zenbot

Category: Small Business

  • How I Manage oDesk Jobs

    How I Manage oDesk Jobs

    I’ve been introduced to a world of freelance developers in a whole new way via a website called oDesk. In it, you can either be a freelancer and search out contract jobs which match your skills, or post a job, big or small, for developers and freelancers to bid on. Because it is not tied down to a geographic location, it is a great opportunity to expand your pool of potential candidates (or jobs) worldwide.

    I’ve been actively using it for a few months and some days at work, it can take up most of my day. I also decided to use it to move ahead with the Cleeve Horne website: It was a site I had starting building but it was a big enough task that I got 90% of the way there and burned myself out on it. It’s hard to create quality work while sitting on a TTC bus riding to work.

    So it sat for a few months, eating away at me that I wasn’t going to get it done. Finally, I started breaking off pieces of what was left and gave it to some “oDeskers”. It’s not done, but as long as I can get some intrepid contractors to bravely traverse my spaghetti code, I can see the end in sight.

    From this I have a few tips for effectively managing your oDeskers. Some obvious, some not so much.

    Patience
    You’ll be dealing with contractors who may have a different mother tongue and have to figure out possibly fairly complicated stuff based on your instructions. Make things as easy as possible for them by explaining very clearly (ideally with screen captures or other examples) of what you need. Be kindly persistent if they don’t seem to be getting it right away.

    Get on DropBox (or Box.com), Skype, Team Viewer
    Since your contractors will be working remotely (sometimes very remotely, think overseas) you want basically a virtual communication and sharing arsenal that you can trade documents and coordinate. Team Viewer is useful if some kind of troubleshooting actually has to be done in your environment and you don’t want them to have your passwords.

    Close when done
    For a time, you may give your contractors access to your DropBox, or even password-related stuff (avoid the latter if you can). Do yourself a favour and close off their access when they are done the job, just to tie up loose ends.

    Find your ‘diamonds in the rough’
    The default, especially when starting out to hire, is to engage someone who has 1000+ oDesk hours and at least a 4.5 star rating. That’s a good strategy, but they are hot and priced accordingly. Alternately, you can track down hidden gems who are new to oDesk. They will be cheaper because they are just breaking in, and they will be eager to please to get some good ratings right at the outset. You can usually spot them by a strong portfolio and a believably strong C.V. Keep an eye out for bidders who fit that profile because people like that can really pay off. I recently found one for some SQL server work and he completely ninja-ed it faster than the other developers I had working in parallel to him.

    Happy oDesking!

  • Mini-economies of Long Branch

    Mini-economies of Long Branch

    Long Branch is a neighbourhood located in south Etobicoke, Toronto. The area has been through some challenges, with nearby big box stores on the Queensway wiping out a lot of the smaller shops located on Lakeshore Road. Plus the transition from manufacturing to gentrification has also created a neighbourhood in transition.

    Business clusters are interconnected businesses which operate in a complimentary fashion to one another. Walking around the neighbourhood, you notice some interesting business clusters which seem to be surviving by working around the typical big-box offering. What follows is a bit of a tongue-in-cheek look at what Long Branch has to offer from that perspective.

    One cluster of businesses has been what I call the motorcycle-tattoo-leather area, right around the local Tim Hortons. The centrepiece of this cluster used to be a Harley shop called Wildside Motorcycles, which unfortunately moved in 2013. Typical clients in this cluster are tattooed bikers, either riding in on their hogs or (if they live closer) walking their Rottweilers and stopping off for their double-double at Tim Horton’s. It will be interesting to see if this cluster survives, though, with Wildside Motorcycles moving out. Other businesses which complimented Wildside was the Great Canadian Tattoo Company and Terez Custom Leather. Optimistically, those businesses will continue to keep their clientèle, but I can see that removing Wildside may catalyze their closure, much like letting the air out of a balloon.

    Another cluster is what I will gently dub the “beauty hair salon cluster” which is simply because of the insane number of beauty parlours, hair salons, nail care and some spin-off businesses which include beauty supply stores and the like. There is a hair styling school near Kipling-Lakeshore, and as you go further west, there is no lack of hair salons to choose from (see map). This is because labour, in the form of student hairstylists, is cheap and that gluts the market. To be fair, further east near south Mimico has an even greater concentration.

    This all sounds painful, there are signs that things are looking up. A is Starbucks moving in two blocks from my house. Now, when I get caffeinated, I am pretty equal-opportunity in that I’ll go nearly anywhere. However, I’m sure there is a “Starbucks Indicator” that says something about neighbourhood gentrification based on if a Starbucks is present or not. So say what you will about Starabucks, but if they are willing to hang their shingle in Long Branch, then that’s a vote of confidence.

    Clusters I wish we had? My wish list is for something more interesting to go in beside the Home Hardware, that is to say, something else with a DIY aesthetic, like a Maker Space. Maybe even some kind of French-language cluster of daycares and book shops.