How to get more clients for your call center

March 17, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center, Popular Posts | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

We wrote dozens of articles for how call centers can market themselves and get more clients. Please click on the call center link on the right of our blog to see all of the other articles. This article will be unique.

Get more clients for your call center
There are numerous traditional marketing techniques. Having a great website makes a huge difference. Having great sales staff is also irreplaceable. But, what about networking?

Marketing doesn’t always have to cost
I know of companies who network with other companies to get business. They don’t pay for advertising — not that there is anything wrong with paying for effective advertising. If you are a little call center, what if you take the jobs that a bigger call center rejected for one reason or the next.

Get more clients for your call center by networking
Picture the reality of a big call center. They have 200 seats to fill, and they want big clients only — ones that will sign big contracts and long contracts. What if little clients approach these giants? What will happen? Imagine that they could refer those little clients to your call center. They might want to know if you are any good before ruining their reputation referring clients to you. But, what if your call center service IS good? Or, perhaps they might want a finders fee if they get you a client. It is worth it to pay a small up front fee and residuals for good clients.

You could network with call centers around the world. Trying to get end users to hiring you by calling them is one way of marketing. But, OTHER call centers already have those end users, but might not want them. Perhaps those clients won’t pay enough, or won’t agree to rigid terms. That is perfect for you, because you have liberal terms, so you can get your business moving, right?

I’ll assume that you said, “Right”.

Tweets:
(1) Big call centers eat little call centers
BUT, little call centers can eat the left overs the big #callcenters didn’t eat
(2) 1 big #callcenter has 250 branches in 57 countries.
You’d better be very professional to compete with them for business!

You might also like:

Call centers who don’t answer their phone!
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/10/08/call-centers-who-dont-answer-their-phone/

How to get more clients for your call center — better training!
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/10/05/how-to-get-more-business-for-your-call-center-better-training/

Being the best version of YOU

March 16, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: Outsourcing Articles | Tagged | 1 Comment

Many of us are very competitive. A few of us want to “crush” our competition. The competitor who is really dangerous does not want to crush you. He simply works daily on making his business the best that it can be, and always strives to be the best that he can be (scary). If your competitors were all trying to be the best that they could be — I assure you that you would be out of business tomorrow.

In some ways, we will never be able to compete with others. If someone is a master musician, and we are tone deaf, we can not compete. We can study music and perhaps improve, but we will never be Horowitz no matter what. So, rather than being disappointed, we should work hard at what we do in a way that has potential to achieve greatness. And we can also work on skills that we have which we will never reach greatness in. The main point is to try to be the best that you are, and not to be disappointed or happy when you measure yourself up to others. Remember — attachment to where you stand relative to others is a sure recipe for misery: The Taiwanese prove this point perfectly.

The Taiwan paradox: No matter how many millions they have, they always mention some other guy — also generally named Mr. Lin (30% of Taiwanese are named Lin) who has more money than they do. If Mr. Li has 2 million, then he looks to Mr. Lin who has 3 million and feels jealousy. Then after more hard work Mr. Li has 3 million, but then Mr. Wang has 4 million — and Mr. Li just can not be happy.

Toyota corporation has the concept of “Kai-Zen”. A Japanese term for constant improvement. Every day, they find something that they can do better. Exciting if you ask me. Many others are constantly trying to find new ways to refine every aspect of what they do every day. You know you are dead when you give up trying to evolve. The cave men stopped evolving and they died off which is proof that you must always try to evolve and always try to be the best version of you that you can be.

On a more satirical note — if you don’t like yourself — then you can try to be the best “aversion” of you that you can be!

Personally for me, I strive to be the “Jeremy P360L 2014 model with extra RAM” — that is the best version of me that I can think of at this point in my evolution.

To sum it up: Don’t be a cave man — EVOLVE!

How to start an IT outsourcing company

March 14, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: Semi-Popular, Software Development | Tagged , | Leave a comment

There are so many different IT outsourcing companies in India, it makes my head spin — and so does the long flight to India!

But, how do people get these operations off the ground? (no, not the flight… the companies). It is hard to start an IT company. There are many types of skill sets that you need to run one, and you are lucky to have even one of the 20+ skill sets. You need great business skills, great people skills, sales skills, organizational skills, scheduling skills, hiring skills, analytical skills, investment skills, and also technical skills. So, where do you start?

My recommendation is to start an IT outsourcing company in one of two ways.

(1) Work for someone else and get to a management position for many years. Then, you will have technical and management skills. Those are critical for having your own business, although you will need a lot more skills than what you learn on the job. At least you will have some foundation for starting an IT outsourcing company.

(2) Work as a freelancer. Freelancers learn a lot about business skills. You will learn your skill, what to charge, how to organize your time, and maybe even how to hire others to help you when you have an overflow of work. If you hire the wrong person, your reputation will be ruined — so be careful!

What specialty should you choose if you are going to be starting an IT outsourcing company?

If you are smart, you will specialize in whatever you know most about. If you are excellent with databases, then stick to that. If you are an ASP whiz, then specialize in ASP. If you are great with Java script, then specialize in that. If your clients need other languages as well, you might hire additional help with related services so that you can offer one-stop shopping. But, try to offer a more economical deal for your main specialty, so that you can attract and keep more business.

Where should you get an office?
When starting off, there will be many challenges and hurdles. I suggest starting with a low budget. Get a cheaper office and keep your expenses low. To attract good workers, you might keep the office very comfortable and be nice to them. If the office is too horrible, and you treat your workers too horribly, then you will lose them and be out of business!

How many people do I hire when starting out?

Stick to hiring yourself, and use freelancers or on call help until you have enough business to justify hiring the 2nd person. Sure, that is not glamorous advice for someone to hear, but that is the truth, and you can not afford to pay 20 salaries when you have zero clients, right?

Good luck starting your IT outsourcing company.

Be an expert at this field BEFORE even thinking about starting up…

Getting the feeling of success in your bones

March 12, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: Outsourcing Articles | Tagged | Leave a comment

I talked to a new programmer who I hired. He and I were doing some similar feng-shui experiments. He wanted to be successful, so he went and spent time in some very wealthy neighborhoods to get success in his bones. He is now successful, and hires 10 people. I’m sure that his visits to poshe areas helped. I am very inspired by this new programming boss because he thinks like I do. He takes analytics on everything, and belives in the power of feng-shui.

I have been visiting Bel-Air regularly. One of the most wealthy neighborhoods in the world. House values in Southern Bel-Air range from 3 million to 30 million. Rent can be $300,000 per month in some homes. What do you pay for rent per month? $300,000 is pretty expensive, especially when you don’t have roommates to split the rent and utilities!

The first time I visited Bel-Air as an adult, my business started to flourish. Keep in mind that I used to visit Bel-Air, CA regularly as a courier. I had daily deliveries there and went all around that neighborhood. But, that was 17 years ago, and I was in a different business then. I don’t think the neighborhood had much of an effect on me at that point. So, since the area had such a positive effect on me, I thought I would take my friends there. One friend came with me, and his business benefitted after the visit. But, my other friend said she didn’t benefit at all. So, I believe that the mystical energies in certain areas only benefit those who are in particular types of businesses, or are in some way tuned in to the energies.

But, there is more. Besides my income going up, the way I think changed too. A few months ago, I wanted my business to grow, but it was hard for me to picture it happening. Now, I am feeling my business expand under my very feet. I am picturing where it is going to be in a few months, and a few years. I am making my plans for what I should do today, because I see how it will effect me once I have evolved a little more in the next year. I am seeing the new types of staff members I will need, what their roles will be, and how nit-picky I will be about all procedures. I will have all of my procedures streamlined and semi-automated as well. I have also predicted the next type of business that I will go into on the side.

The bottom line is that you really need to picture your success unfolding and live it in your waking dreams to get that feeling into your bones. Live it like a virtual reality game. Keep picturing yourself living the type of life you want and doing the type of business you love. Plus get a lucky feng-shui spot that works for you. Maybe there is a part of the city that gives you good luck. Experiment a little and find that lucky spot. You won’t regret it. Remember — one spot that is lucky for you might not be lucky for someone else — it is very personalized!

How to start an outsourcing company part 2

March 11, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: Outsource Marketing | Tagged | Leave a comment

If you want to start an outsourcing company, and start with a bang, consider this.

(1) First, read our article about how to start an outsourcing company (the prequel)

(2) Then, read this article which is the sequel. This article basically consists of additional tips.

Be amazing
Most clients have a lousy experience with whomever they hire. Do you want your company to grow? Do you want to maintain your client base? What if you got work done for your clients better and faster than anyone else did? You will inspire loyalty on their part. If you are new in business, you might have extra time, since you have less clients. So, with the clients that you do have, you can afford to do an amazing job.

Have a web site that says it all
I am tired of visiting websites that have very little to say about the company. There are others with spelling mistakes, and useless content. Can you become an expert in having meaningful content that others want to read? Do you have a lengthy FAQ page as well as a Q&A page?

Have the best sales staff
A company that always answers its phone, and always answers questions with great answers fast will be popular with everyone — especially me. Also, great follow up througout the business relationship makes all the difference. We have written many other articles about outsource marketing that go over how to answer your phone, and how to train your sales staff. Please consider reading those articles.

How to attract more software business
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2010/12/10/how-to-attract-more-software-business/

Improving your credibility at a call center
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2012/07/28/improving-your-credibility-at-a-call-center/

Getting call center work – making your list
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2011/05/27/getting-call-center-work-making-your-list/

The back burner strategy for outsourcing

March 8, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: Outsourcing Articles | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

I don’t see BPO companies who think like this. Most BPO companies have really obtuse pricing strategies. It is too bad, because they would be able to grow more, and pinpoint what their clients want with a bit more innovation in their pricing strategy.

Imagine that you are an outsourcing company. Imagine that you have four employees that do a type of task. Perhaps they are call center workers, or perhaps programmers. Programmers are a better example since they often do a few hours a week for one client and a few hours for another client. But, the type of work they do is immaterial. The point is that in any given type of shop environment, you might have certain workers who are just busy all the time, and others who might have free time. Or, you might want to hire someone new, but don’t have enough work to keep them busy full time. So, what do you do?

My suggestion is NOT to have a flat labor rate. The rate for labor should depend on:

(1) Which employee is assigned to a particular account

(2) How busy that employee has been during the previous quarter.

If they were really busy, then you raise their hourly rate by several percent each quarter they were booked up, until you reach an equilibrium.

(3) Charge based on the time sensitivity of the job.

Front Burner Jobs
Let’s say that you have three rates for each employee. Let’s say that Mary’s time will be billed at $100 per hour. However, if you have a rush job, Mary will put you first — no matter what. Since other people will be delayed, it is only natural that you would have to bill more for the rush job. “Front Burner” or rush jobs might be billed at $130 per hour for example. In real life, perhaps only $115 or $120. You should taylor your rate so that 15-25% of any employees monthly labor consists of “Front Burner” jobs.

Back Burner Jobs
On the other hand, what if a client wants you to work for cheap, but doesn’t care when you get the project done. In such a case, you could charge them $60 per hour for Mary’s work. However, Mary would only work on your job when she has no more medium burner or front burner jobs to do. You might be waiting for months to get even one hour of Mary’s time. The problem is that your client might LEAVE if nothing gets done on their project for months.

A Back Burner Contract Idea
So, you need a CONTRACT where you guarantee the client a certain amount of work that you will get done. In exchange for offering a low price, you need to get flexibility from the client in exchange. I feel this is fair. After all, if the client needs your company to be flexible by doing a rush job, you charge them more, right? Let’s say that the client has a job that is 200 hours of labor to complete. Let’s say that the client is willing to give you up to a year to accomplish this task, but you can go as fast as you want. However, the client wants to make sure that you are not completely slacking off, otherwise there is no point in assigning this project to you. So, you can have a contract that states that you will do at least 15 hours of work per month on their contract, but you can do as much as 100 hours per work on the job too if you like.

The Next Issue – WHO will be working on the Back Burner Job?
Back Burner jobs are perfect if you have an employee who is no longer in demand. If your previous star employee only has an average of 20 hours per week of billable work, and you don’t want to fire them, then a back burner job would cover your costs to keep that employee around. On the other hand, what if you never know which of your employees will have time to work on a project? Whichever has extra time on their hands would be perfect for that back burner project. On a brigher note, if your company is growing, your new employee might have very few paying jobs to keep him busy, so a back burner job would be great for the first few months until you can dump some high paying work on him. The problem is, that your client might like Mary to be doing the work, and if Mary gets busy, the client might not like it if John (the new guy) starts picking up where Mary left off. After all John is new and might not be any good. If you write a contract, you have to specify WHO is authorized to do the work on a particular project, or at least what skill level of people. Certain BPO jobs require a specific skill level after all.

It is complicated having different employees all with differing hourly rates, and then to add the complexity of billing based on time sensitivity. However, this way you can deliver optimal results to your clients and be more popular. To me, it makes sense if a company aims for having 10-20% of their total work being back burner work. Why? This way you have plenty of time to accept rush jobs, so you don’t keep your paying customers waiting… Think about it.

Many BPO companies will take on a new client and promise to get their project done fast. Then, they will get a much bigger client, and put the smaller client on the back burner without consent. This is a dirty business technique used by so many programming houses. They basically ruin the schedule of the smaller company, and lose them as a client. Then, the big client might dump the BPO company as well, leaving them with NO clients. It is much better to just keep time commitments by charging people enough to warrant overtime pay, and the hassle of an uneven schedule.

The end!

Are you tired of outsourcing to India?

March 5, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: India, Semi-Popular | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Are you tired of the nonsense?
Anyone who has outsourced to India knows of what I speak… the little tricks, the negligence, the hour padding, the stubbornness, the poor communication habits, and the disinclination to plan for the future and not having any concept of timeliness whatsoever? Me too. India is the king of BPO outsourcing, at least for small and medium companies. So, what are your other more favorable options for fulfilling your outsourcing needs.

You have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince.
If you deal with Indian BPO outsourcing companies, you will find many distinct cultural behavioral patterns that repeat themselves. Some of these behaviors are very pleasant while others will drive you crazy! If you are lucky, you will link up with one of India’s many responsible people. The problem is that there are also many negligent and crooked people mixed in with the great people that doing business with new companies (or existing companies who hire new staff regularly) can be very unpredictable. Each country has their own unique cultural makeup. Some are more concerned with accuracy, and others stress social skills. If you are tired of doing business with India — try some other countries and compare. But, remember, no matter WHERE you do business, make sure you are working with good people.

Where is the back office?
For programming, there are many outsourcing arrangements between Western countries and popular outsourcing destinations (India, Russia, Belarus, Romania, China, the Philippines, etc.) Finding these companies is no easy task. Looking around on the internet, it is not always easy to see where people are REALLY doing business. Their mailing address on their contact us page and their evasive back office’s location are typically two completely different things. The only real way to make heads or tails of the marketplace is to call local programming companies and ask where their network is (and hope you get a straight answer). However time-consuming, you can learn a lot. Visiting a company in person will tell you if there is a company to begin with (or if you are hiring someone who works out of their bedroom and uses irresponsible freelancers he barely knows).

Even if you bombed in Bombay, you can manage in Manila!
For call center work, there are zillions of call centers in the Philippines. But, finding them is no walk in the park. There are call centers you can find on the internet in the Philippines. However, those are not always the highest end companies that exist. You would have an easier time reaching the DMV by phone than being able to talk to an actual manager at some of these call centers. Most successful offshore companies have a sister company in America, England, or some other Western country. You might have better luck scouring the American market to see who is networking with the Philippines.

East meets West: Goals versus Family
American culture is more goal-oriented while Indian culture is more family-oriented. Americans are often very picky about deadlines. Indians are used to routine and unpredictable electrical outages, floods, riots, strikes, and other types of delays and seem immune to missing deadlines. On a brighter note, Indian companies are generally better staffed, and can give you more hours of work per week, even if their work is not quite as efficient as you hope. Additionally, if you visit India, you will find that although their phone etiquette is atrocious, they are very gracious and hospitable in person.

You might also like

Call Center News — Philippines Overtakes India!
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2010/12/24/call-center-news-philippines-overtakes-india/

How does culture determine what is private or public information?
Click Here

Synergy & working closely with others
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/07/30/synergy-working-closely-with-others/

Are you aware in business?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/06/18/are-you-aware-in-business/

What is your back up plan for outsourcing?

March 2, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: Outsourcing Articles | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Do you do outsourcing? Do you have a new company who you are assigning processes to? I understand how you feel. Or, perhaps you have a company that you have hired for years. Perhaps that trusty company is pretty good. Or, perhaps they have a number of employees who are above average, and some more who are masters of disaster! Sound familiar? Am I preaching to the choir?

My experience tells me that you need a back up plan. That way, if your main service provider starts being unreliable or playing games, you have a leg to stand on and a boat with a paddle on the Rhone. The problem is as follows. Let’s say that you have a mediocre service provider. Most service providers are mediocre — even the ones who charge more than average. Let’s say that these mediocre folks go down hill and become “Sub-mediocre”, if there is such a term. Or, let’s say that you raised your standards and want above average people working for you for a change.

So, you shop around, and you find nothing but MORE mediocre companies at best. At least, the ones who answer their phones are mediocre, but most don’t even answer their phones. You keep shopping. You decide that you need to talk to 300 companies. You can’t FIND 300 companies. You spend days, weeks, months looking for better companies. Is it this difficult? If you want a list of back up companies who get an A or a B then yes, it is that difficult. Be prepared for some major shopping around. Most companies are run by over-worked managers who can not tend to all of the details of running a company well. the other companies are run by people who either don’t know, or don’t care how to run their company well. Good luck finding a back up plan — you’ll need more than good luck.

If all else fails, resort to prayer.

There is an expression created by a linguistic comedian. It is in French, but means nothing in French. It sounds more like English with a thick French accent. It sounds like: “Paddle your own canoe.” It means — Not their Rhone that we — or perhaps — We are not their Rhone river.

If your outsourcing company fails you and you have no back up plan, you will feel like you are in a boat without a paddle in the Rhone river — helpless — floating — and without a prayer. However, I recommend that you have a back up plan so that you can:

“Pas de leur Rhone Que Nous”

Picturing your business dreams happening

February 27, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: Outsourcing Articles | Tagged | Leave a comment

I was reading some blogs about being motivated and successful today. This is my favorite topic besides cats and Chinese food. Some of the quotes and blog entries I was reading told me that you have to picture an outcome before it is possible. This is absolutely true. But, not so easy to realistically do.

According to one famous local Rabbi who is an expert at Kabbalah (Rav Berg): If you emphatically decide that you are going to Hawaii next week, then you are already there — the only thing that separates you from being in Hawaii is time, space and motion.

This is very esoteric and bizarre. In a sense he is right though. My personal story is based on a comment my astrologer housemate made to me. I had booked my ticket to India and was going to leave in four days. She commented that she felt I was already in India. And in a sense she was right. My vibration changed. My entire consciousness was immersed in India — what appointments I had there, the hotel, the traffic, people I was going to socialize with, etc. I was there in thought and in spirit. Quite bizarre — but true!

People pay a lot of money to go to success seminars and workshops and not without reason. The teachers always tell you to think positively and say affirmations, etc. These are all good things. But, they are ignoring one pivotal fact. If your SUBCONSCIOUS doesn’t feel something happening, then you lose the effect of the positive thinking.

A few months ago, I was thinking that my business would grow and I would hire new people, and try new things. Now, I am really feeling the growth. We really are growing. But, now I am picturing much bigger and better things happening. I am not even TRYING to picture these things. The thoughts are just coming to me. Perhaps my higher self is a few steps ahead of me and sees what is happening.

My suggestion to all of us is to practice picturing things. Sure our friends will think we are crazy. So, our first exercise in picturing things will to picture our friends who think we are crazy — and picture them saying things that really are crazy while we “visionasize” ourselves to success.

Picture how you want your business to be in 5 years or 10 years.
Picture what steps you are going to take to get to that point
Picture the daily things you need to do
Picture the structural changes you will need to do as well.
Also — picture me making $1,000,000 per day — do something for me too, okay?
After all, I had the courtesy to write this thought provoking article, right?

Penalizing people for following the rules

February 26, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: India, Motivation | Tagged | Leave a comment

India is a country that penalizes many for following rules.
It seems that the minute you leave Mumbai, no rick shaw driver will follow any rules. Meters are systematically broken or tampered with, prices never reflect the real amount of labor involved. Drivers claim that there is no return trip when in fact there might be a trip going partially in the direction back to wherever he wants to go, etc. Why does this problem exist?

Forcing people into poverty
It seems that the local governments in India want to force rick shaw drivers into such a state of poverty that they wouldn’t even be able to afford any type of food or gas. The published rates for rick shaw fares are pathetically low in many parts of India (Chennai especially a few years ago at rps6 per km). The governments don’t seem to understand that the price of labor and petrol are not going down as a general rule. Fares need to be a lot higher, otherwise people will be forced to break the rules.

The result of this oppression
The result of this unfair system is that the local governments who set rick shaw fares are never fair to the drivers. And the drivers seem to cheat about what they charge more than half the time just to make a living. This creates a greater problem to society. People feel they need to cheat to get ahead, due to the system — and this can effect people in all industries.

The police are also underpaid
The situation is the same with the police who are paid some miserable salary. They get most of their income from bribes, rather than from the government. Police do as much of their job as they like, and effective people will not want to be police, since they get paid only pennies. Police are forced to cheat, just to survive. Once again, this forcing people to cheat just to eat custom causes horrific damage to the culture and society. People should be rewarded for being honest and fair.

The damage has creeped its way into outsourcing as well.
There are many in outsourcing who just lie and cheat. In the long run those get fired, and the useful people get ahead. But, in a society that penalizes people for being honest and following rules, what do you expect?

India should tax more & pay better salaries
I suggest that India tax their citizens more, and pay top dollar to the police, government workers, and other public employees. However, I also suggest that they get rid of any type of JOB SECURITY. People in India like government jobs because they feel they have financial security for life, even if they laze around. I suggest that people get paid for what they accomplish, and that they get paid well. That way, the best and brightest in India will be competing for government jobs, and the country would by default function much more smoothly as a result.

Smart kids go into tech, not government
The reality in India is that the smart young people almost always go into the tech industry, and many produce economic miracles. You will see multi-million dollar buildings, and then the roads immediately in front of them will be falling apart before your very eyes, and traffic jams due to a lack of effective government planning, will prevent these millionaires from driving to their homes. If the genious millionares in Banjara Hills were offered more money to work for the government than they are to do programming, then they would figure out a way for India to not have any more traffic jams, and then we would all be happy!

The solution = more competition for government jobs
The solution — more taxes, higher salaries for government jobs, and more competition for state jobs, and jobs awarded to people who have a good track record, and seniority and political connections should count for nothing… I’m not being realistic, but my ideas will produce results!

Hiring people who work from their home

February 23, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: Hiring & Firing, Outsourcing Articles, Popular on Twitter | Tagged | Leave a comment

In this day and age, it is more and more common to see responsible and successful people work from home. However, I have found that many companies with bosses who work from home can be very irresponsible. Hiring a new company to outsource your work for is risky and actually dangerous. No matter how careful you are choosing them, many things go wrong, and you are left holding the bag.

Companies with offices are also risky
I have learned in my years that hiring companies with professional offices is risky too. These companies will often hire young and inexperienced (or reckless) employees and put them on YOUR projects — while these employees don’t care at all about you or your project. Your business is in jeapardy simply by being involved with careless people. My motto is that you hire not only a company, but also particular staff members. No company likes how I pick and choose people, but my experience has dictated that even a good company can burn you if the wrong staffmember is working on your case!

Companies that work from home are more risky?
Companies with offices have turned out to be 50% responsible on average for me. But, I have many stories about nightmares that happened hiring individuals who worked from home.

(1) I attempted to hire a very gifted and bright Indian gentleman in California. He advertised as being a former VP of some large company. I didn’t believe it, but I’m sure he had some post at the alleged company based on his very professional sounding communication skills. At any rate, when I asked him how many hours per week he could dedicate to my project he said 15. Then I talked to him two days later and he accused me of trying to take up too much of his workweek, and that he didn’t want to work for me at all. I mentioned that it was HE who volunteered 15 hours a week when I only needed 5. I think the real reason he didn’t like me was that I insisted meeting him at his SHARED office which was a source of humiliation to him — perhaps because it didn’t exist at all.

(2) I hired a sidewalk mechanic long time ago. He didn’t have a garage. In any case he did some wiring for me that resulted in years of having to replace starters. I had to have a two hour session with Toyota many years down the line to finally figure out that the source of my trouble which had cost thousands was because I hired a cheap rate unprofessional who didn’t have an office.

(3) I hired another guy in California who was very nice to work on one of my sites. He had 30 years of experience. He looked at my site and told me that it was in PHP, not ASP (which is what I thought the site was in). Then, after six weeks of waiting for him to learn a little more PHP which he was weak in — he announced that he had no time to work for me at all. What a waste! So, I took it to a company that did have an office (a shared one — better than nothing), and lo and behold, they told me that it was in ASP, not PHP (the story keeps changing), and they got the job done in days.

(4) I hired a printer who USED to have an office, but started working from home. I questioned him as to whether he was still in business or not when my order was delayed when I stopped cracking the whip. I am busy and don’t have time to harrass people who don’t do what I ask them to do. In any case, the next year he was gone — without a trace — and all of my files were gone. Fortunately I had backup — and was able to publish a revised edition of my book!

I work from home and so does my assistant
My assistant and I, and a good friend of mine all work from home. We are responsible. I would recommend ONLY hiring someone who works from home if you either know them, or know they have a solid reputation. Otherwise it is too risky.

Someone told me — how can you speak so poorly of people who work from home when you do too?

I replied — with me it is DIFFERENT because I KNOW MYSELF!!!! And therefor can trust myself.

Challenging your comfort level on a daily basis

February 21, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: Outsourcing Articles | Tagged | Leave a comment

If you examine the differences between very successful people and mediocre people, you will notice many things. The successful people seem to have more of a sense of purpose in their work, even if they don’t work more hours. There is a higher level of efficiency and skill in their work as well. Many are very philosophical or even spiritual in how they view the world and their career. I was just reading a quote by Steve Jobs about how your heart and intuition know what you truly want. People high on the totem pole really like thinking about things, and understanding how the world works. People up top also like challenging themselves, and that is what this blog is about.

I grew up with many academic types. They always enjoyed challenging themselves, reading, and getting their children to have a well rounded education with academics, sports, music, and other extra-curricular activities. This is all fine and dandy, but there is something missing… Comfort level. To be successful, you need intelligence, drive, organizational skills, people skills, number skills, and more. But, the inability to challenge your comfort level can be a stifling block to any of us, and to all of us.

I know so many people who are set in their ways. They don’t want to budge an inch, or grow in certain ways. They like to challenge themselves, but the challenges are all very similar each time. The intellectual likes to challenge themselves intellectually — every day a difference intellectual exercise. The athlete likes to try to run faster or further every day. But, what these people don’t understand is that they are already very good at what they value — and that is probably NOT where their attention needs to be. You need to pay attention to what you are NOT good at, and nobody likes to pay attention to that.

I love to do things I am horrible at. The reason is that I see the importance, and I also have no attachment to how well I do those things. When I screw up, I laugh and think its funny, while others might lose face and feel bad. Sure I try to master my inabilities, but the result is not what I am after. I am after expanding my mind. When I try new things and pay attention to new things, my mind expands and I learn to think in new and better ways. The more I think about problems, my mind comes up with more and more interesting and sophisticated ways of approaching those problems — generally business problems. By asking the questions, and thinking from a broader point of view, I learn and develop.

But, what about doing things we are not comfortable with. Some people would rather die than do something they are not comfortable with. Others will remain mediocre their entire lives, never expanding themselves, simply because they don’t feel comfortable with the new tasks, or new ways of doing existing tasks that they need to do to succeed.

As a business owner, you need to do new things all the time as we live in a changing world. You need to hire new people, and perhaps hire new types of people. Knowing what to do can be daunting, but critical and necessary. What if you never tried new things in business because you were not sure? There is a learning curve in everything. If you find it fun to try new things, and try to master them, you will find a new happiness in life. It is the attachment to succeeding in everything you do that cripples you, and your attachment to keeping things the same forever that limits you. Don’t limit yourself.

My suggestion is to make a list of things that you are not comfortable with at all. They could be business related or personal. If you are South Indian, the list will be very very long — perhaps you don’t have enough paper for the entire unabridged list. Force yourself to do something you are not comfortable with every day or every week. Also, try doing some new things as well that you are neither comfortable or uncomfortable with. By doing this, when your business requires you to think outside the box or change gears, you will be ready. Comfort level might be the one thing that blocks you from success, so unlock the blockages that start in your mind, and challenge your comfort level. Remember — it is all in how you think!

Some people think outside the box
My comment is to think against the box and break the box