This was a painful lesson. Thanks for sharing. The joys of personnel management!

There are content management companies out there, something I’m in the process of building with my business also, that will manage a VA and freelance writer/webmaster team for clients. They should have enough flexibility built in to be able to cover seemlessly as far as the client is concerned when personnel turnover happens.

These services cost more, but the peace of mind from having contractual guarantees that can be put in place so that the work gets done regardless of personnel turnover, should be worth the expense for many entrepreneurs.

Even when one of these services is used, I agree with you that the entrepreneur still needs to know how to take care of the details of their own business. There is no more helpless feeling than having a service meltdown that you can’t immediately fix.

Liz Nichols

This is a sticky point for many online entrepreneurs. VAs are wonderful when they work, and it is great once you have a team of trusted and reliable help. I agree with you that many of the technical issues must be mastered to a point by the owner to be able to handle problems in a pinch. I’m sure you know the old adage about not putting all of your eggs in one basket…

Still, it is rough for beginners to know where to start, who to look for and who to trust. Luckily for most of us, we have YOU! And your IM Success Library is a great way to learn what people need to know to run their businesses efficiently.

Best always,
Paul

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
The Internet Marketing Quest Revealed

That’s why I’ve never outsourced ANYTHING! I have a hard time trusting ANYONE doing what I already know how to do! (not to mention I don’t make enough….yet…to be able to afford it!) . Sorry to hear about your toubles. Good luck finding replacements!

You do need to know how to do everything yourself. How else can you direct someone to help if you don’t? Of course, if you are doing a multi million dollar start up, you “have People”. But that ain’t where most of are.

I, too, have learned the importance of having assistants help you so you can concentrate on growing your business. I had a passion for “doing it all”, but my friend Adam Urbanski got me over that! However, on the other hand, I am glad I know how to do it all. I had a similar situation happen when my graphic designer decided to get a job mid-project.

So with all due respect to assistants, we need to have a contingency plan to be prepared for any circumstance that may arise. In addition to knowing how to complete various tasks, I find having several “backup” assistants to rely on (instead of just one) a feasible alternative.

Thanks for putting together such an impressive library to help others. I also appreciate Shannon’s idea of having an operation manual. Crucial indeed.

Good luck at JV Alert!

Rhonda
@MagneticWoman

Sorry to hear of your plight but are you sure they are alive or not? Or they might have lost their internet connection. Let us give them the benefit of the doubt or maybe they are one and the same person to have vanished at the same time.

You are too kind for this to happen to you but you will get over it.