Outsourced Wednesdays: Going Local
Outsourcing March 26th, 2008We started in India, then moved onshore. A few weeks ago, we added a new assistant to the roster, and he lives right here in Chicago.
Meet “Hank”: a 17-year old high school senior. He’s a sharp kid, and he’s finishing his last semester of school via home school. This means he gets his school work done in less time, and has a very flexible schedule. Perfect 
. And of course his rate is a little lower than what we pay George (who is currently working on a Masters degree).
I wanted to test two things:
- Outsourcing tasks that require some in-person local help.
- Requesting and coordinating tasks in person as an alternative to digital means, even if those task could be done by a remote assistant.
It’s been working quite well. Sometimes he works beside me, sometimes he works from home. When we’re working in the same spalce, it’s really tempting for both of us to interrupt each other- him to ask little questions and get confirmation, and me to jump in and suggest and correct. While this can sometimes save a little hassle and effort, it also takes away from the “set it and forget it” aspect that makes personal outsourcing so appealing. We both try to keep the chatter to a minimum, but when it’s necessary I try to work on things that don’t require as much sustained mental focus. For example I might cook a quick breakfast while he’s walking through a vaguely-defined task and encounters unexpected snags.
I’ll share more specific examples in the coming weeks. To start, let’s take it full circle here. In my first Outsourced Wednesdays entry, I described how George helped me find a good mechanic. That was last summer, and the car is once again in need of a little tune-up, an oil change, and a thorough cleaning. Tomorrow morning, Hank will be taking care of that for us, and I’ll get a couple hours of my life back.
Ed. note: It’s times like this that I’m glad I don’t own an expensive sports car…
Popularity: 25% [?]
how did you find Hank?
@Joel- much the same way we found George: a personal connection. It started out as kind of a joke. I was talking with Hank one day and discovered that he didn’t have a job. The combination of relatively little time spent on school work and the drawn-out winter we’re having this year had Hank feeling pretty bored.
So I told him I had a really busy week coming up, and asked if he’d want to help me do a variety of things: errands, computer stuff, etc. We didn’t make any big formal long-term arrangement upfront.
Since then he’s learned more about grand scheme (sometimes I have he and George coordinate on things). It’s like that he’ll soon be cranking away as an HTD assistant, but only after I run out of things to give him
cool… thanks Jed
Jed,
Great job! I’ve often wondered what doors would be opened by having a local assistant vs. one which is overseas. There would obviously be geo benefits, for example: If you live by a college town in an area with relatively fewer job opportunities for young smart people vs. living in an area where local wages are high there would be more or less of an opportunity to have things done “inexpensively”.
Question: I don’t have a clue about employees / contractors as it relates to taxes. When you’re establishing relationships with these guys, are you paying taxes, are they responsible on their end, or are there provisions that if the fees are under $xxx /hour there are no requirements?
Love your blog! When are you going to launch HTD? I’m anxiously awaiting the launch email. I live in the Chicago area and I love the idea of having local college students do the work.