The 2007 book sensation The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss popularised the idea of using a remote virtual assistant to achieve lifestyle design outcomes. Of course, anybody who has read the book would understand that what Ferriss actually did was build a very successful business under the guise of lifestyle design.
How much of a storm Ferriss created is uncertain, as there are not a lot of good statistics on the adoption of virtual assistants out there.
One site, Worldmetrics.org, has a bunch of data points that suggest that the market is worth about USD 44.25 billion. However, the same site suggests that there are around eight billion virtual assistants “in use” right now. Not sure which is more unlikely, that 97.5% of the global population is a virtual assistant or that eight billion people are collectively prepared to work for $44 billion a year! Other sites agree with Worldmetrics regarding market value, but suggest the number of virtual assistants is more like eight million.
The point is that every statistic you can find, with or without the help of a tool such as ChatGPT, is either conflicting, improbable, or published by a self-interested party such as a virtual assistant firm.
First thing is, I personally don’t like the term “virtual assistant” as there is nothing virtual about them. Virtual assistants are real people with real skills who can deliver real outcomes. I prefer the term Executive Assistant for an assistant with a strong business focus and Life Admin for an assistant that looks after personal things.
My wife and I run the business together, and between us, we have one executive assistant and one life admin. The different job titles give a clue on how we define their different roles.
An executive assistant performs tasks related to driving executive outcomes for the business. For example, they take minutes at board meetings and then distribute those minutes to attendees. Not to mention organizing the meetings in the first place, assembling document packs, and distributing them in a timely way to meeting attendees.
Then there is banking and a myriad of tasks around that, including monitoring compliance requirements. Not to mention other suppliers that soak up a lot of time but are critical, such as cell phone companies and insurance companies. The executive assistant also handles tasks like tracking down team members the CEO wishes to meet with, briefing them on what to prepare for the meeting.
The Life Admin person is subtly different. Life Admin tasks relate to the home and family but are primarily designed to help us execute our professional lives more efficiently. For example, organizing travel is a big deal. Plus, taking the “hit” when it comes to contacting anywhere, like a bank or phone company, where you are required to spend a lot of time on hold.
We have kids at senior high school and also early university years. There is a tonne of paperwork around school trips, sports events, student accommodation, and enrolment processes. This can go right down to the detail of filling out forms, printing them, and presenting documents in a folder every few days for you to just sign. A huge amount of work is just stripped away from you.
Often people say, “Oh, we don’t have enough work for an assistant.” We disagree. What about all the things that you would like to get done but never do? For example, multiple competitive quotes each time an insurance policy is due? Or surveying the banks for a better mortgage rate, and then filling in all the paperwork once you decide to move to a more competitive option.
At the extreme end, you can also be a bit decadent. Right now, we have our Life Admin person conducting a ring around for venues for New Year’s Eve events. They can find out what is on, who still has tickets for sale, how much they are, and then send the information around to our friends and make bookings once we’ve made a decision.
While we don’t agree with Tim Ferriss’s assertion that virtual assistants can reduce your work week to four hours, we do agree completely with his idea that they can free up time for other things. Maybe the payoff is that each evening you get to sit around the table and enjoy dinner with the kids. Time with the kids is worth its weight in gold.
About Flat Planet:
Established in 2010, Flat Planet® is a family-owned, Australian-operated leading provider of high-value outsourced staffing solutions. Connecting businesses worldwide with skilled talent in Southeast Asia, offering a competitive edge through cost-effective, high-quality staffing solutions. With offices in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Malaysia, we employ over 400 staff serving global clients. Our state-of-the-art infrastructure and blend of local and Australian management practices ensure excellence in service delivery. At Flat Planet, we’re committed to creating pathways to a brighter future – not only by providing businesses access to a globally competitive workforce but also by supporting initiatives like our Gift of Life project, which funds critical heart surgeries for children in need.
For more information on how Flat Planet can empower your business while making a positive impact, visit flatplanet.com.au or email us on info@flatplanet.com.
