How do entrepreneurs and Filipino virtual assistants benefit each other?
Building a great team is key to the success of even the smallest of businesses. Most of us know that, but how do we ensure our business is firing on all cylinders?
In this article, you'll discover how and why the entrepreneur and the Filipino virtual assistant relationship works incredibly well.
REDUCED BUSINESS COSTS:
One of the main reasons entrepreneurs and business owners recruit and hire virtual assistants in the Philippines is the considerable savings in salary costs.
Look at it this way, instead of paying a local employee $25k-$40k per year based on the geography and cost of living in your home country; you can instead hire a virtual assistant full-time in the Philippines for $3.00-$8.00 per hour ($120-$320 per week), and realize immediate cost savings, and a dramatic increase in your profits.
Some of you might have read articles or watched videos by "gurus" who are selling some program, and usually, the information can cause you a lot of confusion.
Because of this, a lot of virtual assistant myths have been propagated. A while back, I wrote an article called "Filipino Virtual Assistant Myths Debunked," It's a great read, and you'll learn a lot about some of the big misconceptions people have when hiring virtual assistants in the Philippines.
SAVE TIME
Would you agree with me when I say that the most valuable commodity you have in life is time?
We can get more money. We can buy a bigger house, heck, we can choose most things in life. However, time is something we all have a limited amount of.
You can never get time back.
Statistics show that entrepreneurs, especially micro-entrepreneurs, spend 52 weeks of the year working and usually clock in 50+ hours of work each week. That means they never take any time out of business! That's insane. I mean, unless it's a high-priority task, you really would be better delegating it to a VA and buying back your time!
Trust me; I understand this as much as anyone because I have been a victim of this in the past.
The biggest problem with this statistic is that those 52 weeks of work are probably only semi-productive, especially if you consider all the admin, social media posting, and other easily outsourced tasks they currently choose to do themselves.
Many entrepreneurs feel trapped by it, and my question is always the same.
“Why not look into the option of recruiting and hiring a full-time virtual assistant to do those tasks for you?”.
GROW YOUR BUSINESS
I experienced rapid growth in my businesses when I began empowering others to do tasks that I SUCKED at and found as dull as watching wet paint dry!
As an entrepreneur, most of us are enthusiastic people. We thrive on creating opportunities and finding ways to solve problems and earn money.
Most of us want to do great things, and most are self-motivated and driven. You probably tick all of those boxes; otherwise, you'd be reading an article about Kim Kardashian instead of one about hiring a virtual assistant.
We try to be superhuman... and I don't look good in red undies and a kids cape!
Hard work and persistence are great qualities for building a business. Anyone who tells you that you can create a business living on "easy street" is likely trying to sell you some "get rich quick" course or gimmick.
You can't be the jack of all trades, as chances are you'll become the master of none.
You can try, but more than likely, you will either burn out or hit a brick wall if you try to be the SEO expert, the PPC expert, the admin/personal assistant, the content writer and the programmer all simultaneously time.
If you try to do everything, you might be overtaken by someone who focuses more of their time on the critical area for business growth.
Build a remote team in the Philippines
The goal is to hire virtual assistants and virtual staff to maximize productivity, get more done, and control how time is spent.
All of my team is based remotely here in the Philippines. Now, don't get me wrong, some of you reading this will need a hybrid of virtual staff in the Philippines and local staff in your home country, and that hybrid can provide you with a killer team at a cost that still allows you to boost your bottom line.
My Filipino virtual assistants and remote employees specialize in each area of my business to focus on doing what I want, when I want, with who I want.
Hiring trustworthy and skilled virtual assistants opens the world of possibilities for you because you leverage something most people never learn to leverage.
That, of course, is time, and staff location leverage, allowing you to reduce costs drastically.
Why do Virtual Assistants in the Philippines enjoy working with you? What's the benefit for them?
The entrepreneur and Filipino virtual assistants relationship are beneficial for both sides. As you know, the upsides for you as a business owner are huge!
However, let's talk about why and how these opportunities exist, and of course, why hundreds of thousands of skilled virtual staff in the Philippines want to work for you as VA.
It's a good salary (everything in life is relative):
First of all, let me be clear that I live in the Philippines, and I have lived here for a long time. I founded "VirtualStaff.ph: The Philippines Outsourcing Marketplace". And in addition to that, my partner is Filipino and has always lived here in the Philippines.
I say all that to be clear that what I'm saying is based on my personal experience, the data of over 200,000+ Filipino VA profiles, and my knowledge of the local jobs scene across several major and provincial cities in the Philippines.
If you pay your Virtual Assistant "$500-$800/month", it's a good salary here in the Philippines. It might sound low when you think of wages in the UK, USA, Australia, Canada, etc. But remember, the cost of living here is significantly less.
Flexible shifts (work hours)
This depends on you as the employer. Some employers like their virtual assistants to work specific set hours, such as 9-5 EST, Monday-Friday.
Some, however, don't care. Instead, they care about deliverables and completions. I am a hybrid of the two.
My customer support work set hours, as they have to be online to help and assist our customers on the VirtualStaff.ph marketplace.
However, my video editors, graphic designers, and web developers (except maintenance tech staff) work relatively flexible work hours.
Here's how I work with my virtual staff in the Philippines.
- I start the day with a brief daily 5-10 minutes meeting to discuss ideas, previous days' work, and upcoming tasks.
- Set tasks inside VirtualStaff.ph on the task management board, with deadlines and instructions. Usually, bullet-pointed to be super specific and concise. (You can also use an external task board if you want to).
- Touch base now and then with things like "Hi, what's the update?" remember, you want to build a team that is a long-term solution to driving your business forward. You're dealing with humans.
For example, say I hire a full-time video editor in the Philippines for $5.00 per hour for basic video editing for a YouTube channel, adding some animation to the videos, our end screen credit, and of course, an intro. I might need ten videos edited each week and request that two videos per day be completed.
Here's how I do it.
I send the videos with instructions and then let the video editor add some creativity; I also check he understands everything.
The deadline is always by 9am the following morning, and I don't care if he works at 3am, 9am, 3pm, or 9pm. I leave that freedom to the staff, and I require that the work be submitted by the deadline.
I wake up, and the videos will be edited and in my dropbox or google drive ready. It's that simple. And of course, you might be worried that staff is not working as much as you need them to?
Five easy steps to deal with low productivity from your virtual assistant:
- Set expectations in advance.
- Make sure the staff understand the expectation and agree that what you're asking is achievable.
- If productivity drops, be sure to call your staff and share your concerns. Do this diplomatically and open the floor to your virtual team to share any concerns or questions they might have.
- If productivity does not improve, have another call and stress your concerns.
- If you're still unhappy, terminate the staff and find a replacement.
Final note
Working with Filipino virtual assistants is fun, enjoyable, and best of all, it helps you grow your business and get your life back. Remember, like any staff in any country globally, there are good, bad, and average virtual assistants in the Philippines.
Make smart hiring decisions by asking all the relevant questions when interviewing candidates. Also, be sure to treat hiring a Filipino virtual assistant the same as hiring staff locally.
Your goal is to hire someone part-time or full-time to work for your business on a long-term basis. You don't want to build on quicksand, and you want to create a solid foundation and a turnkey business employing virtual staff in the Philippines.
If you need any additional information, you can check out an article I wrote that outlines five benefits of working with a Philippines virtual assistant.
Virtual Staff Marketplace: Choose from thousands of virtual assistants in the Philippines
If you'd like to find and hire a virtual assistant in the Philippines, go to VirtualStaff.ph. and choose from thousands of Filipino VA's using the Philippines' safest outsourcing marketplace!
Want us to help you build your team in the Philippines?
If you'd like us to help you find the perfect virtual assistant, then visit the link below, and you can see exactly how the process works.
