September 22, 2025 • 62 mins
Discover how virtual assistants (VAs) are transforming the construction industry in this episode of the Level Up Podcast with Duayne Pearce! Join Duayne and special guest Greg Parry from The Doing Co as they dive deep into the real-world benefits of hiring VAs for builders, tradies, and business owners.
Learn how VAs can help you:
• Reclaim your time and focus on what matters most
• Streamline admin, marketing, and tech tasks
• Build efficient systems and SOPs for your business
• Overcome common challenges and objections to outsourcing
• Find the right VA and set them up for long-term success
Whether you’re a builder, tradie, or entrepreneur looking to grow your business and get your life back, this episode is packed with practical advice, real stories, and actionable tips.
🔗 Connect with Greg & The Doing Co: https://thedoing.co
🔗 Freedom List 101+ Tasks to Outsource - https://app.thedoing.co/freedom-list/...
🔗 IG: / thedoingco
🔗 Linkedin: / tamsinparry
Check out the Duayne Pearce website here...
https://duaynepearce.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
That really is the key difference with us is that
we're really bringing people inthat are wanting the longevity
of their careers, like literallywithin a week they're up and
running, they know what they gotto do and away, away they go
and then it keeps growing.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
That is the biggest thing that I think businesses
struggle is they employ peopleand then, if that person goes,
so does the intellectualproperty.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
It's incredible value .
Like you're streamlining yourbusiness, You're getting time
back.
I used to really struggle withstepping back from things and
I'd always be trying to figureout.
I think I've really come tounderstand.
In successful businesses, mytime is my most valuable asset.
I think VAs are such a powerfulpart of a business when you get
(00:42):
it right.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
That's the biggest thing, dwayne, is that people
think that no one else can do itas well as they can do it.
Look, life is tough enough, andif you can make your life just
a little bit easier by havingsomebody working as a close
partner, I think it's a matchmade in heaven.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
G'day guys.
Welcome to another episode ofLevel Up.
We are back in the office foranother recorded podcast.
Today We've got a very specialguest coming which I know is
going to deliver a lot of valuewith some information that will
help all tradies and builderswith ways that you can get more
efficient with your businessthat will get you back more time
(01:24):
.
So big warm welcome to gregfrom the doing co.
How are you, buddy?
Speaker 1 (01:29):
yeah, I'm good mate I'm good, how are?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
you excellent mate.
Thanks for um jumping on thepodcast.
So, uh, how greg is going toadd an enormous event of value
to all the listeners today iswe're talking about vasAs, so
virtual assistants.
Greg and his wife Tamsin run avery successful VA business over
(01:50):
in South Africa.
We've been involved with themfor quite a long time.
My business partner, amelia inLive Life Builders has known
them for even longer and, forthose that don't know, we have
multiple VAs across multiplebusinesses and it's one of the
reasons that allows us to get somuch done.
So tell us a little bit moreabout, I guess, the background,
(02:12):
greg, of your company and howyou got involved with the VAs
and what you do.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Yes, so I mean Tamsin and I have had sort of somewhat
separate journeys, but it kindof really began with her.
She worked for a digital agencyin Australia.
So we were both living inAustralia at the time and she
just had.
You know, obviously, all ofthese things start when you find
(02:39):
a problem, and one of theproblems was that she couldn't
find reliable admin staff inAustralia.
That was just the issue.
So she was working with adigital marketing agency 25
employees but they just couldn'tretain the admin staff.
(03:01):
So she actually had a businesscoach at the time and she ended
up in discussions with him.
Up in discussions with him andyou know, he introduced her to
the outsourcing business andsaid, well, look, there's a huge
market in the philippines, uh,where there are these
professional vas that that workacross borders, and so that that
kind of started the the wholejourney.
So she ended up, uh, employingshe had to convince the, the
(03:21):
owner of the business at thetime, that this, this is
something they needed to explore.
They were a bit business at thetime that this is something
they needed to explore.
They were a bit resistant atthe time because obviously, when
you're doing things for thefirst time, you're not quite
sure what that's like and it's adifferent culture and you don't
even know if it's going to workor not.
So they tried their first VA.
They tried and that first VAthat they hired, that VA is
(03:41):
still in the business today,after I think 12 years.
She's still in the business.
Then they ended up outsourcingtheir whole support team.
So they ended up having aboutsix to 10 virtual assistants
working offshore and Tamsinbuilt that entire infrastructure
.
(04:01):
So then a couple of years afterthat, you know, with that
working, she then kind of endedup on maternity leave and she
started doing operational.
So Tams' background is inoperations, as you know, and
that's when, in the process ofdoing that, we were sort of she
had a number of clients, ofwhich you and Amelia were one of
(04:23):
them, and it just so held thatevery client that she was
dealing with they needed a VA.
So with her experience in that,she just started building up
her networks and connections inthat industry and just started
placing VAs and as a result,that's how the doing co-started.
It was really about a need inthe market for small businesses
(04:45):
needing virtual assistants tohandle those administrative
tasks.
So my background is I've beenmore in the corporate space.
So I've worked in humanresources.
I've done I actually startedoff in financial services and
worked in the human resourcespace in structuring business
(05:06):
solutions, workforce solutions,and I actually worked for a BPO
in Manila for a while and soI've actually had hands-on
experience in working withFilipinos.
So Tamsin and I just decided tocollaborate because we thought
we both have a complementaryskill set, and I joined the
business about just over a yearago.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
So it's great.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
It's a fabulous business and you know it's a
juggling act, but we love it andit adds a lot of value and I
think that's the difference,dwayne, you know, I think the
outsourcing BPO industry has gota big reputation.
It's the good, the bad and theugly, and in the old days it
used to be that the outsourcingwas for the big corporates, but
(05:49):
with the evolution of AI andtechnology it's like anyone can
get a VA anywhere in the worldbecause we've got systems we've
got resources to be able to putthat in place.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
So I think that's the business.
Look, I didn't know a lot aboutit until Live Life Build started
to really take off.
Amelia's used VAs for a verylong time in her undercover
architect business and, look, Idefinitely wasn't aware of just
the variety of skills that wereavailable.
(06:25):
And, um, I guess, like we'vegot vas now across our
businesses that are dealing withfinances, bookkeeping, uh,
general admin, marketing, likeyou name it.
Like we're covering a lot ofground at the moment and a lot
of people ask me all the timelike how do I get so much done?
And I always tell them likeit's the quality of the people
(06:46):
you put around you.
So obviously we have a lot ofpeople here in Australia across
our businesses.
But now having to be able tosource quality VAs to do
specific tasks in the businessman, it just allows you so much
more time.
Like you don't have to getbogged down with so many tasks,
(07:08):
you can have people that justget stuff done.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
Yeah, you know, that's a really good point,
dwayne, and I think you knowwhat I've realised as you get
older and you lose a few hairsin the process.
You sort of realise that timeis your biggest commodity and
it's something we struggle tohold on to, and you lose a few
hairs in the process.
You sort of realize that timeis your biggest commodity and
it's something we struggle tohold on to because there's just
always so many things to do.
So if you can find the rightpeople and put the right people
(07:35):
in the right positions, you knowlike it's half the battle,
isn't it?
You know, I think time is thebiggest commodity we have and
it's like we don't, andsometimes we get in that rut
where we're just doing thingsthe same things day in and day
out and we never stop to thinklike can we do things better,
(07:55):
can we do things moreefficiently?
Can we?
Are there other areas?
You know, I mean I don't knowabout you, duane, but I like
writing in my journal.
And I mean I don't know aboutyou, dwayne, but I like writing
in my journal.
And sometimes, when I write inmy journal at night, I wake up
in the morning and I think, holymoly.
Why am I still doing this?
Why am I still doing the samething?
Surely there's got to besomebody else that can take this
off my plate, and I think thatis the biggest thing.
(08:18):
It's like there are so manythings we want to do with our
lives, our businesses, but weget bogged down by doing things
that we don't need to be doing,and I think that's where Tamsin
and I are really committed withthis business is trying to
create a level of effortlessnessthat enable businesses to grow
(08:39):
and expand by dealing with.
One of the most importantfactors is your people, and I
think that's often the biggestchallenge that people face.
It's like, well, I've neverworked with anyone abroad, let's
say I don't know the culture, Ididn't even know this existed,
(08:59):
like I mean, there are all thesequestions, but I think if you
can just slow down and think,prioritize like, what does your
business need right now?
Speaker 2 (09:07):
You know, and I think , yeah, one of the big things
because, like, the constructionindustry is a hectic industry
here in Australia and there's somany people just working so
hard all day on the tools andgetting a lot of work done, and
then they end up spending allhours of the night and weekends
(09:28):
with all the administrationstuff and that's an area that
they can just add so much valueto a trade based business.
And, look, I guess there is alittle bit of work in the
beginning.
You, you need to sort of have alist of tasks that you can work
with them to create some, Iguess, systems for them to
(09:52):
follow.
Yeah, so you do have to put ina little bit of work in the
beginning but, like man, it'sworth it because once you get
them set up, it's like clockworklike they just they know what
they've got to do every day andthey just get it done.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
yeah that's exactly right.
That's exactly right.
That's exactly right, and Ithink that's what we try and
achieve is that you know there'sthis gap between somebody
sitting in their home in thePhilippines and you sitting in
Australia doing what you do.
And how do you close that gap?
And I think that's what Tamsinand I have really worked to try
(10:24):
and perfect is putting in there,because Tamsin has a strong
operational background.
You know, we've sat on theother side of what business
owners face and we're now onthis side of the spectrum saying
, okay, we know what yourheadaches are, we know what your
situations are.
Let's try and get that marriageworking.
Yeah, let's try and get thatmarriage working.
(10:49):
Yeah, you know, and I think thebiggest challenge owners think
well, I don't have systems, Idon't have processes, I don't
know how to you know, how do Icommunicate with this VA?
You know, and we handle all ofthat for our clients, because we
know that it's not always soeasy, and sometimes we get
clients that have all thesystems that they need but they
don't know how to use them.
(11:10):
Well, for somebody in a remoteenvironment.
So there's an adjustment, but,as you say, like if you can just
spend the first month or sojust going through the motions.
Once that momentum builds, it'samazing.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
It was a little bit well, I must admit.
When I first got involved andwe bought our first VA into Live
Life Build, I had a few issueswith communication, but that's
all.
Like four years later, that'sall gone now, like I said, I
can't even tell you off top man,I think, across the business
has maybe got six at the moment,five, six, seven, yeah, um, and
(11:51):
they all do different tasks.
But, yeah, it's, it's.
You do have to learn how to.
I guess, um, like one of thebiggest differences, all the
communication is generally donevia, uh, either a Slack channel
or some sort of communicationapp, or you jump on Zooms and
you can have conversations andthings.
So just getting used to howthat works.
(12:13):
But something that I've reallyvalued is there's only a very
small time difference.
I think it's only two hours orsomething, isn't it, from
Australia to Philippines.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Yeah, there's only two hours difference.
So it's worked out really wellbecause I can go and get on site
in the morning, get some workhappening and then I don't
really have to be checking,because most of the time they're
not starting until 8, 9 o'clock, which means I can get some
busy stuff done in the morning.
By the time I need to get backand check on them.
(12:44):
But it's become like it's justlike clockwork, like you jump on
Slack.
The other thing that I think isreally important, because the
doing co, like you manage them.
But the way that you guys getthem to log on in the morning,
post a list of tasks thatthey're going to do for the day
and then like check in whenthey're going to lunch and then
(13:05):
check in when they come backfrom lunch and then at the end
of the day do a list of all thetasks they've completed like it
just makes life easy, like weknow exactly where they're up to
all the time.
Um, so I think to be honest,like hiring a va before I was
introduced to the doing co, thatwas the hurdle, like the hurdle
(13:25):
was the management of them yeah, that's right, yeah, yeah the
management.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
I think is the, is the the biggest factor?
But, dwayne, if you don't mindme, I'm gonna ask a question to
you, if that's okay.
What were you when you?
You mentioned a few minutes agothat communication was the
biggest adjustment that you hadto make when you started.
What idea did you have beforeand how did that change as you
(13:54):
started to work?
Speaker 2 (13:55):
with a VA.
Well, I think and look.
So what I've learned is it'sdifferent VAs that we've had
because some have moved on, andwe've had because we've, um,
some have moved on, we've andwe've had other ones come in.
So we've been through um, we'veprobably a lot.
We've probably had around eightor ten, I guess, over the last
four years, yeah, but and thenthey're all.
(14:17):
They're all different, I guess.
So, uh, different skill sets,different um, there's a, there
are a few of them.
We've had a little bit of alanguage barrier, but easy to
I'm not sure how to explain thiseasy to talk to, but, like in
(14:37):
text messages, some of themeaning can get lost a little
bit.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
So just learning how they work and how we work and
what our work, like some of ourwords mean and how they take it.
But, like I'm, we're all overit now, like as the vas that
we've got in the team now, um,but we've got two in dps
constructions, I think we've gotthree or four in live life
build and everything's um verystraightforward.
(15:07):
Like everyone, we all know how,what it, what each other means
and um, yeah, what a little bitof trouble that I had at the
beginning.
Is is completely gone now and II'm looking for more ways that
I can know evas like I justthink they add so much value,
yeah, exactly, and I thinkthat's the biggest thing.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
I guess it's like any relationship in life, isn't it?
It always starts a bit awkward,like how do you work together,
how do you communicate?
You know, are you saying thingsthat somebody might take
offensively or might take thewrong way?
You know understanding howtheir culture works and what
works and what doesn't work, andI mean thompson and I provide a
(15:49):
lot of guidance around theculture.
Um, but yeah, you're right,like once you, once that
understanding's there and you'vegot that flow of communication,
and you know your, your tweaksand your twerks for a better
choice of expression, you knowit yeah it's amazing how how it
literally is if they're in youroffice and they're working in
(16:09):
your business locally.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
So I guess for the listeners, a lot of the people
listening to this podcast aretradies and builders.
So I see a few key areas thatVAs would be able to help them.
Number one is definitelyadministration, like getting
involved with their behind thescenes, taking care of maybe all
their inquiry or their justgeneral day-to-day check-ins,
(16:33):
managing the email inbox.
There's a lot of little thingsthat a VA can come in and just
take care of and give them timeback.
And the other big area I thinkthink is social media and
marketing.
Yeah, do you think that they'resort of two areas that would
really help people inconstruction be able to bring
(16:53):
vas into?
Speaker 1 (16:54):
yeah, absolutely, um, I mean general admin, as you
say, duane can certainly help.
You can have VAs helping withquoting.
We've got one constructionclient that's actually training
their VA to do quotes for theirclients.
(17:14):
You can help with accounts.
You know if you've gotsuppliers and subcontractors and
you know you've got suppliersand subcontractors and you know
you've got invoices that youneed chasing.
A va can do that.
You can have a va that doescustomer support service, the
social media, absolutely.
I mean you know firsthand, youknow that you could literally
(17:38):
have a va that could take overyour entire marketing engine uh
and I and I mean like a fewyears ago that wasn't entirely
possible.
But because we've got AI, nowthere's so much technology
that's come into the marketingspace.
The VAs that we've got comingthrough are unbelievable.
I mean, just to give you anexample, we've got a guy from
(18:06):
the Philippines that worked fora marketing agency in Dubai and
was working with clients acrossthe US and literally there's not
a huge gap between what amarketing manager or a marketing
specialist would do in, let'ssay, australia or the US to what
(18:27):
he was doing.
And he's from the Philippinesand he's back in the.
Philippines now, and so you knowthey can do a lot of things.
They can repurpose content,they can handle it.
They can create a social mediacalendar for you, they can do
email campaigns.
They can help manage yourwebsite.
(18:49):
You know we've got bookkeepers,we've got accountants.
I mean, I know bookkeepers andaccountants are a little tricky
from a legislative, from acompliance perspective, in
Australia, but they can do allof your invoicing and your
bookkeeping in the back end andthen get them running through to
your accountant on the frontend.
So, yeah it, the sky's the limit, mate.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
To be honest, yeah, I guess it's.
It really comes down to theindividual and what they need a
hand with in their business.
But, like I know myself, likeit's, it's so many of those
little simple tasks that reallytie up a lot of your time, like
even just something simple asgoing through and managing inbox
and sorting out emails, like um, but there's some days where
(19:30):
that can take me two or threehours.
But like having someone thatcan come in, can follow the
emails, uh, leave all the onesthat they think are urgent.
So they're the first ones I seewhen I I get there, like just
like that, that gives you mytime back, like I I know when I
come and turn my computer on,it's all sorted.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Yeah, exactly, I mean you know, and I mean that's a
great example, dwayne.
It's like getting that inboxunder control and identifying
what are your most importantemails to your least important
and creating a.
You know RVA is know how tocreate systems in your email
calendar sorry, in your emailinbox so that they can
(20:09):
prioritize all your emails andsay and they can even notify you
, so they can get onto WhatsAppand say hey there's an urgent
email that's coming fromso-and-so.
I think you need to look at thisso they can be your eyes and
ears, essentially on theadministrative side of your
business.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
while you're on site or you're meeting new clients or
you, you're doing whatever itis that you need to do yeah that
, and like we do that throughslack, like having them uh so in
live, like bill, that theynotify uh different team members
on priority emails.
So it means that we're nothaving to go in check our emails
all the time.
Like I just get on Slack afterevery meeting.
(20:48):
If there's any notificationsthere, I just quickly go deal
with that email and move on tomy next task.
So there is, I feel, for peoplethat aren't sort of thinking
this way, it's really importantto highlight how all these
little tasks can be taken overby someone else quite easily.
So I know a lot of peopleprobably maybe stand off hiring
(21:10):
a VA because they might feelthat they don't have enough
systems and processes to put onein.
But my advice would be like, ifyou get them on board to even
take care of some of those realmundane, simple tasks while
they're doing that, you can beworking with them to create
systems to allow them to doother tasks, so you can learn
(21:34):
together as you go.
But one thing I've really foundamazing is the skill sets that
are available.
The level of qualificationsthat some of these VAs have is
amazing.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Yeah, I know it is.
They're all literally.
We get engineers we've haddentists that have applied for
positions we get accountants.
We get highly, highly, highlyqualified people, because in the
Philippines, dwayne, you know,vas working for international
(22:09):
companies are paid more than youknow doctors, lawyers and
accountants within thePhilippines, so they are
considered a premium position.
So the benefit that we have isthat we can pay them really well
and we can give them a betteropportunity to work or to have
(22:32):
exposure to an internationalmarket, and I think that's where
we were very lucky.
There are over one and a halfmillion Filipinos working for
international companies, likecompanies outside of the
Philippines, and that's growingannually at 10% to 15% per year,
all right.
It's only set to get bigger overthe next 10 to 15 years.
(22:55):
So it's not going back, it'sonly going forwards.
And with the arrival of AI onthe scene.
So you know it's not going back, it's only going forwards.
And with the arrival of AI onthe scene, that just makes your
VA even more efficient to beable to do things even faster.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Well, that's been another really big eye-opener
for me, like all the VAs we'vehad, like their tech, like they
seem to like, like obviouslythere's different ones are
better at different things, butin general they have a lot
better understanding of techthan what I do.
So, um, tech is like I'm not atech person, I can't stand
sitting in the office.
So to be able to bring a va andthat can manage a lot of the
(23:34):
tech stuff and, um, createmarketing campaigns and do
calendars for work and schedulethings, it makes life so much
easier.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
So how, like?
If someone out there isthinking about getting a VA,
what's the process?
How do they?
Like when they come to you.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
Yeah, so the process is pretty straightforward.
What we do is we do a discoverycall and we just try and
understand their business, likewhat have they got?
What do they do first of all,and what are their pain points
and how?
You know a lot of people thatwe do talk to Dwayne.
(24:18):
They do sometimes find, well,like I've got nothing in place,
I don't know how to manage VA,you know, and we've created a
huge library of resources.
We've got 30 videos.
We've got 30 differentsubsections of documents and
videos that we create that canhelp a business owner build
(24:41):
systems into their business.
So typically what we do is wejust understand what the problem
is, we understand what goes onin their business and then we
create.
We then, you know, once theyunderstand that, we then sort of
explain to them how ourbusiness operates, just in terms
of what our service is.
So just think of it like we areyour back-end system.
(25:07):
So we're like you know you'reon the front end dealing with
what you're dealing with, andwe're the HR function that sits,
you know, in your business butat the back end.
Essentially, so when the clientcomes or the prospect comes, we
talk to them, we understandwhat their business pain points
are what they're looking for.
They then we have what we callan admin setup fee, which is,
(25:34):
you know, about 800 bucks, andthat stops the whole process of
sourcing, hiring and onboardingthat VA, and then they just
simply pay and then, throughthat process, we go out.
We've got a huge network of VAsthat we have access to on our
database and we've got varioussort of proprietary networks
(25:58):
that we have in the Philippinesthat give us the best that we
can.
We can find, yeah, um, and then, once we've got that, we then
interview them, we assess them,we screen them.
Uh, we we've actuallyinteresting that we've built a
um like a, an algorithm thathelps us to.
We we've managed to benchmarkall of our best VAs and then
(26:21):
we've built that in as an AIfunction, and then what it means
is that whenever we put a newprospect in, we compare that VA
to the benchmark that we havewithin the business, so that we
constantly are just finding thevery, very best.
Once we've done that, we thenpresent a short list of
candidates to the client.
(26:42):
The client then has the chanceto review them.
They either decide which onethey want or if they would like
to interview them and have aconversation with them.
They can, and then, once thathappens, we place them.
Tamsin handles a lot of theonboarding stuff, so we have a
whole onboarding process thathelps you to onboard your VA.
We help you to put systems andprocesses in place.
(27:04):
We recommend tools and softwareto use to assist with that, and
then you're on your way.
And then basically we coach, wedo professional development, we
coach the VAs and we do weeklysessions with them.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
We also work with the business owners on a monthly
basis um, it's been um, but thatwhole onboarding process has
been fantastic.
Every time we've we've hiredone like, it's really like I
don't know any other.
I've never hired staff where,um, you're given options, like
the, the fact that you guys comeback, you go away, you take
(27:43):
your time, you come back to uswith generally three or four
options, um, and you give us areport, you give us a recorded
interview.
We can go through them all um.
I just think it's fantastic,and there's been, there's been a
lot of times, or a few times,where you guys have presented um
, so a new va, and we've gone,oh shit, maybe we should take
(28:05):
two because there's some reallygood candidates there.
So, yeah, yeah yeah, there are.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
I mean and, and you know that there and I think, and
I think also because we dotreat them really well, I mean
we look after them really well.
So on the other side of theequation.
You know we're just gettingfloods of inquiries all the time
.
You know, we get VAs registeringthrough our ATS system and
they're emailing us saying youknow, I've heard about the Doing
(28:32):
Co.
Really, do you have a job forme?
And so we.
You know there's a lot ofmomentum on that end to really
try and make a difference intheir lives, as well as in the
lives of our clients.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
So tell us for the listeners, greg, tell us a
little bit more about the rulesand regulations, because a lot
of people I think might be putoff by how does like over in
Australia.
Here when we employ people,we've got to pay like
superannuation and workers' compor work cover for sickness and
accident and all those types ofthings.
How does it look when you hiresomeone from the Philippines?
Speaker 1 (29:14):
Well, you don't need to worry about that.
So typically what you do iswhen you employ a Filipino
remotely, they're an independentcontractor.
They take care of all of theirown taxes, they take care of all
of their own insurancerequirements, because you're
working through the agency ofthe doing co.
(29:34):
We deal with all of thoserequirements on the back end.
So for the client, they don'thave to worry about
superannuation or PAYGwithholdings or any of those
requirements or insurancerequirements.
You don't have to worry aboutthat.
You just pay one monthly fee tous that covers our service plus
(29:56):
the VA's salary, and we havethe whole infrastructure in the
back end.
So all of the compliance, allof the requirements that we have
to meet contractually with theVA, so the contractors with the
doing co and the VA, and then weoutsource that VA to you.
So the most beautiful thing isyou don't have to worry about
(30:17):
that.
And I think you know, meanobviously there.
You know if, if somebody wantsto go direct, they can, but you
know there are.
I I wouldn't recommend that andto be honest with you, I mean
I'm not talking selfishlybecause we run an agency, but
it's just we we've hadsituations where clients do that
(30:37):
and and they can.
You know, they can run into alot more issues.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
Yeah, I think you were mentioning a case to me
only a few weeks ago, I think,weren't you where someone in
Australia is in a bit of strifebecause they've dealt with their
.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
Yeah, that's exactly right.
I mean, there was a company, alaw firm, that had employed a
Filipino directly and that's agood point, dwayne, because
there are regulations that arecoming in to tighten up on
remote work because it isbecoming so much more popular
but they dismissed her unfairlyand I give kudos to the Filipino
(31:17):
.
She took the company to theFair Trades Commission in
Australia and she won a case,and so, because they considered
her to be an employer oremployee within Australia and
she won the case.
And so that's like opened up awhole can of worms around.
(31:39):
You know companies having to becareful about you know what I'm
saying is like you just have to.
It's not as easy as just havingsomebody offshore and if it
doesn't work out you can justget rid of them because you know
and so there are, you're justhaving to be a little bit more
careful.
So the idea of having an agencyis that you don't have to deal
(32:01):
with any of that.
All of that support, all ofthat training, all of that
compliance is handled, and Iknow you builders have
compliance coming out of youreyeballs.
So for us to be able to takesome of that compliance off your
shoulders um, oh, for me, forme it's a no-brainer.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Like you guys, we just pay you one monthly fee and
and you take care of everything.
Um, yeah, and look, we've uh,we've had a few situations with
it with um, with our vas, wherethey just do awesome jobs.
So we talk to you guys and we,we give them bonuses and things,
but so I think, like it's, it'sflexible, isn't it?
Like it's not um, like I guessit, depending on the performance
(32:38):
of the va, you can deal with um, you guys and give the pay
rises and bonuses and thosetypes of things.
So it's very similar to havingan employee here in australia,
it's just that you're not, youdon't get to see them, it's all
done online yeah that's exactlyright.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
I mean, that's the beautiful thing is like, instead
of seeing them face to face, um, they're online, um, but it is
literally like having somebodyin your office and the
technology you know.
I mean one of the things thatwe do is we have a time tracking
system in the back end where wetrack their time, and that's
(33:15):
not to because they're workingremotely and they're not in an
office.
We do track their time, but wealso use it as part of their
professional development, and Ithink that's something that our
clients absolutely value is thatthey know that there's an
opportunity to keep growing andto keep upskilling, and I think
Filipino VAs love that.
They love the opportunity togrow and expand, especially when
(33:39):
it comes to their career.
I mean that's the biggest thing,dwayne, is that these positions
are not just we're not justputting somebody in as a tick
box thing, you know, like you'rejust ticking off your checklist
.
These are professionals.
These are people that wantlong-term careers.
They want the stability andthey realize that you know to be
able to work from home for aninternational company.
(34:00):
It's like hitting the jackpotfor them.
So that really is the keydifference with us is that we're
really bringing people in thatare wanting the professional
development they want thelongevity of their careers.
They're not just looking forshort stopgaps, put it that way.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Yeah, I think it's fantastic and, look, it really
excites me.
I feel there's enormousopportunity for VAs to get more
involved in the constructionindustry.
Well, yeah, just helping tradesout.
But I guess for any trades andbuilders that are listening or
not just trades and builders,but anyone that's listening to
this podcast I don't think itreally matters what type of
(34:43):
business you have.
There is a position for a VA inyour business that will help
you get a lot of time backduring the week, Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
I mean we were talking to another builder a
couple of weeks ago and I meanthey were up till midnight,
right Up till midnight everynight, working, dealing with all
of their bookkeeping, you know.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
No, look, it's a common story in the industry,
Like people, like I said before,they work all day out on site
and then literally get home,have dinner with the family and
then back in the office and worktill all hours.
And I think there's definitely.
I think for me, my advice topeople would be to start slowly
(35:30):
with it.
Just come up with some of thereal mundane, simple tasks that
you do every single day thathave to be done and just get a
VA in to start doing those tasksand you'll be surprised.
For me, it built my confidencewhen I first started getting
introduced to V vas, like seeingtheir capabilities and the
(35:51):
quality of the work they gotdone and how quickly they got it
done, and the communication,how it all worked.
Like every.
As I got more and moreconfident in it, it allowed me
to go oh, hang on a minute,maybe they can do this and maybe
they can do this and maybe theycan do this.
And, like before you know it,we've created a whole other rate
, a whole other um, a role, andnow we've got two, then we've
(36:12):
got two vas and then it grew tothree vas though um yeah, I mean
we've got a.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
We were just to give you an example, dwayne.
We were talking to one of ourvas last week and she works with
um.
Uh, her client is a builder aswell and they've got the
WonderBuild software and she'snow doing quotes for her client.
(36:39):
You know, her client taught herhow to do so.
For example, he just takes herand he says, okay, we're going
to quote up a bathroom and theseare the, the product codes and
this is the pricing for thesuppliers, and and she puts all
of that together for him yeah,it's amazing, just amazing.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
One thing that I've really enjoyed, um, greg, is and
I think it comes from the doingco and what you guys do behind
the scene but all of our vascreate sops for the tasks they
do, so standard operatingprocedures.
So that's given us a lot ofconfidence, like if they're
creating sops for their task, asthey do them, and then we we
(37:22):
review them and work with themand update them and all those
types of things.
But by creating those sops forall the tasks that are getting
done, it means that our businessis building up a library of
standard operating procedures.
So if a va does move on orsomething happens, or we've had
a few cases, especially in thelive life build over the last
(37:42):
few years, where, um, the we've,we've decided to do more tasks,
we grow the business, and so,because there's all those sops
there, we've been able to bringanother VA in and they've just
been able to follow theprocedures.
So that has meant that the likeliterally within a week they're
up and running, they know whatthey got to do and away, away
(38:04):
they go, and then the VA moveson to creating more sops for new
tasks.
Speaker 1 (38:09):
So it just it keeps growing yeah, yeah, I, I
absolutely, dwayne, and I meanthat is the biggest thing that I
think businesses struggle isthey employ people and then, if
that person goes, so does theintellectual property that goes
with that person.
And, and you know, I've, evenwhen I, when we were in
Australia and I was workingcorporate you know the companies
(38:31):
that I worked for they neverhad a plan in place as to if
that person were to go, howwould they?
Would they have a library ofresources that the next person
could just come in, learn thebusiness, learn the ropes and be
able to get on with the jobwithin a week.
And so that's something, asyou're saying.
That's something we do stresshighly is creating SOPs, and we
(38:55):
have a whole library ofresources.
You know, like, what kind ofSOPs do you need to create?
And we show you.
We actually have templates thatthe clients can follow, and we
have.
There's a software called Loom,which I'm sure you're aware of,
where you can record all of thesystems, the processes that are
(39:19):
operating in your business andyou can document them.
You keep them in the cloud orin the G drive and then they're
there.
And you just systematize yourwhole business, so every area of
your business is catalogued andit just means that if that
person goes, you've got somebodyand they know exactly where to
go and understand exactly whatthey need to do to get up to
(39:41):
speed with how your businessoperates.
Speaker 2 (39:45):
Yeah, and that in itself is adding a huge amount
of value to a business.
Greg, can we talk a little bitabout cost?
I know everyone's going to bewondering what VAs cost, but
it's like everyone in business,isn't it?
It varies depending on what youwant.
Speaker 1 (40:02):
Correct.
Yeah, so typically if youwanted somebody and I know
sometimes people start part-time, so they would say, you know,
like, if you wanted somebody,and I know sometimes people
start part-time, so they they,they would say you know what, I
just want to tip my toe in thewater, let's start part-time.
So the minimum we do is 20hours a week.
Uh, part-time and that's thatstarts at about 350 bucks a week
(40:24):
.
Okay, so that that covers theba salary, covers our service.
That's just it $350 a week tostart.
But that's a starting price,which is about $1,400 a month.
Yeah, $1,400 a month.
Part-time, that's 20 hours aweek of service, full-time.
You're looking at a startingprice of about $2,200, which is
(40:46):
about $550 a week, and that's it.
That covers our service, thatcovers the va.
And you get them for part-timeat 1400 bucks a month.
You get them for 20 hours aweek at 2200 starting price.
You get them for um 2200 a week, that's right 2200 a month yeah
(41:08):
, it's incredible value.
Speaker 2 (41:10):
Like you're, you're streamlining your business,
you're getting, like you'regetting time back.
Like I look for anyone that'slistening out there.
I used to really struggle withstepping back from things and
I'd always be trying to figureout oh well, if I do it, it's
going to save me this much moneyand blah, blah, blah.
But, um, something I've reallycome to understand in business
(41:31):
and to have successfulbusinesses is my time is my most
valuable asset.
So I need to be spending mytime doing what I'm really good
at, and anything that I'm notefficient at, that I'm slow at,
that I don't understand.
I need to hire people to do it,and I think VAs are such an
incredible or incrediblypowerful part of a business.
(41:55):
When you get it right and Idon't know, I'm sure people
listening like once you hire one, it does become a bit addictive
because you can just see howmuch more efficiency you get
across the board, and for me,I'd rather be picking up
efficiencies and getting timeback so I can spend my time with
my family than uh, sitting inthe office till all hours of
(42:17):
night doing repetitive stuffevery night of the week I
absolutely.
Speaker 1 (42:21):
I mean, you know.
You know.
Wouldn't it be wonderful youcould come back at the end of
your day being on site and youcould have a meal with your
family, you could talk to yourkids, you could read a bedtime
story to your kids, you couldwatch a movie with your wife,
you could take her on dates.
You know you.
Speaker 2 (42:36):
There's so many things you could probably do
that you never thought waspossible by having a really good
person by your side that willbe, there to you for as long as
your business is running what'ssome of the objections you hear,
greg, from people that arethinking about hiring a va?
Speaker 1 (42:54):
um, a lot of the times it's I'm not ready and um.
I think that often is thebiggest obstacles.
As I was saying in thebeginning of the podcast, people
get quite addicted to doing, um, what they've just been doing
for years, and it's aconditioning in the mind that,
(43:14):
oh, I've just been doing thisand, uh, I can't imagine
somebody else doing it.
And the biggest thing is, willthey do it as well as I'm doing
it?
That's the biggest thing,dwayne, is that people think
that no one else can do it aswell as they can do it and the
question is there.
There isn't.
There is an important step thatyou have to take inside of
(43:37):
yourself where you have to say,um, that I can, I can trust
somebody I can.
You've got to literally say I'mwilling to trust, I'm willing
to let go and grow my businessand know that you know I don't
know whether you believe in abigger power or whatever but
(43:58):
that my universe is willing togive me a break, you know, to
give me that opportunity to stepback and just take a breath.
You know, I think so many timespeople never stand back and just
say what's going on in my life,am I happy with the way things
are running?
And I think, to be able to juststep back and self-reflect and
(44:22):
just, you know, because, likethe amount of mental health
issues that are going on in theworld, dwayne is because people
are just burnt out.
You know there's there's asubtle burnout and people don't
even realize that they've got it.
So what Tamsin and I try and dois we just say, look, we'll
have a conversation.
I mean, we don't have aninterest in selling to you and
(44:44):
it's not about selling to you.
It's like if you don't see thevalue, we wouldn't want you to
be with us.
You know, we want clients thatsee the value of what we give
and they and it makes adifference in their lives.
If it doesn't make a differencein your life, um, then we
wouldn't want you to do it.
You know what I mean.
It's like there's no point ifyou don't so we have had
(45:06):
situations where we turn clientsaway because they're just not
ready to take that step.
You've got to have the mindsetof saying I'm willing to let
somebody else share thisresponsibility and I'm willing
to trust somebody to do it.
So the biggest issue, I think,dwayne, is what goes on between
(45:28):
the ears.
Speaker 2 (45:29):
And.
Speaker 1 (45:29):
I really do.
I mean, I don't mean to be rudeabout it, but it it people's
own limitations, I think, get inthe way of this and and they,
you know, we have had situationswhere clients come to us and
they've had bad experiences withthe ears, and I'm not
suggesting that they're allperfect, they're not we.
You do get, you can get bumpsalong the road, but we deal with
(45:54):
them and that's that's thething is that we don't just let
it kind of run on.
So the the issue is that it Ithink the important thing is is
the willingness to try and thewillingness to even have a
conversation, because sometimesyou know, when people have the
willingness to even have aconversation, because sometimes
you know, when people have theopportunity to talk to somebody
about this, they start to thinkoh well, you know, actually,
maybe this could be anopportunity.
(46:16):
Yeah, you know.
Speaker 2 (46:20):
Just to touch on that , greg, like we've been through,
like we've had a couple overthe years that haven't worked
out.
But I think that's the beautyof dealing with an agency like
yourself.
Like we let you know what'sgoing on, yeah, we talk to you
about it, uh, and we've had theother thing like.
The other part of that is wehad that with the first one.
(46:43):
We started with dpsconstructions and we at first we
thought it was a disaster, butit's actually turned into the
best thing ever and Angelica'sfantastic.
But I think in the early, likeprobably in the first month or
two, there was just a differencein what we thought we wanted
(47:04):
her to do and what she ended updoing.
But when we understood herskill set and we were able to
pivot and get her to do otherthings, it's actually turned out
to be better than what weoriginally wanted.
So I think it's it's nodifferent to any um, I guess,
(47:25):
employment.
Like anyone that you put on,you've got to get a feel for
them and understand how theywork in the early days.
But what I've really noticedwith VAs is they're so willing
to learn, like so much more thanwhat I see here in Australia.
Like everyone, every VA thatwe've ever put on in the last
(47:46):
four or five years.
They are so um helpful and ifyou ask them to do like, we
treat them quite well and wealways say them look at, if are
you able to do this, if youcan't, doesn't matter, like, but
they always come back with, ohno, we'll, we're fine, we'll
look it up or we'll learn orwe'll and like the amount of.
(48:08):
They'll go off and they'll dotheir own homework and they'll
come back and they'll say, hey,I've studied this, this and this
, and then, before you know it,they're doing other things that
you didn't think they were ableto do that's exactly right.
Speaker 1 (48:20):
Yeah, that's exactly right, dwayne.
And it comes back to this thingwhere, as a culture, they love
to learn.
They, they, really, they docourses, they're doing degrees,
they're all very well.
I mean they all do degrees, Imean we have.
Vas that are doing master'sprograms and you know there's a
hunger to learn.
There really, really is ahunger to learn.
(48:40):
I think, you made a really goodpoint just if I could just
reflect that back to you aboutthe ability to pivot.
I think that is probably themost critical piece in this
whole equation is that when youbring a VA in, it's important to
be flexible and to be adaptableand it's not like saying you
know, this VA has to do this andit has to do that.
(49:02):
It's about saying, okay, let'syou know, when Tamsin and I sort
of encourage business owners totrain their VAs, we just say
train them on one thing to getthem up and running.
Okay, don't train them on thewhole of the business within the
first week, because it's likeinformation overload.
Every business is segmented intoan operational function, into a
(49:25):
client function, into amarketing and a social media
function, into a client function, into a marketing and a social
media function.
Just take one of thosefunctions and get some runs on
the board to test theirabilities, to test their skill
set, to see where theirstrengths are and where there
are opportunities forimprovement.
And then, when you start to seewhat they do have the
(49:46):
willingness to be adaptable andflexible, to see, oh, I didn't
think of them doing that, butmaybe they could do that as well
, or maybe we thought that we'regoing to do this, but they can
actually probably do that.
It really is about keeping anopen mind and having a book with
all of this stuff.
That I think is probably thebiggest hurdle that business
(50:08):
owners have to to have is is awillingness to just keep the
book open, to keep to keep openand to keep flexible.
Speaker 2 (50:16):
If you can do that that's half the battle, yeah
definitely yeah, oh, look like,oh yeah.
I could bang on about it allday.
I think it's a no-brainer.
I think, um, for any buildingin this or any any business in
the building industry out therethat is struggling to keep up,
struggling to find more time, um, I think a va is the solution
(50:39):
you need to.
You need to have a go of it.
Speaker 1 (50:41):
So the the important thing is is.
I just want to emphasize thatwe're not.
I mean, I think I thinksometimes the reputation of the
outsourcing business is thatit's just a sales business.
It's about, like you know,getting somebody putting a bum
on a seat and we forget aboutthe VA and forget about the
client.
You know, tamsin and I, we doconsider ourselves disruptors in
(51:02):
the industry and we are lookingto partner with businesses for
the long term and I think thatthe value for us is more
important than the dollar.
You know we feel that thedollar kind of takes care of
itself, but the value is ourprimary priority.
So, yes, we do know that.
For example, you know VAs are70%.
(51:24):
You know a business can save upto 70% by having somebody
offshore rather than locallywhen it comes to the life of
that person.
I mean, when it comes to workfor that digital agency, she
saved them literally over $2million within a year just by
offshoring all the roles.
So we know there's aremuneration value, but there's
(51:48):
something a lot more than thatand I think it's the value that
it brings to a business, to thepeople in that business, and
more about the fact that youknow people don't have enough
time to connect.
I think that's the problem is,we're so busy doing things that
we don't have time to have aconversation with our wives, our
kids, our friends.
We don't have a chance to go tothe pub and have a beer or
(52:10):
whatever it might be.
You know, ask yourself thatquestion would you want that?
And if you want that, then giveus a call.
I mean, we are more than happyjust to walk you through this,
even if you decide to use ourservices or not.
Speaker 2 (52:25):
It's, yeah, it's really look, I can yeah, yeah, I
can definitely vouch for that.
That's.
I think that's been anotherconfidence builder for us.
Um, like, how, how regular youand thames, and check in,
especially in the early stageswhen you're getting set up, but
you, you're always sendingemails, checking in, and I
really like how you, youencourage us, like to regularly
(52:46):
give feedback, um, and then ifthere's anything, if there is
any little issues, um, you guysjump on it and you give them
training or you have aconversation with them, you sort
them out.
So it's, yeah, look, for meit's definitely a no-brainer and
to go with an agency likeyourself that takes care of all
that back end and and that'ssomething I guess, greg, that
(53:08):
you're taking the pressure offas well like it's not us having
to have difficult conversationsif they're not doing something
right or something's not quitewrong uh, not quite right, but
um, and that, that, that justthat's a good point, dwayne
sorry if you don't mind mejumping in there.
Speaker 1 (53:25):
That's a really good point.
So, performance management wehandle all of that.
But, um, we we've hadsituations where clients
struggle to give feedback and II think it is important that
that the business owners do givefeedback.
The important thing is theydon't necessarily need to manage
the, the um, the performanceside of it, but I think it's
(53:48):
important that business ownersdo have the confidence to be
able to say look, you're doinggreat here, but we need to
improve here.
And that, I think, is the mostimportant thing, because we
actually do train our VAs tohandle feedback, because
sometimes culturally it can be abit of a rub, but feedback is
(54:11):
the most communication.
That's it.
That's the key in all of thisis communication, communication,
communication.
We tell our VWAs there's neverany time where you can
over-communicate with the client.
There's never a situation whereyou can never.
Communication is the key acrossthe board and works both ways.
(54:31):
And I think if, if you areconfident in doing that and
you're willing to do that, um,it's a marriage, it's a marriage
made in heaven.
Speaker 2 (54:43):
It really is it's uh, it's your perfect, it's your
perfect opportunity soAbsolutely no-brainer, but we'll
let you get out of here, greg,and get back to your day.
I really appreciate your timefor jumping on and chatting to
us about VAs and what the DoingCo offers, but where can people
find the Doing Co?
(55:03):
We're going to put some linksand stuff on this podcast, but
where can they find you?
Speaker 1 (55:08):
Yeah, so basically they can find us at
wwwthedoingco, so it's thedoingco, uh, and if they want to
email us, it's hello at thedoingco, so it's.
That's the website.
There's a uh on there.
There's a contact sheet, uh, onthe website.
They just click on that, fillin their form or get a
notification, or they can emailus directly.
(55:30):
Uh, hello at the doing dot,that's it awesome mate.
Speaker 2 (55:36):
Well, um, look, I reckon you're gonna get quite a
few people reaching out becauseit's um, yeah, look, I'll uh,
I'll start talking about it moreon some of my socials and stuff
, but it's an absoluteno-brainer, like it's.
Um, it's, it's one of the theeasiest ways to get time back
absolutely I cannot.
Speaker 1 (55:54):
I cannot.
I mean the when we have clientsand after three months doing,
they send us that little emailthat says thank god, I found you
guys, and it's and it's not.
It's not really about, and Ijust want to emphasize it, this
is not about um blowing atrumpet, or it's not about
trying to promote something.
It's about creating value, it'sabout making, creating an
(56:16):
opportunity for a va and it'sabout making life easy for a
business owner, and I think thatis the thing I mean.
Look, life is tough enough andif you can make your life just a
little bit easier by havingsomebody working as a close
partner for you for the longhaul, I think it's a match made
in heaven.
Speaker 2 (56:36):
Yeah, get on board, don't ask for anything better.
Speaker 1 (56:38):
Exactly yeah.
Speaker 2 (56:39):
Cool, awesome.
So, guys, look, make sure youlike, subscribe, reach out to us
.
Look, we'll put links and stuffup on here to the Doing Co so
you can reach out to them.
But look, if you're out there,you're struggling with your time
.
You want to get your life back,you want to be able to spend
more time with your family andfriends?
Then, honestly, hiring a VA isone of the simplest, cheapest,
easiest things you can do tomake a massive difference in
(57:02):
your business.
So, look, we'll see you on thenext one.
Help us continue to make thisaustralia's number one
construction podcast.
Uh, if you haven't purchasedyour merchandise yet, make sure
you go to duanepeircecom.
Uh, we got a full new range onthere hoodies, shorts, shirts,
uh, hats, beanies, you name it.
It's all there.
Um, go and check it out now andwe'll see you on the next one
(57:25):
are you ready to build smarter,live better and enjoy life?
Speaker 1 (57:28):
then head on to live like buildcom forward, slash,
elevate to get started.
Speaker 2 (57:42):
Everything discussed during the Level Up podcast with
me, dwayne Pearce, is basedsolely on my own personal
experiences and thoseexperiences of my guests.
The information, opinions andrecommendations presented in
this podcast are for generalinformation only, and any
reliance on the informationprovided in this podcast is done
at your own risk.
We recommend that you obtainyour own professional advice in
(58:04):
respect to the topics discussedduring this podcast.
That really is the key difference with us is that
we're really bringing people inthat are wanting the longevity
of their careers, like literallywithin a week they're up and
running, they know what they gotto do and away, away they go
and then it keeps growing.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
That is the biggest thing that I think businesses
struggle is they employ peopleand then, if that person goes,
so does the intellectualproperty.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
It's incredible value .
Like you're streamlining yourbusiness, You're getting time
back.
I used to really struggle withstepping back from things and
I'd always be trying to figureout.
I think I've really come tounderstand.
In successful businesses, mytime is my most valuable asset.
I think VAs are such a powerfulpart of a business when you get
(00:42):
it right.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
That's the biggest thing, dwayne, is that people
think that no one else can do itas well as they can do it.
Look, life is tough enough, andif you can make your life just
a little bit easier by havingsomebody working as a close
partner, I think it's a matchmade in heaven.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
G'day guys.
Welcome to another episode ofLevel Up.
We are back in the office foranother recorded podcast.
Today We've got a very specialguest coming which I know is
going to deliver a lot of valuewith some information that will
help all tradies and builderswith ways that you can get more
efficient with your businessthat will get you back more time
(01:24):
.
So big warm welcome to gregfrom the doing co.
How are you, buddy?
Speaker 1 (01:29):
yeah, I'm good mate I'm good, how are?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
you excellent mate.
Thanks for um jumping on thepodcast.
So, uh, how greg is going toadd an enormous event of value
to all the listeners today iswe're talking about vasAs, so
virtual assistants.
Greg and his wife Tamsin run avery successful VA business over
(01:50):
in South Africa.
We've been involved with themfor quite a long time.
My business partner, amelia inLive Life Builders has known
them for even longer and, forthose that don't know, we have
multiple VAs across multiplebusinesses and it's one of the
reasons that allows us to get somuch done.
So tell us a little bit moreabout, I guess, the background,
(02:12):
greg, of your company and howyou got involved with the VAs
and what you do.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Yes, so I mean Tamsin and I have had sort of somewhat
separate journeys, but it kindof really began with her.
She worked for a digital agencyin Australia.
So we were both living inAustralia at the time and she
just had.
You know, obviously, all ofthese things start when you find
(02:39):
a problem, and one of theproblems was that she couldn't
find reliable admin staff inAustralia.
That was just the issue.
So she was working with adigital marketing agency 25
employees but they just couldn'tretain the admin staff.
(03:01):
So she actually had a businesscoach at the time and she ended
up in discussions with him.
Up in discussions with him andyou know, he introduced her to
the outsourcing business andsaid, well, look, there's a huge
market in the philippines, uh,where there are these
professional vas that that workacross borders, and so that that
kind of started the the wholejourney.
So she ended up, uh, employingshe had to convince the, the
(03:21):
owner of the business at thetime, that this, this is
something they needed to explore.
They were a bit business at thetime that this is something
they needed to explore.
They were a bit resistant atthe time because obviously, when
you're doing things for thefirst time, you're not quite
sure what that's like and it's adifferent culture and you don't
even know if it's going to workor not.
So they tried their first VA.
They tried and that first VAthat they hired, that VA is
(03:41):
still in the business today,after I think 12 years.
She's still in the business.
Then they ended up outsourcingtheir whole support team.
So they ended up having aboutsix to 10 virtual assistants
working offshore and Tamsinbuilt that entire infrastructure
.
(04:01):
So then a couple of years afterthat, you know, with that
working, she then kind of endedup on maternity leave and she
started doing operational.
So Tams' background is inoperations, as you know, and
that's when, in the process ofdoing that, we were sort of she
had a number of clients, ofwhich you and Amelia were one of
(04:23):
them, and it just so held thatevery client that she was
dealing with they needed a VA.
So with her experience in that,she just started building up
her networks and connections inthat industry and just started
placing VAs and as a result,that's how the doing co-started.
It was really about a need inthe market for small businesses
(04:45):
needing virtual assistants tohandle those administrative
tasks.
So my background is I've beenmore in the corporate space.
So I've worked in humanresources.
I've done I actually startedoff in financial services and
worked in the human resourcespace in structuring business
(05:06):
solutions, workforce solutions,and I actually worked for a BPO
in Manila for a while and soI've actually had hands-on
experience in working withFilipinos.
So Tamsin and I just decided tocollaborate because we thought
we both have a complementaryskill set, and I joined the
business about just over a yearago.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
So it's great.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
It's a fabulous business and you know it's a
juggling act, but we love it andit adds a lot of value and I
think that's the difference,dwayne, you know, I think the
outsourcing BPO industry has gota big reputation.
It's the good, the bad and theugly, and in the old days it
used to be that the outsourcingwas for the big corporates, but
(05:49):
with the evolution of AI andtechnology it's like anyone can
get a VA anywhere in the worldbecause we've got systems we've
got resources to be able to putthat in place.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
So I think that's the business.
Look, I didn't know a lot aboutit until Live Life Build started
to really take off.
Amelia's used VAs for a verylong time in her undercover
architect business and, look, Idefinitely wasn't aware of just
the variety of skills that wereavailable.
(06:25):
And, um, I guess, like we'vegot vas now across our
businesses that are dealing withfinances, bookkeeping, uh,
general admin, marketing, likeyou name it.
Like we're covering a lot ofground at the moment and a lot
of people ask me all the timelike how do I get so much done?
And I always tell them likeit's the quality of the people
(06:46):
you put around you.
So obviously we have a lot ofpeople here in Australia across
our businesses.
But now having to be able tosource quality VAs to do
specific tasks in the businessman, it just allows you so much
more time.
Like you don't have to getbogged down with so many tasks,
(07:08):
you can have people that justget stuff done.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
Yeah, you know, that's a really good point,
dwayne, and I think you knowwhat I've realised as you get
older and you lose a few hairsin the process.
You sort of realise that timeis your biggest commodity and
it's something we struggle tohold on to, and you lose a few
hairs in the process.
You sort of realize that timeis your biggest commodity and
it's something we struggle tohold on to because there's just
always so many things to do.
So if you can find the rightpeople and put the right people
(07:35):
in the right positions, you knowlike it's half the battle,
isn't it?
You know, I think time is thebiggest commodity we have and
it's like we don't, andsometimes we get in that rut
where we're just doing thingsthe same things day in and day
out and we never stop to thinklike can we do things better,
(07:55):
can we do things moreefficiently?
Can we?
Are there other areas?
You know, I mean I don't knowabout you, duane, but I like
writing in my journal.
And I mean I don't know aboutyou, dwayne, but I like writing
in my journal.
And sometimes, when I write inmy journal at night, I wake up
in the morning and I think, holymoly.
Why am I still doing this?
Why am I still doing the samething?
Surely there's got to besomebody else that can take this
off my plate, and I think thatis the biggest thing.
(08:18):
It's like there are so manythings we want to do with our
lives, our businesses, but weget bogged down by doing things
that we don't need to be doing,and I think that's where Tamsin
and I are really committed withthis business is trying to
create a level of effortlessnessthat enable businesses to grow
(08:39):
and expand by dealing with.
One of the most importantfactors is your people, and I
think that's often the biggestchallenge that people face.
It's like, well, I've neverworked with anyone abroad, let's
say I don't know the culture, Ididn't even know this existed,
(08:59):
like I mean, there are all thesequestions, but I think if you
can just slow down and think,prioritize like, what does your
business need right now?
Speaker 2 (09:07):
You know, and I think , yeah, one of the big things
because, like, the constructionindustry is a hectic industry
here in Australia and there's somany people just working so
hard all day on the tools andgetting a lot of work done, and
then they end up spending allhours of the night and weekends
(09:28):
with all the administrationstuff and that's an area that
they can just add so much valueto a trade based business.
And, look, I guess there is alittle bit of work in the
beginning.
You, you need to sort of have alist of tasks that you can work
with them to create some, Iguess, systems for them to
(09:52):
follow.
Yeah, so you do have to put ina little bit of work in the
beginning but, like man, it'sworth it because once you get
them set up, it's like clockworklike they just they know what
they've got to do every day andthey just get it done.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
yeah that's exactly right.
That's exactly right.
That's exactly right, and Ithink that's what we try and
achieve is that you know there'sthis gap between somebody
sitting in their home in thePhilippines and you sitting in
Australia doing what you do.
And how do you close that gap?
And I think that's what Tamsinand I have really worked to try
(10:24):
and perfect is putting in there,because Tamsin has a strong
operational background.
You know, we've sat on theother side of what business
owners face and we're now onthis side of the spectrum saying
, okay, we know what yourheadaches are, we know what your
situations are.
Let's try and get that marriageworking.
Yeah, let's try and get thatmarriage working.
(10:49):
Yeah, you know, and I think thebiggest challenge owners think
well, I don't have systems, Idon't have processes, I don't
know how to you know, how do Icommunicate with this VA?
You know, and we handle all ofthat for our clients, because we
know that it's not always soeasy, and sometimes we get
clients that have all thesystems that they need but they
don't know how to use them.
(11:10):
Well, for somebody in a remoteenvironment.
So there's an adjustment, but,as you say, like if you can just
spend the first month or sojust going through the motions.
Once that momentum builds, it'samazing.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
It was a little bit well, I must admit.
When I first got involved andwe bought our first VA into Live
Life Build, I had a few issueswith communication, but that's
all.
Like four years later, that'sall gone now, like I said, I
can't even tell you off top man,I think, across the business
has maybe got six at the moment,five, six, seven, yeah, um, and
(11:51):
they all do different tasks.
But, yeah, it's, it's.
You do have to learn how to.
I guess, um, like one of thebiggest differences, all the
communication is generally donevia, uh, either a Slack channel
or some sort of communicationapp, or you jump on Zooms and
you can have conversations andthings.
So just getting used to howthat works.
(12:13):
But something that I've reallyvalued is there's only a very
small time difference.
I think it's only two hours orsomething, isn't it, from
Australia to Philippines.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Yeah, there's only two hours difference.
So it's worked out really wellbecause I can go and get on site
in the morning, get some workhappening and then I don't
really have to be checking,because most of the time they're
not starting until 8, 9 o'clock, which means I can get some
busy stuff done in the morning.
By the time I need to get backand check on them.
(12:44):
But it's become like it's justlike clockwork, like you jump on
Slack.
The other thing that I think isreally important, because the
doing co, like you manage them.
But the way that you guys getthem to log on in the morning,
post a list of tasks thatthey're going to do for the day
and then like check in whenthey're going to lunch and then
(13:05):
check in when they come backfrom lunch and then at the end
of the day do a list of all thetasks they've completed like it
just makes life easy, like weknow exactly where they're up to
all the time.
Um, so I think to be honest,like hiring a va before I was
introduced to the doing co, thatwas the hurdle, like the hurdle
(13:25):
was the management of them yeah, that's right, yeah, yeah the
management.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
I think is the, is the the biggest factor?
But, dwayne, if you don't mindme, I'm gonna ask a question to
you, if that's okay.
What were you when you?
You mentioned a few minutes agothat communication was the
biggest adjustment that you hadto make when you started.
What idea did you have beforeand how did that change as you
(13:54):
started to work?
Speaker 2 (13:55):
with a VA.
Well, I think and look.
So what I've learned is it'sdifferent VAs that we've had
because some have moved on, andwe've had because we've, um,
some have moved on, we've andwe've had other ones come in.
So we've been through um, we'veprobably a lot.
We've probably had around eightor ten, I guess, over the last
four years, yeah, but and thenthey're all.
(14:17):
They're all different, I guess.
So, uh, different skill sets,different um, there's a, there
are a few of them.
We've had a little bit of alanguage barrier, but easy to
I'm not sure how to explain thiseasy to talk to, but, like in
(14:37):
text messages, some of themeaning can get lost a little
bit.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
So just learning how they work and how we work and
what our work, like some of ourwords mean and how they take it.
But, like I'm, we're all overit now, like as the vas that
we've got in the team now, um,but we've got two in dps
constructions, I think we've gotthree or four in live life
build and everything's um verystraightforward.
(15:07):
Like everyone, we all know how,what it, what each other means
and um, yeah, what a little bitof trouble that I had at the
beginning.
Is is completely gone now and II'm looking for more ways that
I can know evas like I justthink they add so much value,
yeah, exactly, and I thinkthat's the biggest thing.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
I guess it's like any relationship in life, isn't it?
It always starts a bit awkward,like how do you work together,
how do you communicate?
You know, are you saying thingsthat somebody might take
offensively or might take thewrong way?
You know understanding howtheir culture works and what
works and what doesn't work, andI mean thompson and I provide a
(15:49):
lot of guidance around theculture.
Um, but yeah, you're right,like once you, once that
understanding's there and you'vegot that flow of communication,
and you know your, your tweaksand your twerks for a better
choice of expression, you knowit yeah it's amazing how how it
literally is if they're in youroffice and they're working in
(16:09):
your business locally.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
So I guess for the listeners, a lot of the people
listening to this podcast aretradies and builders.
So I see a few key areas thatVAs would be able to help them.
Number one is definitelyadministration, like getting
involved with their behind thescenes, taking care of maybe all
their inquiry or their justgeneral day-to-day check-ins,
(16:33):
managing the email inbox.
There's a lot of little thingsthat a VA can come in and just
take care of and give them timeback.
And the other big area I thinkthink is social media and
marketing.
Yeah, do you think that they'resort of two areas that would
really help people inconstruction be able to bring
(16:53):
vas into?
Speaker 1 (16:54):
yeah, absolutely, um, I mean general admin, as you
say, duane can certainly help.
You can have VAs helping withquoting.
We've got one constructionclient that's actually training
their VA to do quotes for theirclients.
(17:14):
You can help with accounts.
You know if you've gotsuppliers and subcontractors and
you know you've got suppliersand subcontractors and you know
you've got invoices that youneed chasing.
A va can do that.
You can have a va that doescustomer support service, the
social media, absolutely.
I mean you know firsthand, youknow that you could literally
(17:38):
have a va that could take overyour entire marketing engine uh
and I and I mean like a fewyears ago that wasn't entirely
possible.
But because we've got AI, nowthere's so much technology
that's come into the marketingspace.
The VAs that we've got comingthrough are unbelievable.
I mean, just to give you anexample, we've got a guy from
(18:06):
the Philippines that worked fora marketing agency in Dubai and
was working with clients acrossthe US and literally there's not
a huge gap between what amarketing manager or a marketing
specialist would do in, let'ssay, australia or the US to what
(18:27):
he was doing.
And he's from the Philippinesand he's back in the.
Philippines now, and so you knowthey can do a lot of things.
They can repurpose content,they can handle it.
They can create a social mediacalendar for you, they can do
email campaigns.
They can help manage yourwebsite.
(18:49):
You know we've got bookkeepers,we've got accountants.
I mean, I know bookkeepers andaccountants are a little tricky
from a legislative, from acompliance perspective, in
Australia, but they can do allof your invoicing and your
bookkeeping in the back end andthen get them running through to
your accountant on the frontend.
So, yeah it, the sky's the limit, mate.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
To be honest, yeah, I guess it's.
It really comes down to theindividual and what they need a
hand with in their business.
But, like I know myself, likeit's, it's so many of those
little simple tasks that reallytie up a lot of your time, like
even just something simple asgoing through and managing inbox
and sorting out emails, like um, but there's some days where
(19:30):
that can take me two or threehours.
But like having someone thatcan come in, can follow the
emails, uh, leave all the onesthat they think are urgent.
So they're the first ones I seewhen I I get there, like just
like that, that gives you mytime back, like I I know when I
come and turn my computer on,it's all sorted.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Yeah, exactly, I mean you know, and I mean that's a
great example, dwayne.
It's like getting that inboxunder control and identifying
what are your most importantemails to your least important
and creating a.
You know RVA is know how tocreate systems in your email
calendar sorry, in your emailinbox so that they can
(20:09):
prioritize all your emails andsay and they can even notify you
, so they can get onto WhatsAppand say hey there's an urgent
email that's coming fromso-and-so.
I think you need to look at thisso they can be your eyes and
ears, essentially on theadministrative side of your
business.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
while you're on site or you're meeting new clients or
you, you're doing whatever itis that you need to do yeah that
, and like we do that throughslack, like having them uh so in
live, like bill, that theynotify uh different team members
on priority emails.
So it means that we're nothaving to go in check our emails
all the time.
Like I just get on Slack afterevery meeting.
(20:48):
If there's any notificationsthere, I just quickly go deal
with that email and move on tomy next task.
So there is, I feel, for peoplethat aren't sort of thinking
this way, it's really importantto highlight how all these
little tasks can be taken overby someone else quite easily.
So I know a lot of peopleprobably maybe stand off hiring
(21:10):
a VA because they might feelthat they don't have enough
systems and processes to put onein.
But my advice would be like, ifyou get them on board to even
take care of some of those realmundane, simple tasks while
they're doing that, you can beworking with them to create
systems to allow them to doother tasks, so you can learn
(21:34):
together as you go.
But one thing I've really foundamazing is the skill sets that
are available.
The level of qualificationsthat some of these VAs have is
amazing.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Yeah, I know it is.
They're all literally.
We get engineers we've haddentists that have applied for
positions we get accountants.
We get highly, highly, highlyqualified people, because in the
Philippines, dwayne, you know,vas working for international
(22:09):
companies are paid more than youknow doctors, lawyers and
accountants within thePhilippines, so they are
considered a premium position.
So the benefit that we have isthat we can pay them really well
and we can give them a betteropportunity to work or to have
(22:32):
exposure to an internationalmarket, and I think that's where
we were very lucky.
There are over one and a halfmillion Filipinos working for
international companies, likecompanies outside of the
Philippines, and that's growingannually at 10% to 15% per year,
all right.
It's only set to get bigger overthe next 10 to 15 years.
(22:55):
So it's not going back, it'sonly going forwards.
And with the arrival of AI onthe scene.
So you know it's not going back, it's only going forwards.
And with the arrival of AI onthe scene, that just makes your
VA even more efficient to beable to do things even faster.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Well, that's been another really big eye-opener
for me, like all the VAs we'vehad, like their tech, like they
seem to like, like obviouslythere's different ones are
better at different things, butin general they have a lot
better understanding of techthan what I do.
So, um, tech is like I'm not atech person, I can't stand
sitting in the office.
So to be able to bring a va andthat can manage a lot of the
(23:34):
tech stuff and, um, createmarketing campaigns and do
calendars for work and schedulethings, it makes life so much
easier.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
So how, like?
If someone out there isthinking about getting a VA,
what's the process?
How do they?
Like when they come to you.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
Yeah, so the process is pretty straightforward.
What we do is we do a discoverycall and we just try and
understand their business, likewhat have they got?
What do they do first of all,and what are their pain points
and how?
You know a lot of people thatwe do talk to Dwayne.
(24:18):
They do sometimes find, well,like I've got nothing in place,
I don't know how to manage VA,you know, and we've created a
huge library of resources.
We've got 30 videos.
We've got 30 differentsubsections of documents and
videos that we create that canhelp a business owner build
(24:41):
systems into their business.
So typically what we do is wejust understand what the problem
is, we understand what goes onin their business and then we
create.
We then, you know, once theyunderstand that, we then sort of
explain to them how ourbusiness operates, just in terms
of what our service is.
So just think of it like we areyour back-end system.
(25:07):
So we're like you know you'reon the front end dealing with
what you're dealing with, andwe're the HR function that sits,
you know, in your business butat the back end.
Essentially, so when the clientcomes or the prospect comes, we
talk to them, we understandwhat their business pain points
are what they're looking for.
They then we have what we callan admin setup fee, which is,
(25:34):
you know, about 800 bucks, andthat stops the whole process of
sourcing, hiring and onboardingthat VA, and then they just
simply pay and then, throughthat process, we go out.
We've got a huge network of VAsthat we have access to on our
database and we've got varioussort of proprietary networks
(25:58):
that we have in the Philippinesthat give us the best that we
can.
We can find, yeah, um, and then, once we've got that, we then
interview them, we assess them,we screen them.
Uh, we we've actuallyinteresting that we've built a
um like a, an algorithm thathelps us to.
We we've managed to benchmarkall of our best VAs and then
(26:21):
we've built that in as an AIfunction, and then what it means
is that whenever we put a newprospect in, we compare that VA
to the benchmark that we havewithin the business, so that we
constantly are just finding thevery, very best.
Once we've done that, we thenpresent a short list of
candidates to the client.
(26:42):
The client then has the chanceto review them.
They either decide which onethey want or if they would like
to interview them and have aconversation with them.
They can, and then, once thathappens, we place them.
Tamsin handles a lot of theonboarding stuff, so we have a
whole onboarding process thathelps you to onboard your VA.
We help you to put systems andprocesses in place.
(27:04):
We recommend tools and softwareto use to assist with that, and
then you're on your way.
And then basically we coach, wedo professional development, we
coach the VAs and we do weeklysessions with them.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
We also work with the business owners on a monthly
basis um, it's been um, but thatwhole onboarding process has
been fantastic.
Every time we've we've hiredone like, it's really like I
don't know any other.
I've never hired staff where,um, you're given options, like
the, the fact that you guys comeback, you go away, you take
(27:43):
your time, you come back to uswith generally three or four
options, um, and you give us areport, you give us a recorded
interview.
We can go through them all um.
I just think it's fantastic,and there's been, there's been a
lot of times, or a few times,where you guys have presented um
, so a new va, and we've gone,oh shit, maybe we should take
(28:05):
two because there's some reallygood candidates there.
So, yeah, yeah yeah, there are.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
I mean and, and you know that there and I think, and
I think also because we dotreat them really well, I mean
we look after them really well.
So on the other side of theequation.
You know we're just gettingfloods of inquiries all the time
.
You know, we get VAs registeringthrough our ATS system and
they're emailing us saying youknow, I've heard about the Doing
(28:32):
Co.
Really, do you have a job forme?
And so we.
You know there's a lot ofmomentum on that end to really
try and make a difference intheir lives, as well as in the
lives of our clients.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
So tell us for the listeners, greg, tell us a
little bit more about the rulesand regulations, because a lot
of people I think might be putoff by how does like over in
Australia.
Here when we employ people,we've got to pay like
superannuation and workers' compor work cover for sickness and
accident and all those types ofthings.
How does it look when you hiresomeone from the Philippines?
Speaker 1 (29:14):
Well, you don't need to worry about that.
So typically what you do iswhen you employ a Filipino
remotely, they're an independentcontractor.
They take care of all of theirown taxes, they take care of all
of their own insurancerequirements, because you're
working through the agency ofthe doing co.
(29:34):
We deal with all of thoserequirements on the back end.
So for the client, they don'thave to worry about
superannuation or PAYGwithholdings or any of those
requirements or insurancerequirements.
You don't have to worry aboutthat.
You just pay one monthly fee tous that covers our service plus
(29:56):
the VA's salary, and we havethe whole infrastructure in the
back end.
So all of the compliance, allof the requirements that we have
to meet contractually with theVA, so the contractors with the
doing co and the VA, and then weoutsource that VA to you.
So the most beautiful thing isyou don't have to worry about
(30:17):
that.
And I think you know, meanobviously there.
You know if, if somebody wantsto go direct, they can, but you
know there are.
I I wouldn't recommend that andto be honest with you, I mean
I'm not talking selfishlybecause we run an agency, but
it's just we we've hadsituations where clients do that
(30:37):
and and they can.
You know, they can run into alot more issues.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
Yeah, I think you were mentioning a case to me
only a few weeks ago, I think,weren't you where someone in
Australia is in a bit of strifebecause they've dealt with their
.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
Yeah, that's exactly right.
I mean, there was a company, alaw firm, that had employed a
Filipino directly and that's agood point, dwayne, because
there are regulations that arecoming in to tighten up on
remote work because it isbecoming so much more popular
but they dismissed her unfairlyand I give kudos to the Filipino
(31:17):
.
She took the company to theFair Trades Commission in
Australia and she won a case,and so, because they considered
her to be an employer oremployee within Australia and
she won the case.
And so that's like opened up awhole can of worms around.
(31:39):
You know companies having to becareful about you know what I'm
saying is like you just have to.
It's not as easy as just havingsomebody offshore and if it
doesn't work out you can justget rid of them because you know
and so there are, you're justhaving to be a little bit more
careful.
So the idea of having an agencyis that you don't have to deal
(32:01):
with any of that.
All of that support, all ofthat training, all of that
compliance is handled, and Iknow you builders have
compliance coming out of youreyeballs.
So for us to be able to takesome of that compliance off your
shoulders um, oh, for me, forme it's a no-brainer.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Like you guys, we just pay you one monthly fee and
and you take care of everything.
Um, yeah, and look, we've uh,we've had a few situations with
it with um, with our vas, wherethey just do awesome jobs.
So we talk to you guys and we,we give them bonuses and things,
but so I think, like it's, it'sflexible, isn't it?
Like it's not um, like I guessit, depending on the performance
(32:38):
of the va, you can deal with um, you guys and give the pay
rises and bonuses and thosetypes of things.
So it's very similar to havingan employee here in australia,
it's just that you're not, youdon't get to see them, it's all
done online yeah that's exactlyright.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
I mean, that's the beautiful thing is like, instead
of seeing them face to face, um, they're online, um, but it is
literally like having somebodyin your office and the
technology you know.
I mean one of the things thatwe do is we have a time tracking
system in the back end where wetrack their time, and that's
(33:15):
not to because they're workingremotely and they're not in an
office.
We do track their time, but wealso use it as part of their
professional development, and Ithink that's something that our
clients absolutely value is thatthey know that there's an
opportunity to keep growing andto keep upskilling, and I think
Filipino VAs love that.
They love the opportunity togrow and expand, especially when
(33:39):
it comes to their career.
I mean that's the biggest thing,dwayne, is that these positions
are not just we're not justputting somebody in as a tick
box thing, you know, like you'rejust ticking off your checklist
.
These are professionals.
These are people that wantlong-term careers.
They want the stability andthey realize that you know to be
able to work from home for aninternational company.
(34:00):
It's like hitting the jackpotfor them.
So that really is the keydifference with us is that we're
really bringing people in thatare wanting the professional
development they want thelongevity of their careers.
They're not just looking forshort stopgaps, put it that way.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Yeah, I think it's fantastic and, look, it really
excites me.
I feel there's enormousopportunity for VAs to get more
involved in the constructionindustry.
Well, yeah, just helping tradesout.
But I guess for any trades andbuilders that are listening or
not just trades and builders,but anyone that's listening to
this podcast I don't think itreally matters what type of
(34:43):
business you have.
There is a position for a VA inyour business that will help
you get a lot of time backduring the week, Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
I mean we were talking to another builder a
couple of weeks ago and I meanthey were up till midnight,
right Up till midnight everynight, working, dealing with all
of their bookkeeping, you know.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
No, look, it's a common story in the industry,
Like people, like I said before,they work all day out on site
and then literally get home,have dinner with the family and
then back in the office and worktill all hours.
And I think there's definitely.
I think for me, my advice topeople would be to start slowly
(35:30):
with it.
Just come up with some of thereal mundane, simple tasks that
you do every single day thathave to be done and just get a
VA in to start doing those tasksand you'll be surprised.
For me, it built my confidencewhen I first started getting
introduced to V vas, like seeingtheir capabilities and the
(35:51):
quality of the work they gotdone and how quickly they got it
done, and the communication,how it all worked.
Like every.
As I got more and moreconfident in it, it allowed me
to go oh, hang on a minute,maybe they can do this and maybe
they can do this and maybe theycan do this.
And, like before you know it,we've created a whole other rate
, a whole other um, a role, andnow we've got two, then we've
(36:12):
got two vas and then it grew tothree vas though um yeah, I mean
we've got a.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
We were just to give you an example, dwayne.
We were talking to one of ourvas last week and she works with
um.
Uh, her client is a builder aswell and they've got the
WonderBuild software and she'snow doing quotes for her client.
(36:39):
You know, her client taught herhow to do so.
For example, he just takes herand he says, okay, we're going
to quote up a bathroom and theseare the, the product codes and
this is the pricing for thesuppliers, and and she puts all
of that together for him yeah,it's amazing, just amazing.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
One thing that I've really enjoyed, um, greg, is and
I think it comes from the doingco and what you guys do behind
the scene but all of our vascreate sops for the tasks they
do, so standard operatingprocedures.
So that's given us a lot ofconfidence, like if they're
creating sops for their task, asthey do them, and then we we
(37:22):
review them and work with themand update them and all those
types of things.
But by creating those sops forall the tasks that are getting
done, it means that our businessis building up a library of
standard operating procedures.
So if a va does move on orsomething happens, or we've had
a few cases, especially in thelive life build over the last
(37:42):
few years, where, um, the we've,we've decided to do more tasks,
we grow the business, and so,because there's all those sops
there, we've been able to bringanother VA in and they've just
been able to follow theprocedures.
So that has meant that the likeliterally within a week they're
up and running, they know whatthey got to do and away, away
(38:04):
they go, and then the VA moveson to creating more sops for new
tasks.
Speaker 1 (38:09):
So it just it keeps growing yeah, yeah, I, I
absolutely, dwayne, and I meanthat is the biggest thing that I
think businesses struggle isthey employ people and then, if
that person goes, so does theintellectual property that goes
with that person.
And, and you know, I've, evenwhen I, when we were in
Australia and I was workingcorporate you know the companies
(38:31):
that I worked for they neverhad a plan in place as to if
that person were to go, howwould they?
Would they have a library ofresources that the next person
could just come in, learn thebusiness, learn the ropes and be
able to get on with the jobwithin a week.
And so that's something, asyou're saying.
That's something we do stresshighly is creating SOPs, and we
(38:55):
have a whole library ofresources.
You know, like, what kind ofSOPs do you need to create?
And we show you.
We actually have templates thatthe clients can follow, and we
have.
There's a software called Loom,which I'm sure you're aware of,
where you can record all of thesystems, the processes that are
(39:19):
operating in your business andyou can document them.
You keep them in the cloud orin the G drive and then they're
there.
And you just systematize yourwhole business, so every area of
your business is catalogued andit just means that if that
person goes, you've got somebodyand they know exactly where to
go and understand exactly whatthey need to do to get up to
(39:41):
speed with how your businessoperates.
Speaker 2 (39:45):
Yeah, and that in itself is adding a huge amount
of value to a business.
Greg, can we talk a little bitabout cost?
I know everyone's going to bewondering what VAs cost, but
it's like everyone in business,isn't it?
It varies depending on what youwant.
Speaker 1 (40:02):
Correct.
Yeah, so typically if youwanted somebody and I know
sometimes people start part-time, so they would say, you know,
like, if you wanted somebody,and I know sometimes people
start part-time, so they they,they would say you know what, I
just want to tip my toe in thewater, let's start part-time.
So the minimum we do is 20hours a week.
Uh, part-time and that's thatstarts at about 350 bucks a week
(40:24):
.
Okay, so that that covers theba salary, covers our service.
That's just it $350 a week tostart.
But that's a starting price,which is about $1,400 a month.
Yeah, $1,400 a month.
Part-time, that's 20 hours aweek of service, full-time.
You're looking at a startingprice of about $2,200, which is
(40:46):
about $550 a week, and that's it.
That covers our service, thatcovers the va.
And you get them for part-timeat 1400 bucks a month.
You get them for 20 hours aweek at 2200 starting price.
You get them for um 2200 a week, that's right 2200 a month yeah
(41:08):
, it's incredible value.
Speaker 2 (41:10):
Like you're, you're streamlining your business,
you're getting, like you'regetting time back.
Like I look for anyone that'slistening out there.
I used to really struggle withstepping back from things and
I'd always be trying to figureout oh well, if I do it, it's
going to save me this much moneyand blah, blah, blah.
But, um, something I've reallycome to understand in business
(41:31):
and to have successfulbusinesses is my time is my most
valuable asset.
So I need to be spending mytime doing what I'm really good
at, and anything that I'm notefficient at, that I'm slow at,
that I don't understand.
I need to hire people to do it,and I think VAs are such an
incredible or incrediblypowerful part of a business.
(41:55):
When you get it right and Idon't know, I'm sure people
listening like once you hire one, it does become a bit addictive
because you can just see howmuch more efficiency you get
across the board, and for me,I'd rather be picking up
efficiencies and getting timeback so I can spend my time with
my family than uh, sitting inthe office till all hours of
(42:17):
night doing repetitive stuffevery night of the week I
absolutely.
Speaker 1 (42:21):
I mean, you know.
You know.
Wouldn't it be wonderful youcould come back at the end of
your day being on site and youcould have a meal with your
family, you could talk to yourkids, you could read a bedtime
story to your kids, you couldwatch a movie with your wife,
you could take her on dates.
You know you.
Speaker 2 (42:36):
There's so many things you could probably do
that you never thought waspossible by having a really good
person by your side that willbe, there to you for as long as
your business is running what'ssome of the objections you hear,
greg, from people that arethinking about hiring a va?
Speaker 1 (42:54):
um, a lot of the times it's I'm not ready and um.
I think that often is thebiggest obstacles.
As I was saying in thebeginning of the podcast, people
get quite addicted to doing, um, what they've just been doing
for years, and it's aconditioning in the mind that,
(43:14):
oh, I've just been doing thisand, uh, I can't imagine
somebody else doing it.
And the biggest thing is, willthey do it as well as I'm doing
it?
That's the biggest thing,dwayne, is that people think
that no one else can do it aswell as they can do it and the
question is there.
There isn't.
There is an important step thatyou have to take inside of
(43:37):
yourself where you have to say,um, that I can, I can trust
somebody I can.
You've got to literally say I'mwilling to trust, I'm willing
to let go and grow my businessand know that you know I don't
know whether you believe in abigger power or whatever but
(43:58):
that my universe is willing togive me a break, you know, to
give me that opportunity to stepback and just take a breath.
You know, I think so many timespeople never stand back and just
say what's going on in my life,am I happy with the way things
are running?
And I think, to be able to juststep back and self-reflect and
(44:22):
just, you know, because, likethe amount of mental health
issues that are going on in theworld, dwayne is because people
are just burnt out.
You know there's there's asubtle burnout and people don't
even realize that they've got it.
So what Tamsin and I try and dois we just say, look, we'll
have a conversation.
I mean, we don't have aninterest in selling to you and
(44:44):
it's not about selling to you.
It's like if you don't see thevalue, we wouldn't want you to
be with us.
You know, we want clients thatsee the value of what we give
and they and it makes adifference in their lives.
If it doesn't make a differencein your life, um, then we
wouldn't want you to do it.
You know what I mean.
It's like there's no point ifyou don't so we have had
(45:06):
situations where we turn clientsaway because they're just not
ready to take that step.
You've got to have the mindsetof saying I'm willing to let
somebody else share thisresponsibility and I'm willing
to trust somebody to do it.
So the biggest issue, I think,dwayne, is what goes on between
(45:28):
the ears.
Speaker 2 (45:29):
And.
Speaker 1 (45:29):
I really do.
I mean, I don't mean to be rudeabout it, but it it people's
own limitations, I think, get inthe way of this and and they,
you know, we have had situationswhere clients come to us and
they've had bad experiences withthe ears, and I'm not
suggesting that they're allperfect, they're not we.
You do get, you can get bumpsalong the road, but we deal with
(45:54):
them and that's that's thething is that we don't just let
it kind of run on.
So the the issue is that it Ithink the important thing is is
the willingness to try and thewillingness to even have a
conversation, because sometimesyou know, when people have the
willingness to even have aconversation, because sometimes
you know, when people have theopportunity to talk to somebody
about this, they start to thinkoh well, you know, actually,
maybe this could be anopportunity.
(46:16):
Yeah, you know.
Speaker 2 (46:20):
Just to touch on that , greg, like we've been through,
like we've had a couple overthe years that haven't worked
out.
But I think that's the beautyof dealing with an agency like
yourself.
Like we let you know what'sgoing on, yeah, we talk to you
about it, uh, and we've had theother thing like.
The other part of that is wehad that with the first one.
(46:43):
We started with dpsconstructions and we at first we
thought it was a disaster, butit's actually turned into the
best thing ever and Angelica'sfantastic.
But I think in the early, likeprobably in the first month or
two, there was just a differencein what we thought we wanted
(47:04):
her to do and what she ended updoing.
But when we understood herskill set and we were able to
pivot and get her to do otherthings, it's actually turned out
to be better than what weoriginally wanted.
So I think it's it's nodifferent to any um, I guess,
(47:25):
employment.
Like anyone that you put on,you've got to get a feel for
them and understand how theywork in the early days.
But what I've really noticedwith VAs is they're so willing
to learn, like so much more thanwhat I see here in Australia.
Like everyone, every VA thatwe've ever put on in the last
(47:46):
four or five years.
They are so um helpful and ifyou ask them to do like, we
treat them quite well and wealways say them look at, if are
you able to do this, if youcan't, doesn't matter, like, but
they always come back with, ohno, we'll, we're fine, we'll
look it up or we'll learn orwe'll and like the amount of.
(48:08):
They'll go off and they'll dotheir own homework and they'll
come back and they'll say, hey,I've studied this, this and this
, and then, before you know it,they're doing other things that
you didn't think they were ableto do that's exactly right.
Speaker 1 (48:20):
Yeah, that's exactly right, dwayne.
And it comes back to this thingwhere, as a culture, they love
to learn.
They, they, really, they docourses, they're doing degrees,
they're all very well.
I mean they all do degrees, Imean we have.
Vas that are doing master'sprograms and you know there's a
hunger to learn.
There really, really is ahunger to learn.
(48:40):
I think, you made a really goodpoint just if I could just
reflect that back to you aboutthe ability to pivot.
I think that is probably themost critical piece in this
whole equation is that when youbring a VA in, it's important to
be flexible and to be adaptableand it's not like saying you
know, this VA has to do this andit has to do that.
(49:02):
It's about saying, okay, let'syou know, when Tamsin and I sort
of encourage business owners totrain their VAs, we just say
train them on one thing to getthem up and running.
Okay, don't train them on thewhole of the business within the
first week, because it's likeinformation overload.
Every business is segmented intoan operational function, into a
(49:25):
client function, into amarketing and a social media
function, into a client function, into a marketing and a social
media function.
Just take one of thosefunctions and get some runs on
the board to test theirabilities, to test their skill
set, to see where theirstrengths are and where there
are opportunities forimprovement.
And then, when you start to seewhat they do have the
(49:46):
willingness to be adaptable andflexible, to see, oh, I didn't
think of them doing that, butmaybe they could do that as well
, or maybe we thought that we'regoing to do this, but they can
actually probably do that.
It really is about keeping anopen mind and having a book with
all of this stuff.
That I think is probably thebiggest hurdle that business
(50:08):
owners have to to have is is awillingness to just keep the
book open, to keep to keep openand to keep flexible.
Speaker 2 (50:16):
If you can do that that's half the battle, yeah
definitely yeah, oh, look like,oh yeah.
I could bang on about it allday.
I think it's a no-brainer.
I think, um, for any buildingin this or any any business in
the building industry out therethat is struggling to keep up,
struggling to find more time, um, I think a va is the solution
(50:39):
you need to.
You need to have a go of it.
Speaker 1 (50:41):
So the the important thing is is.
I just want to emphasize thatwe're not.
I mean, I think I thinksometimes the reputation of the
outsourcing business is thatit's just a sales business.
It's about, like you know,getting somebody putting a bum
on a seat and we forget aboutthe VA and forget about the
client.
You know, tamsin and I, we doconsider ourselves disruptors in
(51:02):
the industry and we are lookingto partner with businesses for
the long term and I think thatthe value for us is more
important than the dollar.
You know we feel that thedollar kind of takes care of
itself, but the value is ourprimary priority.
So, yes, we do know that.
For example, you know VAs are70%.
(51:24):
You know a business can save upto 70% by having somebody
offshore rather than locallywhen it comes to the life of
that person.
I mean, when it comes to workfor that digital agency, she
saved them literally over $2million within a year just by
offshoring all the roles.
So we know there's aremuneration value, but there's
(51:48):
something a lot more than thatand I think it's the value that
it brings to a business, to thepeople in that business, and
more about the fact that youknow people don't have enough
time to connect.
I think that's the problem is,we're so busy doing things that
we don't have time to have aconversation with our wives, our
kids, our friends.
We don't have a chance to go tothe pub and have a beer or
(52:10):
whatever it might be.
You know, ask yourself thatquestion would you want that?
And if you want that, then giveus a call.
I mean, we are more than happyjust to walk you through this,
even if you decide to use ourservices or not.
Speaker 2 (52:25):
It's, yeah, it's really look, I can yeah, yeah, I
can definitely vouch for that.
That's.
I think that's been anotherconfidence builder for us.
Um, like, how, how regular youand thames, and check in,
especially in the early stageswhen you're getting set up, but
you, you're always sendingemails, checking in, and I
really like how you, youencourage us, like to regularly
(52:46):
give feedback, um, and then ifthere's anything, if there is
any little issues, um, you guysjump on it and you give them
training or you have aconversation with them, you sort
them out.
So it's, yeah, look, for meit's definitely a no-brainer and
to go with an agency likeyourself that takes care of all
that back end and and that'ssomething I guess, greg, that
(53:08):
you're taking the pressure offas well like it's not us having
to have difficult conversationsif they're not doing something
right or something's not quitewrong uh, not quite right, but
um, and that, that, that justthat's a good point, dwayne
sorry if you don't mind mejumping in there.
Speaker 1 (53:25):
That's a really good point.
So, performance management wehandle all of that.
But, um, we we've hadsituations where clients
struggle to give feedback and II think it is important that
that the business owners do givefeedback.
The important thing is theydon't necessarily need to manage
the, the um, the performanceside of it, but I think it's
(53:48):
important that business ownersdo have the confidence to be
able to say look, you're doinggreat here, but we need to
improve here.
And that, I think, is the mostimportant thing, because we
actually do train our VAs tohandle feedback, because
sometimes culturally it can be abit of a rub, but feedback is
(54:11):
the most communication.
That's it.
That's the key in all of thisis communication, communication,
communication.
We tell our VWAs there's neverany time where you can
over-communicate with the client.
There's never a situation whereyou can never.
Communication is the key acrossthe board and works both ways.
(54:31):
And I think if, if you areconfident in doing that and
you're willing to do that, um,it's a marriage, it's a marriage
made in heaven.
Speaker 2 (54:43):
It really is it's uh, it's your perfect, it's your
perfect opportunity soAbsolutely no-brainer, but we'll
let you get out of here, greg,and get back to your day.
I really appreciate your timefor jumping on and chatting to
us about VAs and what the DoingCo offers, but where can people
find the Doing Co?
(55:03):
We're going to put some linksand stuff on this podcast, but
where can they find you?
Speaker 1 (55:08):
Yeah, so basically they can find us at
wwwthedoingco, so it's thedoingco, uh, and if they want to
email us, it's hello at thedoingco, so it's.
That's the website.
There's a uh on there.
There's a contact sheet, uh, onthe website.
They just click on that, fillin their form or get a
notification, or they can emailus directly.
(55:30):
Uh, hello at the doing dot,that's it awesome mate.
Speaker 2 (55:36):
Well, um, look, I reckon you're gonna get quite a
few people reaching out becauseit's um, yeah, look, I'll uh,
I'll start talking about it moreon some of my socials and stuff
, but it's an absoluteno-brainer, like it's.
Um, it's, it's one of the theeasiest ways to get time back
absolutely I cannot.
Speaker 1 (55:54):
I cannot.
I mean the when we have clientsand after three months doing,
they send us that little emailthat says thank god, I found you
guys, and it's and it's not.
It's not really about, and Ijust want to emphasize it, this
is not about um blowing atrumpet, or it's not about
trying to promote something.
It's about creating value, it'sabout making, creating an
(56:16):
opportunity for a va and it'sabout making life easy for a
business owner, and I think thatis the thing I mean.
Look, life is tough enough andif you can make your life just a
little bit easier by havingsomebody working as a close
partner for you for the longhaul, I think it's a match made
in heaven.
Speaker 2 (56:36):
Yeah, get on board, don't ask for anything better.
Speaker 1 (56:38):
Exactly yeah.
Speaker 2 (56:39):
Cool, awesome.
So, guys, look, make sure youlike, subscribe, reach out to us
.
Look, we'll put links and stuffup on here to the Doing Co so
you can reach out to them.
But look, if you're out there,you're struggling with your time
.
You want to get your life back,you want to be able to spend
more time with your family andfriends?
Then, honestly, hiring a VA isone of the simplest, cheapest,
easiest things you can do tomake a massive difference in
(57:02):
your business.
So, look, we'll see you on thenext one.
Help us continue to make thisaustralia's number one
construction podcast.
Uh, if you haven't purchasedyour merchandise yet, make sure
you go to duanepeircecom.
Uh, we got a full new range onthere hoodies, shorts, shirts,
uh, hats, beanies, you name it.
It's all there.
Um, go and check it out now andwe'll see you on the next one
(57:25):
are you ready to build smarter,live better and enjoy life?
Speaker 1 (57:28):
then head on to live like buildcom forward, slash,
elevate to get started.
Speaker 2 (57:42):
Everything discussed during the Level Up podcast with
me, dwayne Pearce, is basedsolely on my own personal
experiences and thoseexperiences of my guests.
The information, opinions andrecommendations presented in
this podcast are for generalinformation only, and any
reliance on the informationprovided in this podcast is done
at your own risk.
We recommend that you obtainyour own professional advice in
(58:04):
respect to the topics discussedduring this podcast.
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