One day while attending a local networking meetup I had a conversation with the late John Bresee, the creative mind behind backcountry.com. I was airing out some of my frustrations and failures. As the conversation proceeded he said:
When you’re ready to start outsourcing, make sure you go to the Philippines with it.
What?!?!!
He explained why the Philippines was different.
No, I had NOT tried outsourcing specifically to the Philippines. Could it really be that simple?
The idea gave me hope.
John Bresee was incredibly successful and clearly knew what he was talking about. In the remainder of our short conversation, he gave me some encouragement and told me where to find and hire someone from the Philippines.
…and I DIDN’T DO IT.
That’s right.
I’d been burned.
I was tired.
I was wary of more risk.
I didn’t know if there was really someone talented enough to meet my business needs.
I didn’t know if I could afford it.
I just didn’t know.
So I didn’t do anything.
It took me two months to finally come to terms with the fact that I just needed to try it. What I was doing wasn’t working. I needed HELP; I couldn’t keep drowning in my own business. I’d hit the point of desperation.
So using John’s referral, I began the search for my ideal Filipino virtual worker. Little did I know that another face-smashing lesson was waiting for me…
I’ll share that lesson soon,
John
PS – Obviously at this point in my story, OnlineJobs.ph wasn’t around. I wouldn’t create it for years to come. Even though John Bresee’s advice was totally life-changing, it was harder to find great Filipino VAs back then. Today, all it takes is a quick visit to OnlineJobs.ph. We get thousands of new resumes every day…