Hiring/Outsourcing how far do you trust someone?

Hey Ron I look at it like this,

Trust is something that has to be built and should not just be given. I would recommend someone who doesn't plan on going anyplace anytime soon and start off simple.

Over time the more they prove themselves give them more responsibilities and a little bump in pay to compensate. Even after time if you completely trust this person with your entire business, still stay active in it to insure they are not reaching in your cookie jar behind your back so to speak lol

On a side note try to avoid hiring someone who you could see as a friend and someone who could be potential competition (entrepreneur).

All the best,


Derek

Outsourcing is a business that trust is the first requirement. Business won't grow if you haven't trusted the company/person that you're working with.

That degree of trust takes time and so it doesn't sound like something you could do overnight - if you have workers you have used before then you are halfway there, but to be honest I wouldn't let anyone near my paypal account - maybe I am just a bit cynical, lol

Best of luck
Lisa

If you pay an honest person enough, they won't steal. (Except in extenuating circumstances... Kidnapping, gambling debts to people who break legs, that kind of thing).
Under pay and you are bound to get taken no matter who, or how 'honest and trustworthy' they 'appear'. ('Steal' from them, they can justify 'stealing' from you.) Every successful person I know that is hands off, over pays their general manager.

In my IM business I have been doing it mostly myself. In Internet Marketing it has been my experience that people will work closely with you for a bit, then take your ideas and try to compete with you. I've been burned by this even recently.

In my past offline publishing business, I had a Vice President of Operations that i trusted on the management level, and we carefully delegated certain tasks out to a handful of people, so no one person had access to everything. That seemed to work well, and we had very few problems.

George

I suggest hiring someone local for inhouse accounting department management work. As for customer support and negotiations, offshore employees with an inhouse database will be good. For ordering supplies, tracking logistics, etc., offshore with an inhouse database will also be good. A database manager or Q/A person, someone local and working inhouse, will be good. Having legal subcontracts with NDA and NCAs with your offshore employees will protect you. I recommend outsourcing to legally registered offshore firms with a proven track record of dependability and trustworthiness because they won't ruin what they built for years just to make a quick buck from you. A tip: Outsource to firms older, bigger and better than your business. That's based on my experience and test results, though.

Well, you know the old saying, "trust no one but yourself".
I would suggest hiring locally if possible, and utilize the available management tools out there. It is possible to record everything someone does once they log in.
You can also have accounts with smaller amounts of cash in them. So if theft is involved the loss is minimal.
Everything should be regularly gone over by your accountant also. They would be the best one to spot something out of place. And let your employees know that someone goes over everything, every so often.

Check out some of the better management and monitoring systems. They are costly but some are worth it.

Good luck!

Ken

Hi Ron,

One mantra to keep in mind:

"Trust, but Verify"

When it comes to Your Financial Information And Business Account!

You can't afford to just let anyone in! You are going to have to make sure the person who you hand over the cash of the business to EARNS your TRUST. Otherwise you may end up seriously burnt!

I guess u could try releasing money in bits and pieces into another account which you will give him or access to it and watch or the responsibility is handled!

Just be real careful bro!

Accessing on money would be difficult if you trust someone that you still don't even know the background of your worker. So before you trust, you should know them well.

I have my outsourced workers do 95% of it - and I pay a family member to do the real trust stuff like the bank accts, etc...

That depends on the current role of the employee you are considering promoting, their skills and abilities with not just managing the day to day business but other employees and in essence duplicating YOU.

The concern you voiced is with someone outside yourself getting access to the financial accounts, bank accounts, merchant account processes etc...

Greed factor comes into play when you hand over millions of dollars in processing to someone that earns quite a lot less. You MUST have controls and checks in place to make sure things aren't being managed poorly or any siphoning isn't going on.

3rd party forensic accounting, auditing on regular basis is in my opinion mandatory in these situations as well as a iron clad legal agreement between your company and the employee's in charge of these processes.

There is no such thing as friends when it comes to business, employees. You can just as easily get screwed over by family members involved in your business just as much as a stranger on the street you hired today.

For what it is worth my advice is to get a strong legal agreement made up with this employee, promote them with more pay and state out in no uncertain terms what is expected of them.

Don't disappear entirely, once a month at least, have a meeting to get updates. Though don't start coming in and start micro-managing everything after you gave this person the reins. It looks bad and even though you may not intend it, this sort of thing undermines their authority and created HUGE resentment and can spark things you intended to avoid.

Possibly even losing said employee and those loyal to them and setting your business back causing you to again step in as day to day person like you are now.

Make sure you understand what it is you want and what role you want to have. Then explain and work with the employee to make sure they understand and both you and them are on the same page. Get your ducks in a row before talking with them, legal etc... Once you open the bag here, you can't go back and take away whatever it is you hand them for responsibility without causing HUGE resentment issues no matter what they say to your face.

Think everything through, make sure you can live with it and whatever you can see worst thing happening and then once you made your decision, live by it.


- T

I'm always skeptical about outsourcing - luckily I have finally found a few trustworthy people to work with.

I'm a VA for a couple of successful online businessmen. I have access to everything. They trust me completely. It's hard to do my job if I don't have access. They trust me and I've earned it. Its a role I take very very seriously.
On the flip side of the coin I have my own staff and there is only one of them I trust enough to give complete access.

I have to be very careful both with my businesses and with my clients.

Make sure you find out if the person you hire has their own employees who would have access to your information.

I think finding quality people to work with is very difficult.
Personal recommendations is the best way to go (not testimonials).

Thats how I get most of my VA jobs. Especially my long term clients.
Someone I've done work for tells someone else who contacts me etc

Good thing because my sales pages suck LOL

Anyway, my recommendation is talk to those who have hired assistants or VA's etc and try the people they are using, if they are available.
Start small - give them small tasks and if they are completed to your satisfaction then give them more.
Listen to your gut. If something smells bad, it usually is

Its good to be cautious. A business can be ruined by someone incompetent or dishonest.

A word about friends - don't hire family or friends just because they are "close to you". Hire based on skill and ability.
I've seen more people ripped off by "good friends" then strangers