Chris Ducker is an entrepreneur and author of Virtual Freedom, which has been plugged as an essential field guide for finding, hiring, training and working with virtual teams.
Now, I wish I had a copy of Virtual Freedom years ago, when the 4 Hour Work Week came out – and everyone and their mother hopped on the outsourcing bandwagon. I’ve known Chris for a while now, and have learned LOADS from him over the years on how to hire virtual assistants right. Because if you don’t go about outsourcing the right way, it can cost you a lot of time and money, and create frustration that will literally shave years off your life!
Now, I can say from experience that every small business owner and entrepreneur – especially solopreneurs – should consider outsourcing early on, even if it means that it’s an investment, rather than a “cost”.
If you are an early stage entrepreneur, I know it’s easy to think,
“I can’t afford to hire anyone right now” (or just don’t have time to).
So you get caught up doing everything yourself – updating social media sites, writing blogs, booking travel, going to the post office. I know you know what I mean.
Virtual assistants can take on those duties so YOU, as the business owner, can focus on the bigger picture. Here’s what Chris and I say to you: STOP doing everything yourself – stop it right now. You need to focus on the big picture, strategy, cutting high level deals, forging strategic partnerships, and playing in your zone of genius.
Face it, if you are stuck doing menial tasks, your business WILL NOT grow. When you wear too many hats, you can easily become overwhelmed and burned out. You’ll lose productivity, creativity, and even miss opportunities that might be right in front of you. Another danger is that since your business depends on you, without the system and teams in place, if a tragedy hits, your business goes down with it. And you don’t want that.
So figure out what your financial runway is, and make hiring a team, or at least one VA, a priority.
Every entrepreneur, even early stage entrepreneurs, can afford to hire offshore contractors – so don’t give me,
“I can’t afford it.”
If you can’t afford to pay a motivated, college educated, English-speaking virtual assistant out of the Philippines for $3 / hour, you shouldn’t be in business. ‘Nuff said.
Chris shares his words of wisdom on the power of outsourcing – during this interview you will discover:
How to get started with outsourcing, specifically, the process of identifying which tasks you should consider giving to a VA.
When is a good time in business to hire an offshore team.
Where to find a qualified Virtual Assistant.
The art of hiring the right people for the right role.
Best practices for setting up a VA team for the long haul, rather project by project.
When it’s time to let your Virtual Assistant go.
And whether Chris – the outsourcing guru – believes in this age old management strategy advice, “hire fast and fire faster”.
If you want to get started fast with outsourcing – get Chris Ducker’s book – we’ve linked to it in below, and ALSO check out Episode 25 with Trinity de Guzman, who travels the world while his virtual team does all the work. Trinity gives me awesome advice on hiring the best talent – AND has provided his hiring swipe file (job & email templates) for FREE to our listeners.
Mentioned in this interview
Virtual Staff Finder
Four Hour Workweek
Live2Sell Group
99designs
Google London Campus
Get Virtual Freedom
Where to Find Chris
Follow Chris on Twitter
Visit Chris’s Blog
Chris Ducker’s Virtual Freedom Book
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