Hobfolk or a virtual assistant?
A virtual assistant is the usual first step for a small firm that cannot hire a full-time person. Hobfolk is a different kind of help. Here is how the two compare, including when a virtual assistant is the better choice.
The short answer
Choose a virtual assistant for a few hours a week of varied jobs, especially ones that need a human voice or a personal touch. Choose Hobfolk when one repeated job, such as answering enquiries, chasing replies or writing RAMS and O&M documents, needs to be done in volume, including overnight, without depending on one person's availability.
What each one is
A virtual assistant, or VA, is a person who works for you remotely. Most are self-employed. You buy their hours, by the hour or as a block each month, and hand them tasks.
Hobfolk is an overnight back-office service. A desk is one office job, such as answering enquiries or keeping the job list, done by a computer system that Hobfolk builds and runs for you. It does that one job and nothing else. A team at Hobfolk sets each desk up around how your firm works and stays on the account afterwards. A person on your side signs anything that commits you.
Where a virtual assistant is stronger
- Variety. You can hand a VA a different job each day: a diary clash, a travel booking, a form that needs filling in.
- A human voice. A VA can ring a supplier, leave a message and judge from the reply what to do next.
- Flexibility on small amounts. A few hours a week is easy to buy and easy to stop.
- A personal relationship. A good VA learns how you like things done and keeps doing them that way.
- Judgement on odd jobs. If something comes up that nobody planned for, a person can work out what to do.
Where a desk is stronger
- Volume. A desk does not run out of hours. A pile of enquiries or a stack of documents is the same job at any size.
- Hours. A desk runs overnight and at weekends as a matter of course, not as an extra.
- Not depending on one person. A VA who is ill, on holiday or full with another client is unavailable. A desk keeps running.
- A fixed job, done the same way each time. A desk is set up for one task and follows the same steps every time it comes round.
- A team behind it. The team that builds the desk stays on the account, so it is not one person's memory that holds the arrangement together.
A virtual assistant is the better choice if
- You have a handful of hours of mixed work and no single job to hand over.
- The work needs phone calls, a personal touch or a conversation.
- You want to try outsourcing cheaply before committing to anything bigger.
- The jobs change from week to week.
- You prefer to deal with the same named person every time.
Hobfolk is the better choice if
- One repeated job is the problem, and it never seems to get done at the speed customers expect.
- The volume is more than one person's hours, or it arrives at night.
- The paperwork has a fixed format, such as RAMS, method statements or O&M manuals.
- You have tried a VA and the arrangement depended too much on one person.
- You want the job done the same way every time, with a team behind it.
Using both
A firm can use both. A VA handles the odd jobs and the phone. A desk takes one big repeated job. They do not get in each other's way, because a desk only ever does its one job.
Asked before, answered here
Is a virtual assistant cheaper than Hobfolk?
For a few hours of mixed work, usually yes, because you only pay for the hours you buy. Hobfolk is priced as a monthly retainer per desk, from £1,450, so it suits a job that needs doing in volume or overnight. The pricing page has the detail.
Can a virtual assistant write RAMS and O&M manuals?
Some can, if they have construction experience. Quality depends on the individual, and the arrangement depends on their availability. Hobfolk's Compliance desk is set up for exactly this paperwork, and a competent person on your side still signs it off.
Does Hobfolk make phone calls like a virtual assistant?
Hobfolk's desks are built for written and document work, such as answering enquiries, chasing replies and keeping the job list. If a job depends on a person making a phone call and judging the reply, a virtual assistant is the better fit.
Where to look next
Enquiries
Every enquiry read and answered, whatever the hour.
Read about the deskDeskCompliance
RAMS, method statements and O&M manuals.
Read about the deskFree toolRAMS generator
A RAMS template built from one conversation.
Try it, freeFree toolsTry a desk before you talk to anyone
RAMS, O&M, take-off and logistics, each a short conversation.
See the free tools
Which job do you wish somebody else did?
Tell us about it. If a virtual assistant is the right answer, we will say so.