-home opportunities to Filipino families and single moms, we strive to give them the work-life balance they need to stay happy in their roles. To become a VA at VirtuDesk, you can send your application to our website.
What makes VirtuDesk stand out among its counterparts? What measures you as a CEO and your team have taken to make your clients’ lives easier?
VirtuDesk is an established VA company for a reason. We aim to provide efficient virtual assistance services to our clients by ensuring that our VAs are punctual and responsive. We’re able to do this by using Timedly—our own tracking tool that allows us to monitor the productivity and attendance of our VAs. Plus, VirtuDesk also has a workforce team that makes sure all our VAs stay on track. They monitor the attendance and activities of our VAs. We have gathered a team of highly detail-oriented people who monitor the activities of our virtual assistants through our tracking app, Timedly. Since it [Timedly] takes screenshots every 2 minutes, our workforce team members are able to ensure that our VAs are productive and are keeping our clients’ confidential information safe. Speaking of which, our cybersecurity insurance eases any privacy concerns that our clients may potentially have. This allows us to protect our client’s confidential information. Lastly, we have account managers who serve as liaisons between our clients and VirtuDesk. They make sure that each VA is equipped with the skills necessary to perform their tasks with our VirtuDesk clients. These Account Managers are able to do this through regular communication with our clients and by providing the necessary guidance to the VAs.
What have you accomplished so far with VirtuDesk being an emerging Virtual Assistant Providing Company?
The company has got a long way to go. The sky is the limit for us, and with my highly professional team, we aim to become the best VA-providing company in the world. Virtudesk has numerous awards. To name a few, we have gotten an A+ rating from BBB and made it to the Inc. 5000 for one of the fastest-growing companies in the US. For its achievement in growth, VirtuDesk won the Titan Business awards and was named Best Virtual Assistant Solutions in 2022 by the International Business Magazine.
Moreover, we were named as the fastest growing company by Growjo and Finacial Times. Apart from these awards, one of Virtudesk’s greatest achievements lies in the number of problems we have solved for our clients with our cost-effective virtual assistance services. Most importantly, we take the greatest pride in being able to help our Filipino virtual assistants attain a stable livelihood that allows them to support themselves and their families.
VirtuDesk is a growing home-based jobs provider to aspiring Virtual Assistants in the Philippines. They provide opportunities to millions of Filipino families, especially single mothers who desire to start their work-from-home careers. VirtuDesk is providing superior quality and excellent services to its clients with a mission to nurture talents based in the Philippines and leverage best practices to identify, train and employ the same. The company is providing its clients with options that go beyond the traditional brick-and-mortar office set-up so their clients can have their complete focus on the core business.
