The lowdown: In this Virtual Freedom summary, see Chris Ducker lay out his manual on virtual outsourcing and all you need to know in hiring a virtual team.
As you are well aware, being a business owner is a lot of work.
There is a seemingly endless conveyor belt of shit you need to do every day. It can seem like it is impossible to keep up.
Luckily, you don’t have to go it alone any more.
Previously, if you couldn’t hire full time or part-time staff in person, then you coudln’t have employees.
However, now, with the rise of virtual assistants, you can now have team members based all around the world.
- Audible Audiobook
- Chris Ducker (Author) – Gildart Jackson (Narrator)
- English (Publication Language)
- 07/29/2014 (Publication Date) – Tantor Audio (Publisher)
The three main takeaways from this book are:
- Hire a team of virtual assistants so you can focus on the important tasks
- There is a learning process involved with virtual assistants
- Treat your virtual assistants like a part of your team
Lesson One: Hire a team of virtual assistants so you can focus on the important tasks
As a business owner, there are so many tasks which take too much time and hardly move the needle in your business.
All of these little rocks you move around waste hours and stop you doing what is actually important in your business.
That is why it is important to hire virtual assistants. So you can spend your time doing the tasks which make the biggest difference.
Note, I used the plural “virtual assistants”. That is because many business owners try to find one super-human to offload all of their work on to.
However, as you know, one person can’t do everything well… that’s why you’re hiring a virtual assistant after all.
While you should start with one assistant who completes a set range of tasks, you should look to hire a team of assistants where each member focus on their specialty.
Lesson Two: There is a learning process involved with virtual assistants
Hiring staff comes with a learning curve… that curve is a lot steeper when you’re hiring online and communicating exclusively via the internet.
Finding the right VA can be a stumbling block to begin with.
There are thousands of cheap virtual assistants based overseas. Some of which are amazing, some of which need a lot of improvement.
However, simply going out and hiring the cheapest virtual assistant is most likely going to be a mistake.
A good virtual assistant is actually quite expensive, but the investment is well worth the money.
Another aspect of hiring overseas virtual assistants is the barriers with working with someone across the world.
For example, there may be some language and cultural differences which may impact the effectiveness of the assistant. There is also the matter of an overseas VA being on the other side of the world.
If you’re looking to hire overseas, then make sure you are fine with waiting 8 hours for a reply to your email, as you may be contacting them in the middle of the night.
Once you have your right VA, you also need to know how much instruction and independence to give.
You’ll get the hang out of this through a lot of trial and error, as what works for one business may not work for another.
Lesson Three: Treat your virtual assistants like a part of your team
Once you hire your VA, you need to put them in the position to be successful. That means you must train them accordingly and treat them as a member of your team.
All this sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised how many take the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ approach.
However, like any staff member, you should look to treat them fairly and as a values member of the team. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Fair pay
- Holiday pay
- Pay on time
- Bonuses (health insurance)
- Training
- Monthly Skype calls to keep in touch
- Work feedback and evaluations
You can even look to hire a virtual project manager, who can oversee your VAs for you.
My Personal Takeaway
I have never hired a VA before, but it is something which I will look to do this year.
This book gives great insight into how to treat your virtual assistants to make sure you get the most out of them.
Put it into action
tart to audit the time you spend on your business. Are you moving big rocks or small rocks?
Is there one task which you could hire a VA to do for you?
You should consider buying this book if…
This book is perfect for solopreneurs who are busy and need to manage their time better.
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a Swedish university student, marketing professional, and life-long learner. Here at BookSummaryClub I summarize my favorite non-fiction books into easily digested posts. Hope you like what you’re reading!
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