The hard part is not finding one
One assistant working with you and no one else, around forty hours a week, from $1,200 a month. Vetted before you meet them, contracted properly, and replaced free if it does not work out.
The real problem
Nobody fails to find one
They fail at the handover, and the industry does not talk about it.
Almost nobody fails to find a virtual assistant. The market is enormous and someone competent is a week away.
What goes wrong is the handover. You hire on a Monday, spend the first week answering questions, decide it is faster to do things yourself, and three months later you are paying for someone who handles two recurring tasks. The work was never written down, so it never moved.
Nobody in this industry says that out loud, because the sale is easier if the problem is finding a person.
The first thirty days
We do the handover with you
Not a welcome email and good luck.
- 01
Before day one.
On the kickoff call we go through what actually needs to move off your plate, what systems they need access to, where you want to be reached, and what the first week looks like. You do not have to arrive with a process document. Working out what the job is is part of what we do on that call.
- 02
Week two.
A check-in with you, not with them. What is working, what they are still asking you about, what you expected to have handed over by now and have not.
- 03
Month one.
A review, and this is the one that matters. Most engagements that fail are already failing by week four, and the failure looks like silence rather than a complaint.
- 04
After that.
Month three, then quarterly. Less if you want less, and you only have to say so.
Every review is the same three questions: is this meeting your expectations, what should change in how they work, and what is coming that we should plan for.
The work
What they handle
The ordinary version of this list, because it is an ordinary list.
- 01Inbox and ticket triage
- 02Scheduling and calendar management
- 03Customer follow-up and order queries
- 04CRM upkeep and data hygiene
- 05Research and list building
- 06Document and file organisation
- 07Reporting and recurring admin
Vetting
What fails an assistant
The assessment is the same for every role. What it looks for is not.
Every candidate takes a structured online assessment built for the role, covering the practical work and how they handle a problem with pieces missing. A person reads every submission, not only the ones that scored well. Then a screening call, a reference check and an English evaluation.
What we reject people for
Most rejections are not about typing speed or tools.
- 01
They cannot write clearly.
Half this job is written, to your customers and to you. Someone whose email needs rewriting before it can go out has added work rather than removed it.
- 02
They do exactly what they were told when it was the wrong thing.
We give an instruction with an obvious problem in it. We are looking for the person who flags it rather than the one who follows it.
- 03
They go quiet when they are stuck.
A day of silence on a blocked task is the pattern behind almost every failed engagement in this category.
Pricing
Three levels, published
The whole fee, with nothing added later.
Junior
$1,200/ month
Mid
$1,680/ month
Senior
$2,240/ month
That is the whole fee. It covers their compensation, our sourcing and vetting, the contracts and compliance, and account management for the life of the engagement. No setup fee, no placement fee, no percentage.
A note on level
Junior suits defined, repeatable work where you can say exactly what good looks like. Mid and senior are for work that needs judgment: handling a customer complaint without escalating it to you, or noticing that a process is broken rather than following it off a cliff. Most people asking for a junior actually need a mid. Occasionally it is the other way round, and we will tell you that too.
The terms
What you get
All of it contractual, none of it a policy statement.
One assistant, dedicated to you.
Not shared across accounts, not a pooled service where a different person answers each week.
Around forty hours a week
With an overlap window agreed before they start.
You approve them.
Nobody starts without your interview and your sign-off.
Confidentiality signed first
Before any access to your systems, inbox or customer data.
No employment relationship.
You contract with Aptcruit, not with an individual, which keeps you clear of classification exposure.
Free replacement, no time limit.
Acknowledged in two business days, delivered within fourteen, and you stop paying from the day they leave until the replacement starts.
FAQ
Frequent questions
What owners ask before the first call.
A freelancer is working for several clients and optimising across all of them. A dedicated assistant works with you and no one else, which is what makes it worth investing in teaching them your business. We also carry the contract, the confidentiality, and the replacement if it fails.
Those services usually pool assistants. You submit tasks and whoever is free picks them up, which works for one-off jobs and collapses for anything needing context. Here it is one named person, every day.
Say so on the call. It is the most common situation and it changes what we look for. Someone who can take an unstructured brief is a different hire from someone executing a defined process.
Only what you give them, and only after confidentiality is signed. That obligation is contractual rather than a policy statement, and it survives the engagement ending.
No. Dedicated means dedicated.
They notify us within 24 hours and we tell you the same day. The fee is not prorated for short interruptions, up to three business days a month, the same way a salary is not. Beyond three days you get a pro-rated credit, and past five consecutive days you can ask for a replacement.
Tell us what is not getting done
Describe the work, or just describe the mess. We will come back within one business day with what it costs, what level you actually need, and whether it is worth hiring for yet.
