How to Survive the Wall Street Blues

As in most news headlines in recent months we have seen the major impact Wall Street is having on small businesses. Small businesses account for about half of U.S. jobs, and are really beginning to feel the heat from corporate America's massive layoffs and lack of loan availability. The world’s largest payroll processing company -Automatic Data Processing Inc, states that in October alone, small businesses employing 40 or fewer employees make up 25,000 in job lost.

As stated in a recent Yahoo News article by Jim Finkle., and Scott Malone (Small businesses feel Wall Street's pain , 2008); economist Michael Goodman of the University of Massachusetts reports “ Small businesses will bear more than its fair share of pain – “Wall Street is driving demand for all kinds of industries – weather it’s home improvement, contracting, landscaping, furniture, entertainment, restaurants.”  

The economic downturn is expected to continue into 2009, filling many small business owners with uncertainty and fear as they search for a “silver lining”.

Amid the continued worries about the overall economy, the key is for small businesses to find a solution that will aid in reducing costs associated with the production of services and cut down overhead associated with payroll and employee benefits.

Well what’s the solution you may ask………

The buzz is in the air - The most cost effective way to survive the recent and ongoing sprawl in the economy is to take advantage of a Virtual Consultant. A Virtual Consultant also known as a Virtual Assistant (VA) is an independent contractor providing administrative, technical, and creative assistance to clients - usually to independent entrepreneurs and small business practices. They work from their own office, thus making a fairly popular profession. A Virtual Consultant will work with their clients on single projects or ongoing tasks. Rates are  usually based on a per hour charge, or on a project by project basis whereas a set rate can be offered based on the complexity of the project, the turn around time required and the payment schedule negotiated on the project. 

Choosing to partner with a Virtual Consultant will save your business money on overhead, enable you to make more effective use of your time and enhance productivity.

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