From child poverty to entrepreneur, author, podcaster, and philanthropist, Daniel Ramsey was raised in a trailer in Redding, California, which had a population of about 30,000 at the time. The lessons he learned as he pulled himself out of poverty fueled his rise in the business world, where he connected businesses with skilled labor through MyOutDesk (MOD), a virtual assistant (VA) company.
This led to the development of the company’s affiliated nonprofit, the MOD Movement, and he now shares his acquired knowledge as an author, podcaster, and member of the Forbes Business Council.
His personal and business growth wasn’t always linear, but he recognized in high school that entrepreneurship would be the best way to achieve what he wanted in the world. Now, he works hard to help others navigate their path through his book, “Scaling Your Business with MOD Virtual Professionals,” and his videos and podcast, which can be found on his website.
What were the most transformative parts of his journey, and how did he apply these lessons to his life and business?
“I grew up in a small town, and we just happened to live on the right side of the tracks in the worst part of town, so I grew up in a trailer, but I went to a great school,” says Ramsey. “What’s interesting is I got lucky because all my friends were good kids, and my parents wanted me to learn. It wasn’t this decisive, ‘Be successful,’ but I saw my friends could go out to eat and take trips and do normal things. One day, I realized I wanted that, and it put a hunger in my belly to learn everything I could about business. As many self-made people do, I saw entrepreneurship as an opportunity out of poverty.”
He began in high school by mowing lawns and doing every job he could to earn his way. He got a finance degree and went to work for a large investment bank, not realizing at the time that college had not taught him much about being an entrepreneur. He was making good money, but he wasn’t doing what he planned – be an entrepreneur. It did enable him to buy his first home, and the process clicked for him.
“I met a real estate agent and a mortgage person, and I thought, ‘Wow, this is a fun job. I think I can do this,’ and my first business was helping people buy and sell homes,” he says. “I could wrap my brain around it. There wasn’t a large barrier to entry, so I started a brokerage firm.”
As his business grew, he realized he loved the process and making connections for people but didn’t enjoy the paperwork or the administrative aspect of being a real estate broker. He was then connected to Lily from the Philippines, and an idea for a business ignited.
“Lily was amazing, and it was a pretty simple process,” he says. “I did an interview. She started doing marketing and admin work, which changed how our business grew. I got some of my time back, and there was a fundamental shift where I realized this was where I should focus my energy. I didn’t realize how big of a company we would become when I founded MOD, but we currently have 2,500 VAs, and we serve over 1,500 different customers in 71 industries.”
It all comes down to finding talent and helping executives and entrepreneurs find people who can do the important things inside their businesses. The company also has 35-40 employees in the United States and about 100 in the Philippines who scout talent and make connections to the virtual workers. MOD primarily works with workers in the Philippines who work on U.S. time and speak English as their first language. It is expanding, though.
“We are working to grow globally into Africa and South America,” he says. “There are so many folks who are talented – college educated, motivated, and they want to do great work. All they need is the right connection to a good client, and that’s what we do – we find great talent abroad and great customers in the U.S. – and we match them.”
What are some misconceptions people have about virtual assistants and the process? According to Ramsey, a question he gets every day is if the workers speak English and if they’ll work on our timelines. The answer to both is yes, as mentioned above.
“I met with a client today who has never worked with anyone out of the country, let alone a virtual employee, so there are some mind shifts that have to take place to create what we call a blended model where your U.S. team is the expert or the trained strategist/manager –and then VAs do the doing, whether it’s accounting, customer service, administrative work, marketing or sales.”
When clients start with MOD, they’re often unsure of what they need help with, so the company provides a free strategy session to help define exactly what they need.
“We ask the client detailed questions,” says Ramsey. “One is, ‘Do you have a systematic approach to the role you’re hiring for?’ If the answer is yes, then we can help. If not, we can help you build that approach because it takes work to get somebody up to speed when they are not in your office. Imagine not having clear objectives for a new, in-house employee. That employee will feel lost and aimless. It’s the same with VAs. The client needs to be clear about what they want and need, and it’s part of our consultation to help them so they can craft an accurate job description.”
Ramsey’s trial-and-error as MOD grew has informed the company’s extensive best practices, which were the impetus for his book, “Scaling Your Business with MOD Virtual Professionals.” Because that experience was hard-won, he wanted to share it with others in the industry so they would have a smoother path.
“We’ve had every good thing happen and every bad thing,” he says. “And every time something good or bad happens, we document that process to build it into our system. That gives us an advantage in the marketplace, which is why we’re the largest virtual assistant company.”
Working so tightly with Filippino employees and seeing what conditions people live in throughout the country inspired Ramsey and his team to launch the MOD Movement, a charitable arm of MOD, in 2013.
“As we started becoming more successful, we became aware of how we needed to give back because that is in MOD’s DNA and our mission, vision, and values,” he says. “Lily was homeless around 14 and 15 and had to come of age very early in her life. Because of this, she was passionate about helping other kids who didn’t have a home or a pathway. She invited us to Boys Town, our first charity event, in 2013 when the company was hitting its stride. We walked around the halls, and the living conditions blew me away. They were sharing toothbrushes and lacked the most basic essentials. The Philippines are incredibly hot and humid, and they don’t have fans or any cooling means. We installed a micro solar panel at a high school with 300 students without electricity. Many places have no power grid, so they rely on generators, small solar panels, and kerosene lamps.”
Since that first project 12 years ago, The MOD Movement has logged more than 4,000 volunteer hours and provided housing for over 600 people. Read more about its projects on thedanielramsey.com.
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