This episode offers an in-depth look at building and scaling a successful offshore team in the Philippines, a critical strategy for many e-commerce businesses. EcomCrew's founder shares his journey from initial VA hiring struggles to establishing a thriving 12-person office led by their Philippine Director, Mia. It provides practical lessons on remote team management, talent acquisition, and fostering growth across geographical boundaries.
Key takeaways
Don't give up on offshore VAs after a bad initial experience; refine your hiring process and look for key leadership qualities like Mia's.
A strong, empowered local director is crucial for scaling a remote office beyond a few VAs into a cohesive, high-performing team.
Remote teams can grow from a few virtual assistants to a diverse talent pool including writers and graphic designers, significantly expanding operational capacity.
Proactively visit your remote teams to foster relationships and gain firsthand insights into their operations and challenges.
Invest in developing your remote talent, as exemplified by Mia's growth from a VA to a director managing 11 employees.
Out of all the things I do with EcomCrew and in ecommerce in general, the one thing I get asked about the most is our Philippines office. I'm not sure if it's because I talk about our Filipino employees so much or there are so many entrepreneurs out there who want to find high quality virtual assistants but just don't seem to get landed with one, no matter what they do. I definitely get the sentiment if it's the latter. Once upon a time, I hired my first Filipino VA. But instead of freeing up my time, that hire resulted in the exact opposite–I felt like I spent so much time daily just getting him to do simple tasks and it came to the point that I can't do what I want to do simply because I spent too much of my time with him. I eventually let him go and thought to myself that I won't ever get a VA again. Some time later on a plane ride back from China, I decided to give hiring a Filipino VA another go. I'm so glad I did, because in that second attempt at hiring I found Mia. Mia is the cornerstone of our PH office and without her, there would be no PH office. She was the one who found the rest of our Filipino employees, from virtual assistants to writers to graphic designers. She started as a virtual assistant and has morphed into a director managing 11 employees in just under two years. I had the chance to get Mia on the podcast during our visit to the Philippines last month. She didn't want to do it, but just like most of the challenges I threw at her, she stepped up and did her part. In this episode we highlight the changes that have happened over the course of a year, particularly the growth of our PH team from just a handful of people to 12 full-time awesome employees. We also discuss the following in detail: Why I decided to hire a VA again after my initial disappointment <l
What does this episode say about founder & leadership?
Don't give up on offshore VAs after a bad initial experience; refine your hiring process and look for key leadership qualities like Mia's.
What does this episode say about supply chain & operations?
A strong, empowered local director is crucial for scaling a remote office beyond a few VAs into a cohesive, high-performing team.
What does this episode say about founder & leadership?
Remote teams can grow from a few virtual assistants to a diverse talent pool including writers and graphic designers, significantly expanding operational capacity.
What does this episode say about founder & leadership?
Proactively visit your remote teams to foster relationships and gain firsthand insights into their operations and challenges.
What does this episode say about founder & leadership?
Invest in developing your remote talent, as exemplified by Mia's growth from a VA to a director managing 11 employees.
