A few takeaways from what I've learned after 4 years of experimentation with outsourcing / hiring remotely in my own full-time online business: - Turnover can

A few takeaways from what I've learned after 4 years of experimentation with outsourcing / hiring remotely in my own full-time online business: - Turnover can be a problem. I went through 3 part-time workers in the course of 6 months because they moved on to bigger, better projects. The hourly rate was great, but the re-training and inconvenience was a nightmare. When my third iterations employee for the position ended up being a rock-star, I worked HARD to make her feel like part of the team, encourage her, and gave occasional bonuses even though she was an hourly, outsourced worked. She's been with me for 2.5 years. - Hiring full-time, salaried employees in your time zone is EXPENSIVE, but eventually necessary in you want to free-up your time, grow the business and maintain quality. For a while, I really put off hiring a full-time operations manager, instead trying to work with professional, part-time remotes in a time zone 7 hours ahead. I saved a little money but dealt with tons of logistical problems. If your employees are solely building a product, this might not be an issue. But if they have any time of consistant employee communication, time zone shifts can get complicated. I finally bit the bullet and hired a full-time, local operations manager despite the expense... ...and it has been worth it. I was able to interview face-to-face, which I think is important for critical positions, and ended up with a guy who I 100% trust with the operations of my company. I spent 7 months last year traveling internationally, and was often out-of-touch and 12+ hours ahead of my business and customers. Without a local, full-time employee to manage the business for me that I trusted, there's no way I could have done that. I possibly could have found someone remotely to do this, but I would have had to spend a LOT of face time with them for training, and to feel comfortable at a level where I'd leave for an extended period. In summary, I've found a combination of remote and local employees really works best. Remote outsourcing offers a LOT of great talent and potential, but it's no panacea; there are plenty of logistical issues to be considered. But with the right planning and local/remote diversification, it can be a great tool for growing your business.