Virtual Assistants – an idea whose time has definitely come!

As Bob Dylan famously sang in 1964, “…the times, they are a-changin’”. Indeed, this sentiment rings true even today in what is predominantly a climate of technological advancement and continual change.

Business is still business, but how we run our businesses has changed exponentially in the last decade. No longer are we bound by the need to have a ‘physical’ office space in a specific location. More and more we see business owners setting up cloud-based practices with great success.

To support the growing number of cloud-based businesses, there is a now an increasing number of Australian and offshore Virtual Assistants (VAs), who are skilled in many different areas of business, rolling up their shirt sleeves to provide professional and cost-effective solutions.

The rapid rise in the use and awareness of VAs by Australian businesses over the past several years has seen the onshore industry grow very quickly. There are now two Australian Associations for Virtual Assistants – AVAA: The Australian Virtual Assistants Association and AAVIP: the Australian Association for Virtual Industry Professionals – as well as numerous networks that Australian VAs can ‘plug’ into to collaborate and share ideas, as well as source job leads.

Similarly, organisations such as The VA Institute offer coaching, training and mentoring to support new and startup VAs, with a key focus being to drive excellence in the growing VA industry.

The times, they are definitely “a-changin’…”

Makes you wonder what changes the next 10 years will bring!