How Do I Automate My Business?

It involved going through a few hires and seeing who is competent and then training them to do what you need done. I usually hire 5 approximately before 1 works out on average. I'm a little better at spotting the good ones than before where my stats were not as good.

An important part of being able to scale is to get people you can trust. I'm a control freak too, but to grow, you have to learn to delegate and trust others.

If you think in terms of project management, you can list all the steps involved in a large project, then hire only one person to do only the first step.

Are you saying you are the best there is at each of these tasks? I don't think you mean to say that, which leaves the obvious... There ARE people that can do each of these better than you. Minimally, there are probably a lot of people that do them as well as you, or close enough to do just fine.

Furthermore, some of these talented people are much more efficient at the particular task than you are, and it may very well be more cost effective for you to have them do it.

There may be things that you LOVE doing, or are tremendously gifted at, that you will never step away from. I would recommend choosing the one that you are the least effective, or is the most time consuming for you, and start the process of handing that off to someone else. Once that is done and you are comfortable with what your first hire is doing for you, pick the next one, etc...

Don't even think of trying to outsource it all at once, you'll go nutziods.

If you want tasks performed a very specific way, instead of
letting your virtual employees do some things their way,
then you answer is to write an "operations manual" where
you document everything step by step.

You systemetize, document everything, and then virtually
anyone can do the job.

Then you put each new hire on a trial basis at first, and watch
how well they do the job... not hesitating to fire those who
don't work out.

Willie

When I started to outsource it was very difficult. Wasn't sure who or what to look for. Eventually you lose some money going through all the bad ones. If you are on a tight budget you will have to find an entry level person that is willing to learn and grow with your business otherwise you may have to sacrifice profit to obtain the services of seasoned professionals and wait till the biz grows again back to higher profit. Either way in the long it will mean less work for you.

I believe that you should keep on doing at the very least the first two and last one. Those require your personal touch. The rest, should be pretty okay to outsource. Also, maybe for 5 (the first one :] ) maybe instead of focusing on traffic, pay some SEO guy to rank your page.
The Classifieds are also sure to have some talented warriors and don't be afraid to request examples of past work and references if you feel necessary. You will probably want to employ them for the long term if you like their work so choose with extreme prejudice!

I think the easiest way is to find 1 person who does 1 of the tasks on your lists really well (find a really good writer for example.
Now let's say you've found the best person for the job, train that person to doing his task exactly the way you want it (if you really want things done in certain way) until he/she gets it right.
When you're sure he/she really gets that part of the job, then train them to do another task.
Teach, train, encourage, motivate.
That's how you get a multi-skilled VA to do most (if not all) of the tasks in those list.

You need to firstly, learn to "let go".

Secondly, you need to develop "systems". The document those systems into SOP - or, standard operating procedure.

Adopt the method, I, WE, YOU.

I do it - develop the system
WE do it - I show you how its done, or "we do it together" (training)
YOU do it - once you have learnt the process.

You won't get anywhere unless you start documenting individual procedures.

Hey,

There is nothing in your list that cannot be done by another person. The huge problem for many people is skill to delegate part of their job to others. This skill must be learnt. Make your research. Find a person. Interview him/her. Do not hire immediately. Be fair. Tell to candidate you need to test him. Give a person some small assignment. I found my VA at OnlineJobs and I am happy with her.

May I suggest the eMyth books by Gerber? He's got a great template in there for documenting how work should be done.

VA's are great... Outsourcing is Great... But I will give you a recommendation nobody else has made as of yet; Bots. As a bot developer myself, I can tell you that 90% of your business (if online) can be automated with software bots. Research, Niche Finding, SEO, Lead Generation, Sales Flow, PR, etc. are all tasks I have automated with the use of Software Bots. You just set them up and leave them.

Preparing on sinking $2,000-$3,000 into development... But then you have a long-term automation system that allows you to enjoy more free time and less tedious time.

Let's start right here. If you do not fix this (these), you will not be able to outsource effectively.


A damn lie! Quit telling it to yourself!

I think I covered that above.

A logic error on your part. Your mind thinks something like "Only I can do it with quality." That's probably not true and not productive thinking on your part.

How about thinking something like

Just my recommendation.

Joe Mobley

Which part of your business takes up the most of your time but generates the least amount of revenue? I know all parts are involved but apply the 80/20 rule. Look at it this way. Which part takes 80% of your time but only generates 20% of the results? Outsource that one first.

Apply the 80/20 rule. Which part of your business takes 80% of your time but only generates 20% results? Outsource that part first.

At least you have an idea of what you want for your business.What you just need is to implement operationalize them.If you can't do them by yourself there are so many talents out there ready to help...outsource them.

I can relate with you. I need everything to be perfect, and someone I hired could never live up to my expectations. That's what I thought. But then, at a point, I couldn't take the work load.

Well, if you are thinking about outsourcing, then you probably don't have time to do everything yourself too.

Things were hard at first, and it was a complete mess. But then, I told them exactly how I did things (don't hesitate to do that) and I spent time with them and taught them how everything is done. I created manuals, step-by-step instructions with screenshots, instruction videos, anything they might want to make their work easier, and hence my life easier (I was fed up with having to correct every one of their mistakes).

Things got really good after that. My outsourcers even thanked me telling me that I give them everything they need to work. So yeah, it took at lot of time, but in the end, it was worth it.

A piece of advice though. Don't reveal your complete system to anyone under any circumstances. I know some people tell that makes things easier, but if you do that, you'll basically be training your own future competition. Make them good at their part of the work, but they should never be able to put the puzzle together.

Good luck!

good outsorcers who are skilled in those areas will be expensive, if you want to stay on a beans and rice budget, pay people who live on beans and rice to build your business.

Your better off learning to do those things yourself...