I’m often asked how to grow an online service business. Through the years I’ve come to realize one of the best ways to boost your growth is by outsourcing or hiring a virtual team. I do not suggest hiring a full team all at once but rather one by one as needed.
Outsourcing to Boost Growth
These are some of the steps I’ve taken when outsourcing to bring on my virtual team.
Steps to Outsource
- Determine Your Readiness
- Know What to Look for In a Team Member
- Know How to Find a Quality Team Member
- Know the Skill Set & Skill Level You Need
- Two Essential Questions I Use
- Conduct Pre-Interview and Interview
- Onboard to Boost Your Growth
- Learn to Delegate
One: Determine Your Readiness to Outsource
Consider why you want to grow and outsource to a team or freelancer. There are many reasons you may want to do this but what is your why?
Possible Reasons to Grow by Outsourcing:
- You are at your maximum bandwidth
- You are refusing new clients
- You are working day and night
- Your revenue has flatlined
- Your family is asking for you
- You have no life outside of work
- Chronic illness
- Other health issues
As you can see there are multiple reasons, even more than I listed, but do any of these sound familiar? If so, I think it is time to grow by outsourcing
Two: Know What to Look for in a Team Member
Before you start to look for a team member you should know what you are looking for in a team member. Do you know the type of person you want to work with already? I suggest making a list of characteristics or personality types you enjoy working alongside.
I always suggest hiring character over skill. You can teach skill but cannot usually teach character at this point in a person’s life.”
If you can get both skill and character that is ideal.
Three: Know How to Find a Quality Team Member to Outsource
Many business owners do not know where to find quality team members when outsourcing or bringing on new team members. There are a few directories you can visit as well as requesting referrals from colleagues and online friends you know.
Directories:
FreelanceU – Craig and Kelly Cannings own this training platform. Those listed on this directory are freelancers who continue to up their skills on this platform. Anyone who is teachable is a great start.
VANetworking – Tawyna Southerland’s platform. She also provides courses or workshops to help virtual assistants learn and stay on top of the trends.
You can also put out a post in communities where your new potential team member may frequent or a notification through your email marketing.
Four: Know the Skill Set & Skill Level You Need
As the answers come back you should determine which person out of the mix you would like to interview. I request their skills, what software they can use, and their skill level with each. I want to know if they use Microsoft, for example, and if they are a beginner, mid-level user, or expert user. You want to know this for each software they share that they have skills in using.
This will help you assess if they have the right skill set and skill level you need.
For more help with bringing on your team download my Boost Your Growth By Outsourcing Checklist
- Learn how to know if you are ready
- Make your task list
- Prioritize your list
- Label your tasks
- Learn how to choose your first task to outsource
So much information packed into a checklist for you so don’t miss if you are ready to begin outsourcing and building your virtual dream team.
Five: Two Essential Questions I Use
When you hear from potential candidates, besides asking about skill set and skill level, I also ask two other questions:
- What do you love to do and would do it all day long if you could?’
- What do you really dislike doing and would be happy to never do again?
These two questions will let you know if they are a good fit for the services in which you need help. Are you saying, “What?” about now? By asking these questions because if someone loves writing and hates social media she would be a great fit for writing blogs but not a good fit if I need help with social media. My goal was to place the right people in the right place to have a happy team that is also loyal and stays longer.
Six: Conduct Pre-Interview and Interview
The pre-interview phase is the email correspondence in which you ask questions and receive answers. The next step is the Interview.
- What do you like best about working virtually? [General to get the conversation started]
- Do you have set hours generally?
- How do you handle constructive criticism?
- How do you manage a difficult client, and can you give an example?
After the interview, you will want to consider a few things such as: did you connect with the person you interviewed? Think about how they answered your questions. Lastly, consider your clients and if you feel the interviewee has the temperament, skill, and knowledge to work with your clients.
It is time to make the decision and choose who you want to add as a team member to your business. Remember this person represents your company and your brand as well.
Do not forget to do a reference check and background check (optional) before onboarding your new team member.
Seven: Onboard to Boost Your Growth
Now that you’ve made your choice it’s time to onboard your new team member. This involves…
- Welcome Email Packet
- Introduction and Your Information
- Contract – with clearly defined scope, payment information, non-compete, confidentiality clause, and intellectual property clause
- W9 or W8-BEN (outside of U.S.) form (these are U.S.based businesses)
- Checklist – includes items that you need to be signed and/or returned to you (tax documents, photo – if want to add to your website)
- Invitation to join email address
- Invitation to join your project management system
- Invitation to your timekeeping and invoicing system
*Note: please check with your insurance provider to see if your team is covered by policy and if not you may want to request a certificate of insurance from your new team member to show they carry insurance as well.
Onboarding is a process you will develop over time as you work through your way of doing things but this will be a great start.
Eight: Learn to Delegate
Delegating can begin slowly with one task at a time as you learn to trust the new team member. Then add tasks as she or he proves themselves. Communication is key to having a successful team that shares your vision.
Use my W-O-N-D-E-R System in the checklist (download from the link above) to help you label your tasks correctly. This will help you know which tasks to outsource first.
*It is always recommended to consult a lawyer and accountant when making changes to your business.
Get started building your team today.
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