What’s the Difference Between an OBM and a VA?
If you’ve spent any time online lately or on social media, you have likely heard of virtual assistants (“VA”) floating around. Maybe you know another business owner that has one or you’ve seen the phrase on any one of the many online networks you belong to.
Until fairly recently, VA’s were typically overseas roles that charged a low hourly wage for a few different types of administrative tasks. But over the last several years, even before COVID-19 affected our everyday lives, there has been a shift to create more virtual roles and businesses. This has led to an increase in freelancing work across the board, and VA’s and similar roles have been transformed to offer a higher level of support all across the U.S. and Canada.
But there are more support roles available for your business other than a VA, like online business managers (“OBMs”). You may not have heard of this role yet, but I bet you will see it more often as more businesses are open to remote and virtual support. You may be searching for this exact type of person but not even know it has a name.
Although both VAs and OBMs have similarities in the work they do, they also have major differences. If you are in the market to hire help for your business, you will need to understand them completely. So, let’s dive into what each role is and what each role includes.
What is a VA and what do they do?
VA stands for Virtual Assistant. This is a pretty general term, but it shows the wide variety of work a VA can really do. They can assist pretty much any type of business and help them complete online tasks.
VA’s work with a larger volume of clients. Their duties for each client can vary, but they are task-oriented. VA’s require direction from the business owner to complete those tasks.
VA’s manage themselves, but they will take on multiple tasks at a time. VA’s assist business owners in their path to growth. They, however, do not initiate it, but rather help owners in their efforts to grow their business. Because they work with a larger number of clients, they have fewer responsibilities for each client.
What is an OBM and what do they do?
An OBM is an Online Business Manager. Simply put, they manage all online business duties in the back-end of your business. They ensure your business runs smoothly, set up new systems and processes, and in general, things get done. They could be considered an all-in-one manager for your online business.
More specifically, OBM’s do more in-depth, project-oriented work for fewer clients. They work on project management, operations management, team management, and metrics management.
OBM’s also work independently. They drive efforts to where they think it’s needed and provide insight to business owners on where they should direct their efforts moving forward. They work directly with the business itself and create strategies to see increased growth. And because they work with fewer clients, they are able to focus more time on each one.
If you are a business owner and haven’t yet considered hiring help for your business...what are you waiting for? With the right person and the right skill set for your business, you can see a total shift in the way your business operates.
Knowing how both roles can help your business is strategically important. You might need a VA by your side to help you complete the tasks that you don’t have time for. Or, if you need someone to help with more in-depth work or project management, an OBM is what you are in need of.
What it comes down to is that both VA’s and OBM’s save you time! And I’m sure we can all think of what we could do with an extra hour in our day!
