No, a VA is a business owner that provides a service as an independent contractor. To explain this as simply as possible, think of it this way… if your VA were your plumber, you would hire them to provide a service (unclog your drain), but you would not consider them your employee.

Start small! You only have to task your VA with what you are comfortable with. You might simply need someone to unsubscribe to junk mail so you can get a handle on your inbox, organize electronic receipts, or do research for your next blog post. Those things don’t sound so scary, do they? As your professional relationship and trust grows, you’ll feel more comfortable tasking more areas of your business.

Yes. Contracts are protection for you and your VA. Read your contract and your Welcome Packet so you know what to expect. Contracts generally run month to month or on a project basis with no long term commitments. If you have concerns about the terms of the agreement, get it cleared up before, not after you sign.

There are SO many things you can delegate to a VA. Things that would make your life easier and your business run smoother! My bet is that you are wasting a lot of time on things that could be passed off to someone else so that you can free yourself up to do things only YOU can do in your business.

Make a list of things you hate doing, things that are time-wasters, tasks that are not within your special set of skills, gifts, talents.

Usually, virtual assistants use a timer to log the time they spent on each task during the day. Depending on how closely you want to monitor their hours, you can request a weekly report or an end of day report each day. You should be able to see what tasks they did each day and the amount of time they spent doing them. You get to decide how they use their hours- so it is really important to sit down and think about your goals and how your VA can help you reach them.

A 1099 tax for is used because as a virtual assistant, I am an independent contractor who pays my own taxes.