Having virtual assistants working for you at low costs is effective and fun. However, there are some disadvantages of outsourcing work to foreign countries. If you are aware of those outsourcing disadvantages, your business will be that much more successful.

Language barrier between you and your virtual assistant

English is the most common language a must have skill for any kind of outsourcing work.

For example, if a virtual assistant only speaks Spanish , the majority of the employers will not be able to work with him.

If you were to choose to outsource work to one provider today, I wish you three things:

1. You treat your provider with respect.
2. You don’t get screwed over.
3. You a freelancer who knows English well and is bright.

Everything else is totally optional!

Exception: If you need a specialist

If you are looking for a specialist, perhaps a programmer , you cannot start with a newbie with only English skills. For this you will just have to pay more. There is always a price of high quality.

Look for the optimal freelancer for everything else:

But if you have a specific, private task, you only need a guy or a girl who

• knows English
• is quick with answering
• responsible
• and honest

Then you can do anything.

Finding the right VA needs experience

One of the bigger disadvantages of outsourcing is that you have to learn it, just like any other skill. The tips on ideal-helper, which come from years of real-life experience from both the employer and freelancer points of view, will help you with that.

And if you want to make your life easier, be sure to choose the right outsourcing company for your needs. My choice lies with Odesk.

Outsourcing work costs you money

This is on of the disadvantages of outsourcing that goes without saying. Still, you should calculate your budget before starting to work with a freelancer. It would be frustrating for him, too, if you were to fire your assistant because you run out of funds.

Fortunately, if you know how to hire a virtual assistant at the right place, you can keep costs extremely low, down to 1$/hour.

What tasks can’t you outsource?

Managing your VA needs time

Before you start actually saving time by working together with your personal assistant, you need to invest some time training him and adjusting to each other.

Don’t be disillusioned if the first days you pass way more time writing emails and clarifying things when you just wanted to chill out at the beach while someone else works for you.

Here is my method to getting there faster:

Use screen recording software to show him exactly what you want. This goes way faster than writing emails and is actually better suited for training your virtual assistant.

You can’t simply fool around. You now have responsibility for your VA

When you have actually hired a person to work for you, you are in a working relationship. Take it as seriously as your employee takes the money he earns for giving his best for you, and think about some ethics in business basics.

You cannot just abuse the fact that your worker lives in a poor country and consider him a modern slave.

Having responsibility for another person, who probably is looking up to you, is one of the smaller disadvantages of outsourcing. Still, keep it in mind and never take the services of your worker for granted.

Those Outsourcing disadvantages are not much of a problem?

In reality, hiring virtual assistants is easy, fun and effective for almost everyone. Just that many people don’t even consider doing this.

The disadvantages of outsourcing listed on this page are there to help you profit the most from a freelancer when you do hire him. If you keep them in mind, as well as using your common sense, you will be fine.