10 Virtual Assistant Myths Busted: Here’s the Truth

Introduction

You’ve probably heard several virtual assistant myths before, and maybe you’ve even believed some of them. 

The demand for virtual assistants (VAs) has grown quickly in recent years. Yet many business owners and professionals are still hesitant to hire one. Why is that? Because of those virtual assistant myths that paint an inaccurate picture of VAs work, and what they do and don’t.

We once met a life coach named Barbara. We were sharing the same table at a fundraising event, so we started to talk. We told her we worked for Virtudesk, a business service provider (yes, we had to explain to her what it was). Then she told us about her practice. She had 78 clients, a waiting list, and no free time during the work week. So, we suggested she hire a virtual assistant. She looked serious and concerned. “What if they steal my clients? What if they mess up my systems? What if I can’t afford them in the long term? What if…?”. 

The list went on and on. 

Her doubts and fears weren’t irrational. In fact, they were very common and wrong. 

These virtual assistant misconceptions prevent companies and professional practices from discovering the advantages that hiring skilled remote support brings. 

Barbara inspired us to write this post to dismantle the 10 most damaging virtual assistant myths. 

With real examples and data, you’ll see how, against popular misconceptions, hiring a virtual assistant can make your business safer, easier to manage, and more profitable. 

Join us to debunk the 10 most common myths about virtual assistants and clarify what working with a VA is really like. 

Myth 1: My Virtual Assistant Will Steal My Clients (Or Business)

One of the biggest fears is that your VAs could steal your clients’ database or business model. That is the least likely to happen. Reputable service providers have systems to prevent it. 

As Barbara, many coaches, creatives, or consultants fear giving access to their clientele data to someone they’ve never met. They think they could reach their customers or copy their work models and start their own businesses. 

Reality is that virtual assistants don’t want your clients; they want to do a good job and keep being hired. 

At Virtudesk, we take this topic seriously. Besides running a background check on all our virtual assistants, we have them sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). We train them to follow your exact working processes, and we monitor their activity through Timedly,. Timedly is our AI-powered time tracker that allows you to see exactly what they do through the screenshots it takes. 

When working with us: 

• All client communications go through the channels you approve, no private emails or DMs.
• Access is tiered. Your VA only sees or accesses what they need to complete their tasks. 

Each virtual assistant outsourcing company uses their own systems on this matter. Before deciding whom to hire, take your time to learn how they guarantee your safety. Of course, if you decide to hire an independent assistant, you’ll have to set up your systems, policies, and NDA yourself. And hope it all goes well. 

You can find out more about our tracking system through this article about Timedly’s New AI-Powered Time Tracking Feature. And certainly, it tracks much more than time. 

Myth 2: Virtual Assistants Only Handle Basic Admin Tasks

It’s easy to assume that VAs are just secretaries working from home. Wrong. Today, VAs are certified specialists. Modern virtual assistant services go far beyond email sorting, calendar management, or setting appointments. 

Hiring virtual assistant services nowadays means hiring experts. You can find VAs that specialize in different areas, such as: 

• Social media management
• CRM management
• Lead generation
• Bookkeeping
• Data entry and reporting
• Multi-channel customer support
• Marketing research
• Branding and design
• Logistics

Our team of VAs at Virtudesk includes professionals trained in:

• Real estate (including trained transaction coordinators)
• Logistics
• Legal support (virtual legal assistants)
• Healthcare (they are HIPAA-trained) 
• e-Commerce (managing platforms such as Shopify, Etsy, and Amazon, as well as complex inventory systems).
• Education 
• Finance
• Human resources
• Many other skills needed in countless other industries 

If you need assistance with simple, general admin tasks, of course, you can find that support with a virtual assistant.  Just don’t narrow your chance of getting specific help in the precise areas you need. 

Myth 3: Hiring a VA Is Too Expensive

Not hiring a virtual assistant will cost you more; you’re paying with your most precious asset, your time.

One of the biggest myths about hiring virtual assistants is that they cost as much as hiring full-time, in-house employees. When you hire directly, you need to invest in workspace, equipment, insurance, training, benefits, and salaries. When you hire a virtual assistant, you only pay a fixed fee, no hidden costs, no long-term commitments. If you hire a VA through a service provider, you only pay for the hours worked for the package you select. Take a look at our different and flexible packages on our pricing page. 

If you see Payscale’s research, in 2025, the average hourly pay for an admin assistant is $ 19.15. This doesn’t seem too much at a glance. But the hourly wage is only part of the costs employers need to pay. As an employer hiring an in-house admin assistant, you would have to pay for:

Base wages 

Mandatory employer costs

• Social Security and Medicare
• Federal unemployment or FUTA
• State unemployment or SUTA 
• Workers compensation insurance
• State disability insurance (mandatory only in certain states)
• Family and medical leave (for employers with 50 or more employees)

Typical benefits (not federally mandatory but common practice)

• Health insurance
• Paid time off (PTO)
• Retirement plans
• Dental, vision, life, and disability insurance
• Paid holidays

Without benefits, meaning including only the mandatory costs, you’ll pay about 11% higher than the hourly wage. If you offer a package of benefits, expect to pay about 36% or more than the hourly wage. (The above percentages are estimates; in the U.S., taxes and requirements vary from state to state.) 

Here you can find a detailed breakdown of employer costs for different industries, as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. If you want to make your own calculations, this employee cost calculator from QuickBooks might be useful for you. 

Now that you’ve seen some numbers, do you still think hiring a VA is costly? We also mentioned that not hiring will cost you more. Why do we claim so? Because delegating tasks to a remote assistant will free you time to focus on the tasks that generate you the most revenue, those that are the core of your practice or business. 

Myth 4: Virtual Assistants Aren’t Productive or Reliable

Concerns about virtual assistants' productivity and reliability are completely outdated. With modern tracking tools, you’ll have transparent reports and measurable results. 

The concern “How do I know my VA is really working?” is a myth born from outdated ideas about remote work. Virtual assistant productivity is easily measurable and trackable. 

After a bad experience with a freelancer, Chris, founder of a copywriting agency, demanded proof of reliability. He no longer wanted to pay to have his remote staff take long coffee breaks or watch a movie on a streaming channel. 

We showed him Timedly, our tracker that logs working hours, activity, takes screenshots, shows task completion and generates reports. Other business service providers use different management tools, yet the purpose is still the same: providing you with a real-time overview of what your employees are doing, productivity dashboards, and performance reports with Key Performance Indicators (the famous KPIs). 

After learning about our tracking tool, Chris decided to hire a virtual assistant, knowing he wouldn’t need to be looking over their shoulders to monitor their work. 

Myth 5: Communication With Remote Assistants Is Difficult

The myth that communication with virtual assistants from other time zones and different native languages will be a problem is easily debunked. Most VAs work U.S. business hours and speak fluent English. All you need is the proper communication tools. 

This is another popular virtual assistant misconception. Distance and time zones don’t affect communication since we count on apps like Slack, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Asana, among others, that enable chatting, having video calls, and sharing files in real time. Furthermore, virtual assistants outsourcing companies count on staff who can cover all shifts. You can have VAs working for you from 9 to 5 or 24/7, depending on your business requirements. 

Do you need something at 9 pm? Your virtual assistant is just starting their shift.

Do you need a report by 8 am? It’s waiting in your inbox. Look at it while having your morning coffee. 

At Virtudesk, our team of VAs is spread across different locations, mainly in the Philippines. They have proficient English knowledge (C1 and C2) and are trained in U.S. business culture or receive tailored training in other business cultures, depending on our clients’ needs. 

When it comes to communication, geography doesn’t matter. Systems and professionalism do. 

Myth 6: Virtual Assistants Can Compromise Data Security

Security isn’t optional when you work with professional outsourced virtual assistant service providers that implement strict NDAs, encrypted systems, compliance protocols, and safe storage. Your data is safe with us, on our own servers. 

Data privacy is a very frequent worry; it’s probably one of the most persistent myths about hiring virtual assistants. Again, it all depends on whom you decide to work with. It’s not the same working with an independent VA whose equipment and technologies are not strong enough to fully protect your data as working with a virtual assistant through a reputable service provider. It’s not a matter of individual willingness in the case of independent freelancing VAs; it’s a matter of insufficient resources or lack of cybersecurity training. 

Reputable outsourcing partners like Virtudesk:

• Follow strict data security protocols
• Make their VAs sign NDAs
• Use secure systems such as encrypted workstations and strict password policies
• Grant VAs different access levels to the systems, limiting them to the tools and features they need
• Process all the data on private local servers
• Perform regular security audits and staff training
• Provide industry-specific compliance training

Hire your virtual assistants through a serious business service provider, and your data will be protected and professionally guarded. 

Myth 7: Setting It Up Is Too Complicated

Another myth about VAs is that recruiting, training, and onboarding are complicated, take a lot of time, and money. False. Hire your virtual assistant through a trusted company, and they’ll take care of it all. 

Don’t compare the time and resources it takes to hire an in-office employee because it’s absolutely different unless you opt to hire a VA by yourself. Through an outsourcing company, all that work is done on your behalf. 

At Virtudesk we already count on a varied staff of virtual workers who have been carefully selected based on their personalities, skills, and potential. After that, we train them at our own academy, not only in general skills but also in specific ones. We also teach them about the latest technologies they might have to use. Added to that, we’ll train them on the specs of your industry and on your systems and platforms. And all cost-free for you. 

I still remember when Amir, founder of a tech start-up, asked about onboarding. He expected us to tell him it would take some weeks of training, and he didn’t have time to wait for that. In 80 hours, we had his VA up and running. Why could we do it? Because we already have trained VAs, we just had to train them on Amir's specific systems and work model. Having done that thousands of times, we developed our own method to optimize onboarding processes. 

In simple steps:

• We have a free discovery call with you to map your exact needs
• We match you with a VA whose skills and background align with your business needs and industry
• We give them further training and SOP (standard operating procedure). 
• We count on a dedicated support team, available 24/7, to clarify any doubts your VA or you might have. 

You might want to know how to prepare your company for a virtual assistant hire, or you might want to lead the onboarding process yourself. To help you here, we created a free e-book you can download from our site: Client’s Virtual Assistant Onboarding Checklist.

Another myth about VAs debunked. Let’s move to the next one.  

Myth 8: Virtual Assistants Are Only for Big Companies

Nothing so far from reality is the myth that virtual assistants are only suitable for large corporations. Solopreneurs, professionals, and small businesses benefit the most from their services, using them for admin tasks and support without the costs and commitment of hiring full-time in-house employees. 

A typical myth about VAs is that only large companies benefit from outsourcing, when the truth is that hiring a virtual assistant is frequently most valuable for solopreneurs and small businesses, and startups. 

And this is not new. According to Clutch statistics, already in 2019, more than 1/3 of small businesses were outsourcing at least one business process, while 52% of the surveyed ones planned to do so. But what is happening nowadays? Watch this short video from Clutch that explains why 70% of small businesses are increasing their outsourcing initiatives in 2025. 

Again, a myth about virtual assistants is busted in a few lines. 

Myth 9: Virtual Assistants Are Just a Temporary Fix

Saying that hiring VAs is a temporary fix is both a myth and a true fact. The decision is yours. You can hire virtual assistants for a short peak season, or you can work with your same virtual assistant for years. 

Many people have the wrong impression that VAs are available or useful for short-term projects. The reality is that many companies or professionals have been working with outsourcing virtual assistants for years. Many of them even implement outsourcing as their everlasting work mode. 

VAs grow along with your business. As it expands, your assistant can take on more responsibilities and even train new VAs. And, as we mentioned, many companies, including the largest ones worldwide, outsource business processes as their regular work model.

 Some advantages of long-term outsourcing are:

• Consistent quality and efficiency
• Developing innovation through external expertise
• Budget predictability
• Resource allocation
• Having a virtual team fully aligned with your goals and values
• Counting on virtual assistants that deeply know how your business works

The truth behind this myth about VAs is that it’s entirely up to you to hire short-term or long-term virtual assistants who integrate into your staff and can become part of it as long as you want. 

Myth 10: VAs Don’t Integrate with In-House Team and Work in Isolation

Virtual assistants can and do integrate with in-house staff despite distance, time zone differences, and culture. With proper onboarding and good communication, they adopt the company values and culture, adapt to the workflows, and collaborate just like any other colleague in the office. 

Some managers or business people hesitate to hire a VA. They fear the assistant will be “an outsider”, not able to connect with the team dynamics and culture. This is easily avoidable through proper onboarding, clear and open communication, and consistent interaction.

Some tips to accelerate the process of a flawless integration of your VA are to: 

• Include them in team meetings
• Train them on your company values and brand’s voice and tone
• Encourage them to regularly check in and interact with the in-house staff
• Use communications and collaboration tools (such as Slack, Zoom, Trello, Asana, or Teams)

Instead of being an isolated collaborator, your VA will be part of your team, proactively participating and even adding the value of their own cultural perspective. 

Our Final Thoughts

Don’t let misconceptions and myths about virtual assistants hold you back from benefiting from the advantages of integrating them into your company. At Virtudesk, we promise you’ll gain talented, affordable, and long-term support that will optimize your operations and contribute to your commercial growth. 

The myths we’ve discussed today are not true, and although we debunked them here, it’s time for you to witness it by yourself. At Virtudesk, our team is ready to help you find the perfect VA for your needs (general admin support, customer service, or specialized industry tasks). 

To see the real difference a VA can make in your business or practice, all you have to do is call us at +1 (800) 470-8136 or schedule a free discovery call. Any of our representatives will be glad to answer all your queries and introduce you to the reality of virtual assistants.