What makes up the cost of your Virtual Assistant?

Member Feature : by Marcia Vorster of Admin Assist

You have come to the realisation that you not only need to free up your time, but you also need space to focus on generating more revenue for your business. You’re eager to hire a virtual assistant and curious to know how much you should expect to pay for top-notch support.

There are a lot of different variables that will affect how much you spend hiring a VA for your business. We recommend you consider these 3 factors when comparing VA prices:


  1. VA prices vary – widely.

Most VAs offer core services such as administrative duties, diary scheduling and bookkeeping, while others have refined other skills. Depending on what a virtual assistant can do and their knowledge of the task, he/she may feel comfortable charging more – which is why you’ll find a huge range of prices that Virtual Assistants charge.

Virtual Assistants that are just starting off in the industry or on their own will likely charge a lower rate than a more experienced VA. This is also a strategy for newbie VA’s to gain experience and some training in the industry.

You will find that some VA’s have prices per project instead of billing by the hour.

Something worth mentioning, don’t try to cut corners and hire a VA just because their hourly rate is lower than the next one’s rate and you think you’ll get more for your money.


  1. How much of YOUR attention is required?

Yes, we all want a VA who can take initiative and solve problems on their own, but that means he/she will need to have more experience, and in turn will likely charge a higher pay rate.

Often Virtual Assistants who charge less need a little more hand holding, nudging, moulding, training or attention (call it what you will) in relation to a more experienced/higher priced VA.

Although the cost of an inexpensive rookie VA seem mighty appealing, keep in mind that the level of management required by you is also a cost calculation.

Inexperienced VA’s tend to work slower. While it could take a higher-priced VA one hour to complete a task or project, a lower-priced VA may take twice as long to do the same job – it may end up costing you more in the long run to work with a lower priced VA than it would to just spend more up front.


  1. Special Skills = Higher Price

Pricing for a VA is not based only on the volume of skills s/he poses but also a certain sought-after skill set. These skills are associated with paying premium prices.

You can (and should) expect to pay top-dollar, for projects that have required your VA to undergo some form of training or at the very least a large chunk of her time – making her knowledgeable in let’s say, transcriptions, graphic design or marketing strategy execution.

The Bottom Line

VA’s offer a diverse set of skills and knowledge and they charge an incredibly wide range of hourly rates, depending on their experience and know-how.

Advice from AdminAssist

Instead of hiring a Virtual Assistant based on price alone really focus on the quality of work you want delivered and your ROI in the long run. Keep in mind, you are hiring a VA to free yourself from certain tasks to gain more control of your time.

For more about Marcia and how AdminAssist can help you, please do visit our members page.