Maximize Productivity by Hiring Remote Freelancers Successfully

with Guest Nathan Hirsch: #MakingBank S3E46

Entrepreneurs are doers — we like to get things done. We maximize productivity, hone our efficiency, and rely on ourselves to make whatever needs to happen, happen. But eventually, there will come a time when your ‘do it yourself’ mentality hinders growth and keeps you from reaching that next level in performance. It happened to Nathan Hirsch, and it will happen to you.

You can keep your home office, your garage business, or your dorm room headquarters. You don’t need a brick and mortar office, but you do need some help, and with the gig economy booming you can find that help from the comfort of your couch.

Nathan Hirsch became an expert in remote hiring out of necessity. He didn’t want to hire his fellow college students because he needed reliability, and 30-year-olds didn’t want to work for a 20-year-old first-time entrepreneur. So he mastered the skill of outsourcing his labor, and now he continues to do that on a massive scale for businesses and individuals across the globe on his online hiring marketplace FreeeUp. Here is his cheat sheet for remote hiring success.

Tips for Hiring

Communication

Do not waste your time during interviews! Get specific about your ‘must-haves’ and lead with them. If you need someone available during specific hours, ask them about that upfront. The last thing you want to do is waste half an hour of your time interviewing a candidate, only to find out logistically neither of you can make it happen.

Define Your Perfect Candidate

If you are using a service, the clearer you can be about the skillsets you need your hire to have, the background you want them to come from, and the future growth pattern you would like to develop for them in the company, the more likely you are to actually find that person. No one can help you find what you’re looking for if you don’t know yourself!

Plan Ahead!

Don’t wait until you are in dire need of help. If you do, you’re more likely to make a snap judgment and hire someone ready and available as opposed to the exact right fit for what you need. The farther in advance you plan your next hire…or next five hires, the better! When you plan ahead you’re less likely to hit a hiring wall or be so covered up in managing the company’s day-to-day operations that you won’t be able to get out from under it without your company taking a hit.

What Should You Outsource TODAY?

The ultimate goal is to gain back your time. How do you get hours back into your day — first you need to see what is taking up most of your time?

List Your Daily Tasks

Go through and list what you are doing each day and how much time it takes. Make separate lists for your daily schedule, weekly schedule, and monthly schedule. Really break it down into categories like email, data entry, bookkeeping, customer service, etc.

Set a “Gain Back Goal”

Name the time you need back. Is it 5 hours a week? 10? What from your weekly list can you delegate to someone else to manage to achieve that goal?

Figure Out What You’re Good At

Nathan and his business partner regularly check in and ask each other ‘What are you good at?’ and ‘What are you bad at?’ They’re brutally honest with their answers. Once they know where their weaknesses lie, they hire people who can take those weaknesses and turn them into strengths. This both frees up their time and makes the company stronger. Knowing what you’re not good at and having the foresight to outsource those tasks accelerates your business.

Remote Hiring Pitfalls to Avoid

You Get What You Pay For

“A lot of times where people go wrong is they’re hiring that $5 an hour person when they need an expert to come in and come up with a marketing strategy.”

This goes back to knowing exactly what you’re looking for. There are three levels in freelancing: basic, mid, and expert. Don’t expect an expert product for a basic price. If you need someone building systems and coming up with tailored marketing strategies, find an expert! If you’re talking simple data entry and email management, you’re probably fine to go with a basic or mid-level person.

Manage Expectations

Communicate what you need, when you need it, and how you want it to be done. Put everything in writing. Make sure you and your VA or freelancer are on the same page. It prevents issues from arising down the line.

Diversify

“If you put all your eggs in one basket, you’re subjecting yourself to risk.” Departmentalize your work and have more than one option should something go belly up. If that means multiple manufacturers, so be it. You don’t want to be the only one putting out fires. So make sure when you build your team you’re always asking if this part fails, who is the next in line?

To learn more from Nathan check out FreeeUp.com and when you schedule a call with him, mention this podcast and receive $25 off to get you started freeing up yourself and your business.