Hiring Other VBOs: Getting it Right

Learn how to build, and retain, your all-star VBO team.

As your freelance business grows, the day may come when you’ll need to hire other virtual business owners to take on larger clients and projects.

When you get it right, bringing on other VBOs can create a win, win, win scenario for you and your client. 

For one, your client won’t have to worry about sourcing talent for a multi-faceted job because you’ve done the work for them.

For two, you’ll be able to grow your VBO network.

And for three, you can hire VBOs at wholesale rate and bill them out at a retail rate, which increases your profitability on the job.

If you collaborate with other VBOs, you position yourself to take on bigger, better-paying jobs more often. We’ve already given you the benefits of hiring other VBOs, now we’re going to show you everything you need to do build a talented and efficient team.

Find freelancers.

There are 57 million freelancers throughout the country, so you’ve got a plenty of fish in the sea.

Identify the skill sets and experience that you're looking for and cast your line.

Sites like Fiverr and Upwork make it easy to find freelancers with the talents you need to build your team. We’ve also got a growing community of work from home business owners here at VBO Nation, so sign up for our forever free membership if you haven’t yet. You can also post on Craigslist and reach out to your network on LinkedIn to see who’s available.

Set expectations.

Start every working relationship off right by setting clear expectations and communicating them to your subcontractors at the very beginning.

For example, if you’re hiring a virtual assistant, tell them exactly what you’re expecting and be specific about the tasks that you’re outsourcing to them.

It’s always a good idea to document your expectations and share that document with your freelancers, so that they can refer back to it throughout the project.

Communicate often.

You’re not sharing an office with the VBOs you hire, and it can be hard keeping your team on the same page without that frequent, face-to-face interaction.

That’s why it’s imperative that you communicate with your team often. Host regular meetings with your team via videocam or conference call. Try to find a time that works for everyone – we recommend working with VBOs within a few hours of your time zone for this reason – and send calendar invites, so that everyone remembers.

These weekly (or however frequently works for you and your team) meetings are your opportunity to talk through updates, address concerns, and explore new ideas. 

You may also want to set up a chatroom for your team so that your VBOs can connect whenever they need to. Frequent communication creates that sense of teamwork. It helps to get everyone familiar with one another, while giving insight into how everyone’s individual role comes together in the project.

Create workflows.

Workflows are step-by-step processes to take a task from inception to completion. Workflows increase efficiency and productivity.

Establishing workflows for your team will give you an clear picture of where every task is in the process.

You can invest in workflow software, or you can create shared spreadsheets listing tasks and phases, and ask your team to provide updates.However you choose to go about it, creating a standard system of tracking and updating tasks will ensure that you and your team are on the same page.

Pay on time, every time.

If you want to keep your fellow work from home freelancers happy, you can’t slack off when it comes to their pay.

Set up an efficient payment system. Let your team know exactly how the billing process works and when they will be paid. If your team is doing good work for you and your client, reflect that by paying on time, every time.

Be fair with the rates, and pay your freelancers what they’re worth.

That way, you’ll maintain a happy team who will be motivated to do their best work on the project. This is especially important if you need to maintain your team long-term.

Take these tips and apply them to build a happy and productive VBO team. 

Another thing to keep in mind is to get to know your team beyond work, and foster camaraderie among them.

Of course, you don’t need your freelancers to be friends to get the job done, but if you can create a sense of community – something that people who work from home sometimes lack – you’ll increase commitment.

So, build your team and start taking bigger, better projects.