Their expertise is available as and when you need it. They are not temps or an employee of your company. They are contractors who provide support to individuals, small businesses and larger organisations.

Why should I outsource to Diamond Secretarial? We focus on the administration side of your business - allowing you to focus on the running of your business. Outsourcing eliminates the need for you to employ staff which actually saves you money! It costs an employer a minimum of 2.5 times an employee's salary to actually employ them.

Do I need a VA if I have employees? Absolutely, VAs provide support if your employees are overwhelmed with work, on holiday, or on maternity/sick leave.

How can you work for me when you are not in my office? We communicate with you regularly in order to get instructions from you. We also use a client collaboration tool which enables you to see at a glance how your projects are progresing. It will just be like we are in the same office.

I would sometimes require support at weekends, bank holidays etc. Would this be a problem? Not at all, we can tailor the project around your requirements. We would also require you to give us as much lead time as possible, but we understand that sometimes it just has to be completed ASAP. Please note that surcharges will be incurred but these will be discussed with you at the time.

How can I be sure of confidentiality? Projects are no discussed with any other clients. We are registered with and comply with the Data Protection Act 1998.

What am I paying for - are there any hidden costs? You only pay for the time spent on your project - you will never pay for lunch breaks, coffee breaks or interruptions. There are no hidden costs, all costs are communicated with you before the project starts.

When and do you invoice? Invoices will be sent out with completed work and are payable within 14 days. New clients are requested to pay a 50% deposit upfront.

How long will it take you to complete the project? We will estimate based on the information from you how long the project will take to complete. If there are any changes to the length of time, you will be notified ASAP. For most tasks we offer a turnaround of 2 working days.

I do everything myself, why should I consider working with a VA? Sooner or later you will realise that you simply cannot keep doing everything yourself. Something will have to give!

When you delegate work to a VA and allow them to provide you with pro-active support to reach your aims - you free up your time and energy for many other things such as:-

* Making your business grow
* Spending more time with family
* Dealing with new business opportunities
* Balancing home and work responsibilities

It sounds interesting not to have to share my office with someone else, but why would I employ someone who is miles away? One of the advantages of working with a VA is that you gain a business partner. VAs are not looking for another job, they choose to work with clients that you wish to be succesful in their business. Perople work with VAs because:-

* They have no space for someone else in their office
* They do not wish to have someone in their office
* They do not have enough space and/or equipment for a member of staff
* They do not want the associated costs of hiring an employee

Wouldn't it be cheaper to hire a temp or part-time employee? No, employees are very expensive and you are unlikely to find an employee or temp that can offer you the range of services that we can. There are also the training implications which will either tie up yourself or another member of staff.

Why shouldn't I get a temp instead of working with a VA? You can, however in the experience of those that have tried it, this has not always worked out in the end. Temporary secretarial services are cheaper - this is true. The problem, is that the temp does not get involved with the client; you must prepare a great deal of work before delegating it to a temp; and even then they cannot always understand what you require to be done.

Once your VA gets to know your business she can adequately assist you. The more your VA knows about your requirements, the less time will be needed to get the job done, saving you time and money!

You only pay for the time and services you require with a VA. Whereas, with a temp, not only do you have to pay the agency, but you also have to pay the temp regardless of whether they are fully occupied.

Also, everytime you hire a temp, you will amost certainly get a different person. The time and money spent training this new person can be saved by hiring a VA. Furthermore, when hiring a VA, you don't have to worry about extra space, furniture, equipment, overtime, pension contributions, coffee breaks, sick leave, holidays, bonuses, training or insurance cover as you would for temporary staff.

I am still not sure. We can offer you a trial to allow you to see how easy it is to use our service. Contact us for further information.

If you have any other questions that have not been answered above, then please contact us.