Growing Your Business by Hiring an Offshore Staff Member

Presented by Tim PlummerOctober 2015

Could you take 1 month off from

your business?

Do you have a job or a business?

If you are the only employee, you

have a job!

Know your own limitations

No matter how good you are, there are only 24 hours in a day, and the number of customers

you can service is limited.

But hang on, I can’t employ someone

• I can’t afford it, employees are too expensive• I don’t have time to manage someone else• No-one else can deliver the same quality• I don’t have enough work to keep them busy

80% done by someone else, is better than 100% done by you

Why I didn’t outsource sooner

• Cost – didn’t think I could afford it• Had perception that time it would take me to brief

worker would be almost as much as time required for me to do task myself

• Thought it would take a lot of time to manage staff• Worry about quality, and impact to customer• Fear of poor communication• Do I have enough work to keep them busy?

Why you should outsource

• Achieve more in less time• Grow your business• Be able to service more customers• Work smarter, not harder

Types of outsourcing

• Project-based outsourcing– Specific task or project

• Role-based outsourcing

So where do I start?

• What tasks can only be done by me?• What tasks could someone else do?• What do I like doing?• What do I hate doing?• What can’t I do?• What don’t I have time to do?

Mythbusting

There is no one single worker anywhere on the planet who can handle everything you need help with in your business

Communication

The quality of the work you receive is proportional to the quality of the instructions

Document your procedures

• Create an intranet– Standard Operating Procedures

• Google sites can be a good Intranet for a small business• Or Joomla works well as an Intranet

Write a job description

• What tasks do I want this person to do?• Am I being realistic with the role?– I need a graphic designer that can write code, do

SEO, copywriting, do all my accounting, give me legal advice, and speak 15 languages natively.

Fulltime or part time

• Part time– Cheaper

• Full time– Worker spends all their time on your business– Available when you need them– Regular hours, set routine

Outsourcing Companies

• Rent an employee• More expensive (markup by outsourcing

company)• Not part of your team, paid by outsourcing

company• Little opportunity to create loyalty and trust

Job-Posting Site

• You are one of many clients for worker• Might work with them again if you like them,

but no guarantee they will be available when you need them.

• Often highly skilled, and also entrepreneurial, so charge a premium for their service.

Reference: http://www.staff.com/blog/web-developer-salaries-infographic/

Reference: http://www.staff.com/blog/web-developer-salaries-infographic/

Reference: http://www.staff.com/blog/web-developer-salaries-infographic/

Why Philippines

• Population 100 million• Education system is in English• Only 2-3 hour time difference to Australia• Well educated, highly skilled candidates• Low cost• Not too entrepreneurial, they want to be

employees

Potential issues

• Power outages can be common• High contention ratio on Internet connections• Low speed Internet (2MB connection is

common)• Cultural differences• Communication problems

How to keep Philippino Employees Happy

• Respect their public holidays• Pay on time• Pay 13th Month• Pay for sick leave and annual leave

How to recruit

• Bestjobs.ph• Onlinejobs.ph• Facebook groups– PHP User Group Philippineshttps://www.facebook.com/groups/19167027688

Recruitment Process

• http://wpcurve.com/hiring-developers/• Correspond via email– Find out more about them– Do they have the skills I’m looking for– Are they a good fit for the business– Do they have good communication skills?– Do they respond quickly?

• Paid trial (2 hour skills test)• Interview (Skype or Google hangouts)

Something to be aware of

• Filipinos are loyal, once they secure a job they will stop corresponding with other potential employers– Don’t be offended if you suddenly get no

response, this is normal. Just eliminate that candidate and move on.

Joomla in the Philippines

• Local Joomla community is not very big• Joomla.org.ph

Managing remote staff

• Slack• Email– Daily report• Task performed today• Issues/problems• Questions for me

• Bitbucket

Training

• Spend the time and train your employees– Common concern: what if I train them and they

leave?– But what if you don’t train them and they stay.

Trust

• Build rapport, and get to know your employee

• Don’t force them to use screen capture software or other monitoring tools– If you don’t trust them, how can they

give you 100% effort?

Build a team

• Grow your business so it can run without you.

Questions?

Tim Plummerwww.tamlynsoftware.com

@bfsurvey