What a Virtual Executive Assistant Does (and Why Your Business Needs One)

There’s a point in every growing business where the admin work starts to get in the way. You’re managing your calendar, answering emails, prepping for client meetings, following up with vendors, and somehow still trying to plan your next launch or hire and spend quality time with your clients and customers.

It’s a lot.

A virtual executive assistant is someone who can step in and help with all of that remotely, and on an hourly-as-needed basis. They work alongside business owners and entrepreneurs to manage the back end of operations, allowing the front-facing, client-side aspects to run more smoothly.

Virtual executive assistants can also support higher-level functions, like project management, internal coordination, and client communications, in addition to more basic admin tasks like calendar and email management, allowing them to develop into true partners in your business’s success.

Virtual executive assistants create space so you can focus on the work only you can do.

What Does a Virtual Executive Assistant Actually Do?

Every virtual executive assistant’s role looks a little different, depending on the business and the type of support needed, but there are some common threads.

For many of our clients who bring a virtual executive assistant onto their team, the relationship often begins with basic administrative tasks, such as managing your calendar, ensuring meetings are scheduled (and not double-booked), and helping to manage your inbox. From there, it often expands into:

• Coordinating travel plans and creating detailed itineraries

• Preparing meeting agendas and tracking action items

• Managing client onboarding or intake steps

• Organizing and updating CRMs or shared drives

• Supporting internal and external communication or managing simple projects

What sets virtual executive assistants apart isn’t just the list of tasks they can handle. It’s the way they approach those tasks. A skilled virtual executive assistant brings experience and also has the awareness to take initiative. They tend to notice when something is slipping or when a system could be smoother, even if no one’s pointed it out. This initiative allows them to solve problems before they become problems.

Over time, your virtual executive assistant can become a steady presence in your business. The kind of person who follows through, keeps things from falling through the cracks, and brings a level of reliability that lets you finally breathe a little easier.

Why Not Just Hire an Assistant in Person?

For years, the default was to hire someone in-house. But for many companies operating in today’s business landscape, that model doesn’t always make sense.

What makes a valuable executive assistant is their ability to provide high-level support to leaders by taking on essential administrative responsibilities that keep a business running smoothly. They manage a ton of admin, draft communications, plan travel, and ensure follow-up on key tasks. Executive assistants (virtual or otherwise) have excellent organizational skills, discretion, and the ability to work independently while supporting others. Whether sitting just outside the executive’s office or operating remotely, they help free up time, reduce overwhelm, and create more space for strategic decision-making.

The key difference lies in how the support is delivered. Traditional executive assistants work on-site as salaried employees, typically receiving benefits and using company-provided tools and equipment. Virtual executive assistants, on the other hand, offer the same level of support but do so remotely, on a flexible, hourly basis. They are experienced professionals who manage their own business operations, including taxes, insurance, and training. They stay up to date with emerging platforms and systems, continually learning new project management software and CRMs, and are often able to offer suggestions to improve workflows.

Here’s how the two compare:

Flexibility That Works for Your Budget

In addition to a more heads-up approach to the tools and technology that enhance efficiency, a huge differentiator between hiring an in-house executive assistant and bringing a virtual executive assistant onto your team is cost and flexibility.

Traditional executive assistants are typically full-time employees with a fixed salary, regardless of workload or business conditions. Whether it’s a busy season or a slower quarter, what you pay them stays the same. For small businesses with fluctuating needs or uncertain cash flow, this model can be limiting.

Bringing a virtual executive assistant onto your team offer a more adaptable solution. They charge only for the number of hours worked each week.

The virtual executive assistants in our Freedom Makers Virtual Services community work hourly, to the minute, and we never round up. That means you can scale support up or down depending on your current workload or financial bandwidth.

A few key advantages:

• Cost control: Pay only for the hours or deliverables you need

• Scalability: Adjust support seasonally or based on your business cycles

• No overhead: Virtual executive assistants manage their taxes, insurance, and equipment

• Faster impact: They often require minimal onboarding and come ready to contribute

Virtual executive assistants also understand the realities of small business ownership. They know that budgets shift and priorities evolve. Most are comfortable adapting their hours and responsibilities as your needs change, without disruption.

And because virtual executive assistants operate independently, they know how to customize their support to fit each client’s unique goals. They can prioritize high-impact tasks, offer process improvements, and assume responsibilities beyond traditional administrative work.

Their proactive approach enables you to stretch your budget and provides more value for every hour worked.

How to Know When It’s Time to Bring on a Virtual Executive Assistant

If you’ve ever wrapped up your workday and thought, “I was busy all day, but I’m not sure what I actually got done,” you’re not alone. For many business owners, that moment of frustration is what leads them to consider a virtual executive assistant. It’s not necessarily about being “too busy.” It’s about realizing that your time is being spent on things someone else could be handling.

A virtual executive assistant gives you more than just help with tasks. They provide you with breathing room. They create space in your day by not only managing your calendar or inbox, but also by helping you build better systems so things don’t pile up in the first place.

The truth is, most people don’t start with a clear delegation plan. That’s okay. You don’t need to have every detail mapped out. What you do need is to notice the patterns and signals that suggest it’s time for support. Have you ever noticed that:

• You’re spending more time organizing and managing work than actually doing it

• Follow-up emails, meeting logistics, or small project steps are starting to fall through the cracks

• You’ve delayed launching something important because the backend isn’t in place

• Your to-do list is long on “someday” tasks that never seem to get done

• You know what needs to be handed off, but you haven’t had time to make it happen

When a new client comes to us, we reassure them that they don’t need a complete SOP binder or a polished onboarding plan to bring a virtual executive assistant onto their team. They just need a starting point and a willingness to let someone step in. Often, the act of handing off just one task opens the door to a much smoother, more focused way of working. That’s how it begins for many of our clients. And for most of them, it’s what makes growth finally feel possible again.

What to Look for in a Virtual Executive Assistant

There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to support. The best virtual executive assistant for your business is one who not only has the skills to manage your specific needs, but can also align with how you work and become dedicated to the mission of your business.

You’ll want someone who communicates clearly, follows through, and isn’t afraid to ask clarifying questions or even push back when something doesn’t make sense. These are the kinds of soft skills that make a remote partnership successful. Experience supporting other small businesses or remote teams is a plus, as is comfort with tools like Google Workspace, Slack, or project management platforms. 

Technical proficiency is pretty easy to identify. What matters more is how a virtual executive assistant candidate thinks, how they organize, and how they collaborate.

At Freedom Makers, we begin the process of finding you the right support by helping you clarify what kind of support you need. Our matching process is over 10 years in the making - we know good partnerships are not just about what tasks will be delegated, but what kind of communication style and initiative level will work best. Some clients prefer someone who executes with precision based on detailed instructions. Others want a virtual executive assistant who can take a general idea and run with it.

Understanding that distinction upfront leads to our success making strong matches and exceptional outcomes.

If You’re Thinking About It...

A virtual executive assistant brings more than task management; they bring steadiness, adaptability, and the kind of proactive thinking that helps businesses not only function but grow. Whether you’re growing and scaling your business or simply trying to reclaim time for the work that matters most, a virtual executive assistant can become a powerful force behind the scenes, helping you run your business with greater ease, clarity, and confidence.

If you’re curious or even just considering what this kind of support could look like for your business, book a call with our Discovery Team. We can help you find the right virtual executive assistant for your business who can help you find a bit more space, a bit more order, and a bit more time to do the work you actually want to be doing.