I hired someone who spoke, wrote and understood English relatively well. Was a university student studying information systems. Was eager to learn and work hard. And, because of technology, could seem like he was working just down the hall in the same building. On the 2nd day, I noticed something. There was a lot more…
Category: Entrepreneurship
Frederick – My first VA from the Philippines
Fredrick’s English spelling and grammar wasn’t perfect. But that didn’t matter too much for the job I was hiring for. I just needed someone to perform data entry tasks. I immediately contacted Fredrick through Skype. After some interview questions, it didn’t take long for me to decide I would like to hire Fredrick. But first,…
I had concerns
I was still hesitating. I didn’t know what kind of job ad to write. I didn’t know how much I should offer to pay and for how long. I didn’t know who would answer my ad. I didn’t want to waste my time. And I definitely didn’t want to get ripped off. I had concerns….
It took 6 years
In 2006, Tim Ferris helped me believe that hiring virtual assistants was possible for the solo entrepreneur (aka solopreneur). I tucked that idea away until about early-mid 2010, when I had my small call center selling telecommunication services. I remember thinking more about how I could utilize virtual assistants to help me generate sales. That…
Outsourcing series
I hired my first remote employee from the Philippines in February 2013. There is one obvious reason why companies, large and small, implement offshore outsourcing: the significant wage difference. If you consider that labor is usually the biggest cost of businesses, the overall difference in operations expenses could be very significant. The cost to hire…
OutsourceFly Company Retreat – Philippines 2018!
I have an amazing team of virtual assistants in the Philippines. They support me and our clients with all types of business processes to keep our businesses growing and running smooth. Since 2012, I’ve been working with some amazing people in the Philippines. In 2018, we finally organized a company retreat where we would all…
Philippines 2018!
My family and I spent 2 weeks in the Philippines from June 24 to July 7, 2018. It was me, my wife Makaila, and our sons Tristen and London. My sister Marydale came along as well. My parents, who live in the Philippines about half the year each year, met us as we arrived in…
6,753 Miles Away
Call Center Shift I knew, for a long time, that large-sized businesses were already making use of a distributed workforce. Most notably, during the late 90’s and 2000s, were call centers in India. If you needed technical support for a product you just purchased in the US, you called their toll free number. During that…
Ka-Ching!
January 2013 Aubrey started working with me at my office and warehouse next to the Portland airport. The first step was to train her on my method of listing products for sale on eBay. I tested a new dropshipping sales method and, with sales coming in, it seemed to be working. From early testing and…
It Is Not the Critic Who Counts
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs…