Why choose a British Virtual Assistant?
You might be tempted by apparently lower prices of overseas Virtual Assistants but if you're not careful, the real cost fo your business could be much higher.
We've outlined below the main issues that you need to be aware of when choosing where your Virtual Assistant will be based.
By choosing a British Virtual Assistant you'll benefit from fully GDPR compliant assistance from an experienced, well-educated assistant and you'll also be doing a great deal of good, here in the UK.
GDPR compliance
Time etc offers a fully GDPR compliant Virtual Assistant service.
Under GDPR you're not legally permitted to share any third party data (including even basic information like names and email addresses) with an overseas Virtual Assistant, without informing the owner of the data that it will be sent to a third party in a non-EEA country first. Many countries, such as South Africa, are not considered by the European Commission to have "adequate protection" when it comes to handling data.
It obviously isn’t practical to warn anyone that emails you that their data is leaving the country and this makes working legally with an overseas Virtual Assistant difficult.
World-leading education
Britain has one of the best state-provided education systems in the world. As a result the availability of well-educated and experienced Virtual Assistants is far higher here than in many other countries. In addition the high levels of employment in the United Kingdom mean your Virtual Assistant typically has higher levels of employment experience than their overseas counterparts.
Local knowledge and understanding
When you need to get things done quickly, you can't beat good knowledge and understanding of how things work in the UK from business rules to transport and geography. By working with an experienced British Virtual Assistant you'll never waste time having to explain things like social etiquette to them.
Timezone
Many people often assume that a difference in timezone between them and their assistant won't make a big difference - but, in our experience supporting more than 22,000 entrepreneurs, being in vastly different timezones makes it much harder to communicate. Lack of overlap in the working day can add days of delay to even basic tasks.
Cultural fit
Working with a Virtual Assistant is similar to hiring an employee - the cultural fit is vitally important for the relationship to thrive. The world is made up of hundreds of wonderful and unique cultures, making it an interesting place, but sometimes even small cultural differences can make working together difficult and fraught with misunderstandings. By choosing a British Virtual Assistant you side-step all of these issues.
Risk of crime
Involving a Virtual Assistant in your business is a leap of faith - even more so if they come from a country with a high crime rate. By choosing a British Virtual Assistant you can rest assured that they're working in a country with a very low crime rate and robust legal system. South Africa is an up and coming location for Virtual Assistant services however, according to PriceWaterHouseCooper’s Global Economic Crime Survey, some 72% of South African businesses have been the victims of local fraud.
Ready to achieve more?
Try a virtual assistant for free
We'll do your first task for free. No credit card required.
Want to know what it's like to use a virtual assistant? Just send us your first task and one of our virtual assistants will do it for free.