Great business ideas and projects start with research — it’s an invaluable part of any business, irrespective of its size and capacity. Conducting research should always be your first move to determine the current trends in the market and what your competitors are doing. 

But doing research is a painstakingly lengthy and stressful process. For instance, a custom market research project can take 6 to 12 weeks to complete. In some cases, projects extend past the original timeline because of unexpected hurdles along the way. Bigger and more extensive research projects also require more time to complete.

Fortunately, you don’t have to conduct research yourself as you can hire a research virtual assistant. They have the experience, skills, and tools to guarantee a more effective research process and produce better quality results.

Who is a Research Virtual Assistant?

A research virtual assistant works remotely and conducts internet-based research on behalf of their clients. They have the qualifications necessary to complete various research-related tasks, including presenting comprehensible data and reviewing existing literature and reports. 

Research takes a lot of time, and having a research virtual assistant can take that burden away from you without going through the process of hiring an in-house employee. Besides, all types of research today can be done online.

What Are the Benefits of Hiring a Research Virtual Assistant?

Hiring a research virtual assistant will cost your business but taking this route is actually a smart business move. The right research virtual assistant provides these benefits:

Save Time

Utilizing a research virtual assistant will save you plenty of time as they can complete all of your business’s research needs. With a research virtual assistant onboard, you can free up your time and focus on activities or tasks only you can handle.

Get Accurate and Organized Information

Virtual assistants are known for being meticulous and detail-oriented. Whatever subject you want them to research, they’ll use various research techniques and search options to provide you with the most reliable information. They’ll also organize everything they’ve researched and present it to you in an understandable, concise, and clear manner.

Avoid Burnout

Juggling your resources between research and completing core activities for your business can eventually lead to burnout. Entrepreneurial burnout can impact not only your health and productivity but your employees’, as well.

Hiring a research virtual assistant can lessen your risk of burnout because they’ll take research-related tasks off of your hands. As a result, you’ll have more energy to complete bigger tasks and the opportunity to achieve work-life balance.

What can a Research Virtual Assistant do?

Due to their specialized skills, a research virtual assistant can do a lot for your business’s research needs. They can even take over the entire process, and all you have to do is oversee their progress and check their output.

Gather Primary Information

The internet is a goldmine of information, but often, it’s not enough to complete different types of business research. For instance, you might need to maximize other platforms to gather more information about your target audience and their current demands.

Research virtual assistants can collect and compile data outside the World Wide Web. They can conduct customer surveys through your site, send email questionnaires, and schedule video meetings online with an individual or groups. Their resourcefulness will ensure that you’ll end up with in-depth information about the research topic.

Collaborate Secondary Information

One of the reasons why doing research is time-consuming is you have to look for and use different sources of information. Then, you have to collaborate all the information you’ve gathered to ensure that everything is coherent. 

Let a research virtual assistant complete this task. They can collect previously created research reports and pre-researched data, as well as check legal and government procedures to gather the latest information necessary to support any primary information researched.

Analyze Products and Services

Knowing how your current offerings impact customers’ buying decisions is important but requires resources. You need to consider several factors to come up with accurate findings. 

Research virtual assistants can complete this task on your behalf. They’ll gather and analyze product and service information details and assess how these influence customers to buy from your business.

Compile Qualitative and Quantitative Information 

The best research results are generated when businesses have a complete hold over qualitative and quantitative data. For example, you shouldn’t settle once the research concludes that the demand for your products has increased. It’s important to know how much the increase was (quantitative data) and why there was an increase (qualitative data). 

A well-trained and experienced research virtual assistant understands the importance of qualitative and quantitative information and knows how to cross-check both types of data. This enables them to provide a clearer, more realistic picture of the research subject to their clients.

Conduct Market Research

As an entrepreneur, you’re probably familiar with market research — the process of determining the viability of new products and services by conducting research with potential customers. This allows you to learn more about your target audience: who they are and how new offerings appeal to them. 

Instead of spending multiple hours every day doing market research, offload this task to a virtual assistant. They can complete all the activities involved in market research, namely researching products, customers, and competitors, compiling data, and many others.

Conduct Personal Research

Contrary to popular belief, virtual assistants aren’t limited to completing work-related tasks. You can also delegate some of your personal responsibilities to them, so you can maximize your time in managing and growing your business.

For instance, if you want to spend a week in a new country, you can ask your virtual assistant to research the best airlines, restaurants, and accommodations. They can even create a list of the activities you should do and attractions to visit when you’re in that country.

Just provide clear instructions on what information you want to have, and a research virtual assistant will take care of the rest.

Conduct Comparative Research

Since your business’s resources are essential to its longevity, growth, and success, it’s important to use them carefully. Partnering with the first supplier you come across without even looking for and comparing options can eventually put your finances down the drain. 

Research virtual assistants can conduct comparative research. This type of research involves comparing various options and weighing their pros and cons to determine which one is the best for your business.

So instead of spending days researching the best supplier, software, or packaging to use for your business, let your virtual assistant handle the task. They’ll narrow down options, pick the best choice, and state the reasons why one option is superior to the others.

Find the Best Accommodation and Venue for Business Events

As mentioned, a research virtual assistant isn’t only limited to conducting technical research. When the need arises, you can also ask them to find the best accommodation and venue for business events. 

Are you planning to hold a product launch event soon? Ask your research virtual assistant to find a venue that can accommodate the expected number of guests and is ideal for your brand. Will you invite guests from other cities and countries? Let your virtual assistant look for reasonably-priced and accessible accommodations for your guests.

Do Fact-Checking

The internet is a convenient source of information, but not everything available on the platform is accurate or relevant. Nowadays, anyone can make a website and claim that the information presented is true. When you hire a research virtual assistant, you’ll have someone who will fact-check all the information your business uses — whether it’s on your business’s site, social media platform, and research. Fact-checking is important because using false or inaccurate information can hurt your brand and image. In worse cases, it can even lead to expensive and stressful lawsuits.

Research Complex Topics

Developing new and fresh ideas is essential for businesses. However, not all entrepreneurs can achieve this goal on their own, as the process is time-consuming and challenging. 

Virtual assistants are ready to complete any research-related tasks, including research about the experimental idea you have in your head. They can also look into current trends to assess if your idea is feasible and profitable.

Research Figures

Do you always see yourself spending long hours or even an entire day researching a specific figure to support a claim? Unfortunately, these situations prevent you from focusing on more important or urgent tasks. 

Regardless if it’s for a proposal, a presentation, or a policy renewal, a research virtual assistant can help you find the figures you need fast. They have the experience and tools and can produce more detailed reports, saving you more time and effort.

Meet Industry Demands with a VA 

As the work demands and competition in the business industry increases, proper research and reliable data have become more critical than ever. These are key for any business to operate efficiently and succeed long-term. 

Ensure that your business has access to accurate and relevant data by hiring a research virtual assistant. With their qualifications, completing any type of research for your business will become a breeze!