Virtual Staff and Clients, Part 1

I had an article published at Entreworld.org in December. The edited version included changes to my writing style and cutting the article in half. This is the unedited full version (part 1 of 2), which I strongly prefer, broken into two parts as it's over 3600 words. :)

New entrepreneurs face a question their predecessors probably didn't even imagine: should I hire only local people and make them show up to my office, or should I build a virtual company where work gets done on various sites and sometimes at random hours? I can't tell you which is right for you, but I can tell you about my five-and-a-half years with my (virtual) website development firm, As Was.

Finding the Right People

The virtual employer has to look for qualities that the on-site HR folks may not weigh as heavily. We all want friendly, loyal, talented staffers who like what we pay them. However, in a keyboard-to-keyboard and voicemail-to-voicemail world, it's more about the communication. Those who have read Dilbert (and have worked for some famously large companies) may believe that poor communication is a clever business tool that is rewarded with promotions. In a virtual company, it can be instant death and impossible to "cover for."

Here are some qualities I look for in my staff, who are currently mostly programmers and artists:

• Can this person understand the scope and details of a project when I explain it via email or live online text chat?
• Is this person talented enough to see holes in my or the client's logic and suggest alternatives before they've done any work?
• Can I understand the emails I get from this person, or are they full of slang, abbreviations, or poor English?
• Does this person have enough experience to know how much time (and therefore cost) it will take to achieve certain project tasks? Or are they guessing and/or grossly underestimating just to get some work?
• Is this person a leader in his or her field with years of experience and varied examples of work?
• Has this person stayed away from porn work and other types of work that may negatively affect my company's appearance or reputation? The answer should be yes.

As a virtual company, I technically have no other full time employees other than myself; everyone on my staff is currently a project-based consultant, even though I have a consistent group of people I turn to. Accordingly, I am not giving anybody any retirement benefits or medical insurance. What I do give them is exactly what they ask for in their hourly rate. Some of my colleagues think the secret to making great money in the website business is to find staff who are very cheap, say in the $20/hr range. On the other hand, I have found more talented, experienced, confident people who charge noticeably more because they are worth it. I would rather have a company that charges more for a superior team and product than have a roomful of entry level guys and gals ready to jump ship at the first golden resume opportunity. My staff make the "going" rates they would as consultants at a short-term or long-term project assignment, which keeps them happy and loyal, and constantly reminds them via their wallet that I appreciate and value what they mean to my company.

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