Dealing With Market Competition And Growing Our VA Marketplace [Update]
This is a follow up story for Virtual Latinos. If you're interested in reading how they got started, published over 2 years ago, check it out here.
Hello again! Remind us who you are and what business you started.
My name is Jaime Nacah, I am an entrepreneur, marketer, self-taught tech expert, and the founder and CEO of Virtual Latinos.
My roots are in Mexico City, and I have spent most of my life in San Diego, California. After obtaining my Bachelor's degree in Business Administration with a concentration in information systems management from SDSU, I went on to pursue an MBA at Tel Aviv University in Israel.
Having been an entrepreneur most of my life, I thrive on the challenges that come with building and growing a business, and I relish the opportunity to transform obstacles into opportunities. Plus, I am known among my peers as an enthusiastic and approachable leader.
I have combined my creativity and business strategy experience to develop both Bloominari, a digital marketing agency, and Virtual Latinos (VL), a recruitment agency focused on hiring remote professionals from Latin America.
In recent years, we have experienced a lot of growth, for instance, in March 2021, there were 258 hired VAs, and today, there are 900+ hired professionals.
Tell us about what you’ve been up to. Has the business been growing?
I am proud to announce that Virtual Latinos has grown its internal team to over 70 members. We have successfully hired virtual assistants from over 18 Latin American countries and served more than 500 companies across the US, Canada, Europe, and other parts of the world.
At Virtual Latinos, we meticulously pre-screen and handpick every candidate to ensure that our clients have access to the best talent in Latin America. Only the top 5% of all applicants are accepted into our community and our clients get to hire the top 1%. All of our professionals are onboarded with clear communication procedures and exhibit a high level of respect and commitment to their work, ensuring job quality and optimal performance.
Our company continues to grow very quickly, and we have some amazing plans for 2023! Our goal is to support more clients and virtual assistants in elevating their freedom, success, and growth by fostering exceptional professional relationships.
Our growing success can be attributed, in part, to our clients, who have not only continued to entrust us with their business but have also recommended us to others, resulting in new clients. Additionally, our Latin American professionals proactively endorse us via social media, leading to a steady increase in applications and contributing to the unstoppable growth of our community thus far.
Additionally, we have implemented various marketing strategies internally, such as investing in online advertising, particularly through Facebook and Google Ads, to expand our reach across more Latin American countries. We are deeply committed to promoting and leveraging Latin talent, and our efforts reflect this dedication.
We also prioritize our public relations efforts, actively seeking opportunities to promote our services and share our story with a wider audience. We aim to not only raise awareness about our company but also to connect with potential clients on a deeper level.
Connecting with our clients also involves attending events. Last month, we attended the Legalweek Show in New York and the TBI Med Legal Conference in San Diego, where we had the opportunity to spend quality time with some of our clients and engage in valuable networking for future business prospects. And this month, we will be attending the Mass Torts Made Perfect Seminar in Las Vegas and the Legal Marketing Association Conference in Hollywood, Florida.
What have been your biggest challenges in the last year?
As we are very lucky to be growing as a company, experiencing rapid growth can be challenging. Working in a constantly evolving environment where one must adapt to new challenges and opportunities has been an incredible journey.
I would say that the key to effectively managing change is to always strive to be well-prepared. While there may be situations of uncertainty and ambiguity, seeking out relevant training and skill development can significantly improve your ability to make informed and strategic decisions.
We are a company that doesn't know everything, that we're learning as we grow, and that there are always going to be ways to improve.
For example, a change we may be facing in the future is the emergence of new roles that our clients may require. To address these new recruitment needs, we have taken the initial step of compiling a list of all the roles and tasks that our clients have requested.
This will facilitate our identification of the roles that we already have in our database and the ones that we need to recruit. Consequently, we will be better prepared to meet our client's unique demands.
Our growth is directly linked to the increasing number of clients, nevertheless, I am confident that we have been navigating this growth successfully. For instance, at the start of this year, the leadership team of Virtual Latinos gathered in San Diego, California, for a week-long training on the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS).
We were able to apply the principles of EOS to our company and restructure our team. It was a valuable experience for all of us. Moreover, it provided us with an opportunity to spend some time together as a team.
It is likely that Virtual Latinos will continue to experience rapid growth in the upcoming months and years. As such, we are actively gaining experience and knowledge to ensure that we are equipped to effectively tackle this growth and optimize outcomes for all stakeholders involved.
What have been your biggest lessons learned in the last year?
In the last year, our market became much more competitive, and our industry landscape has changed very quickly. We knew that we had to change, adapt, and continue to innovate. First of all, our team grew faster and bigger than we thought we would have grown within a year.
Additionally, competitors within our specific niche began to appear like mushrooms everywhere, as the concept of remote work became more commonplace both for companies and workers. This has led to very positive opportunities, but also challenges. These challenges forced our leadership team to change strategies for our continued growth and success.
For example, we decided to increase the pay rates of our existing team, to match the new, more competitive rates that we began offering to our team’s new hires. Thus, to be fair, we did a "market rate adjustment" to everyone on our team in the middle of last year. Additionally, we also started to focus on finding more skilled people with more experience, to need to provide less training and coaching.
Our company initially hired people with lower rates and focused on training them a lot, yet now we look for more mid-level experience, train them less, but pay them more from the get-go.
We’ve had some great hires, and some bad hires, we've made some good decisions marketing-wise, and some bad ones. Yet, I'd say the biggest lesson we learned last year is that we need to move fast, adapt quickly, and be constantly innovating new ways to service our customers, including both our virtual assistants and clients in the United States.
We discovered the huge need to invest time and money into technology, software, and processes to make our company more competitive and efficient, to have a better chance at earning market share and providing the best service we can to our clients, internal team, and every member of our community.
What’s in the plans for the upcoming year, and the next 5 years?
Undoubtedly, we have ambitious plans to further expand our services in the coming years. To achieve this, we are investing significant time and resources to grow and develop both as a company and as individuals.
As we believe in Latino talent, one of our key objectives is to expand our reach and work with professionals from more countries within Latin America, as well as with clients from other parts of North America and around the world. This expansion is an essential part of our growth strategy, and we are actively pursuing opportunities to achieve this goal.
Furthermore, we place great importance on the ongoing professional growth and development of our virtual assistants to ensure that we can provide the best possible service to our clients and cultivate stronger, long-lasting working relationships. As part of our commitment to this, we are currently working on the development and launch of a training and learning project that will have a significant impact on the skills and development of professionals within our community. We are excited to share more details about this project with you very soon. Be sure to stay tuned by following us on our social media channels @virtuallatinos.
We are thrilled about what the next few years hold for Virtual Latinos, and we are eagerly looking forward to achieving our goals and continuing to assist more businesses and professionals with their careers!
What’s the best thing you read in the last year?
As an entrepreneur, I am constantly reading and searching for valuable information on business growth and business advice. Which led me to a book that I highly recommend.
The book is titled "Traction," and it is authored by Gino Wickman. The book is centered around helping business owners gain better control over their organization, and move forward as a healthy, functional, and cohesive team. In my opinion, it is an excellent resource for anyone looking to improve their business operations.
Furthermore, the author is the founder of EOS Worldwide. His company offers workshops and lectures to businesses looking to improve their Entrepreneurial Operating System, a process that Virtual Latinos had the opportunity to experience firsthand.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who might be struggling to grow their businesses?
If I were to offer advice to fellow business owners, it would be to acknowledge that turnover is an inevitable aspect of any business, and sometimes beyond your control. Whether an employee leaves voluntarily or is terminated, it's important to anticipate and prepare for change.
I always make sure that everyone is aware that we are a company that doesn't know everything, that we're learning as we grow, and that there are always going to be ways to improve.
Additionally, building a team that shares your company's values is crucial for achieving growth. Establishing a remote work culture is challenging because we cannot communicate face-to-face. As a business leader, I recommend being receptive to hearing your team's opinions and understanding their interests. By doing so, you can strive to build a company that makes them happier and ultimately fosters a positive work culture.
Lastly, I would suggest that one remain humble by recognizing that nobody is perfect, and no one knows everything. Everyone is valuable and has something meaningful to contribute. That’s why when we're constantly having team meetings, everybody has a chance to comment and suggest ideas on how to improve the company. I believe that you need to be open to learning from everybody at all times.
Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?
Absolutely! We are always seeking new Latino talent to join forces with our clients in various positions, including administration, marketing, customer service, sales, content creation for social media and blogs, project management, graphic design, web design, accounting, legal assistance, and more.
The door is always open for professionals residing in Latin America to apply. We encourage them to thoroughly review our website and all related information to understand the application process and answer any questions that may arise. We look forward to continued growth throughout the year.
Where can we go to learn more?
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
