About two weeks ago, I asked for your outsourcing questions which resulted in a free outsourcing report based on the questions you asked about outsourcing in your own business.

I received an interesting question from Yvonne. It was a little out of the area of discussion for my report, so I didn't include it at the time, but I think it's a great question.

She wrote:

"I am a Virtual Assistant and belong to many VA forums. There are often new VAs there that are just starting out and I have from time to time used these VAs to assist with workload overflow. My biggest question is how do I get these people to understand the value in subcontracting from me?

I have offered work to many VAs (of course at a subcontractor rate) and they say they would rather wait and get a "real" client. First of all I am a real client and I am ready to hand them over the work. They didn't need to market to me as I essentially walked right up to their "door" and said hi I want your services - no marketing or costs involved."

First of all, Yvonne...you are 100% correct. You are a REAL client and you can potentially deliver more work than a single small business client. You are also helping them gain experience, a reference (after all, if they do a good job, I'm sure you're happy to do that) and a little more insight into the VA business in general.

Now, I wonder if their concern is that any potential referrals they would have received working with your clients will go to you. In that case, if they got completely involved in working with you, it might stunt their own business growth.

What you probably need to do is to really iron out the details of your working relationship:

• For those hoping to build their own VA businesses, I'd limit the number of hours they can work for you, so they have time to build up other clients.
  
• Have a simple way for them to terminate a contract with you, should they need to.
• Be careful with any non-compete clauses you may include in your contract. While you want to ensure they have unable to take your own clients away, you certainly don't want to preclude them growing their own virtual assistant business.

But Is This What You Really Want?

Overall, I wonder if finding budding young VA entrepreneurs are the people you want to have working for you. There are plenty of people simply looking for "work from home" and would be happy to take you up on your offer. Connect with telecommuting websites, forums, etc. and find ways to spread the word about your opportunities.

Side note: Nell Taliercio is a great source of telecommuting information and is in contact with a large group of telecommuters. You might want to start your search there.

You can also put up an "Opportunities" or "Work from Home" section on your own website with information about the opportunities you have and an application form process. Get the word out about that and you'll have plenty of people banging down your virtual door hoping to work for you.