We have trialed 4 new staff members and all of them just had no idea, they say how much experience they have, but knowing I could do the same job 10x better and in half the time it just isn’t worth keeping them on.

Small business owners need employees with passion, and loyalty. That is the main thing staff members these lack. They are not motivated and only do their job because they have to, not because they want to be a part of a growing business.

Hopefully the right staff come around soon – they need to be out there somewhere.

We do a lot of work with virtual assistants and other freelancers in my business, and there’s definitely a skill set that business owners need to develop to work effectively with outsourced work.

For us, I’ve found that it’s necessary to over-communicate with virtual or outsourced staff until you develop the trust, comfort level, etc. to back off a little. It’s not about micro-managing, but about honing your message until you have a mutual, crystal clear understanding of what your goals and standards are.

Most of the folks we’ve worked with have been only too eager to please, but the onus was really on us to be focused, detailed, and clear about projects and tasks, and to give good feedback along the way.

I’ve seen many people make the mistake of getting back the first result (document, research, etc.), not loving it, and moving on to the next freelancer right away. The real value for us has come from putting in the time to provide feedback until you’re getting what you want.

Interesting topic. I will link to this post when I have set up my new site that will be focused on sole traders (British English) / sole proprietorships (American English), solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, “lone wolves”, etc.

Timothy Ferris is covering the issue of Virtual Assistants in great detail in his book, 4 Hour Work Week.

TJ: I have to check out Guru.

It is still a challenge, mentally and cash flow-wise, to keep sharing the workload, but it is one I’m glad I do.

Hiring help is not a subject that’s easily solved or discussed in books or on the Web. There’s no basic blueprint because our requirements are all different, but I’m happy to share my experience in hopes that it will ease the transition in your office.