The most important thing when hiring a virtual assistant

When working with a Virtual Assistant (VA), it’s essential to treat it like very important business and not casually. I wouldn’t work with most people without the most important document you can have in the business world: a contract.

Many people make the mistake of not getting a contract first because they feel like it’s a lot of work. But it will be a lot more work if you don’t get a contract.

This is what a contract entails:

Write the offer

Write down on a list until the last thing that is offered by both sides of the agreement.

spell terms

Express how much money will change hands and how it will happen, such as the monthly fee and how it will be paid, for example, through PayPal.

Contact Information List

Be sure to include primary and alternate contact information, such as company name and address, work phone, and company phone number, as well as relevant email addresses.

State expectations

Be sure to list all expectations and responsibilities for each business involved. For example, the VA must do the work before the xyz date, after the business owner gave the work before the xyz date.

Statement Consequences

It’s always a good idea to mention the consequences of breaking the contract, such as whether or not you both agree to arbitration and what country, state, city, and county laws will apply.

sign the contract

Use something like HelloSign.com to sign the documents and make them legally binding. It is very important that contracts are signed in a legally binding manner.

These things are important because:

Without a contract you have no legal capacity

It’s true that sometimes a judge will enforce a handshake and emails if you have enough compelling evidence to support your claims, but a signed contract is foolproof.

Solidify business relationships

It’s good to keep your professional and business life as separate as possible, and the best way to do that is through a contract. You’ll likely get closer to your VA over time, but the contract will help you both stay on track.

Contracts don’t have to be complicated, but they do need to be very specific and include all eventualities that you might consider within the contract. Includes prices, extras and more. The more you put, the better.