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It’s a well-worn cliché that good help is hard to find. Yet it becomes an especially strong truism for those who are entrepreneurs or small business owners, where the need for help — especially of the administrative variety– can be far greater than the means to assume full-time support staff. (And if these past several months have taught us anything, it should be the importance of not taking on more than what you need or can handle). We thought this new service offering, just in Beta, was perfect for the times and a creative way of doling out help when and as it’s needed…
Solvate.com is a service that provides pay-as-you go administrative assistance when you do not need headcount (or can’t even provide a desk).
We met one of its founders recently and were quickly intrigued by this concept, their process and their technology back-end to orchestrate it all. How it works: Solvate retains a team of administrative staff (“Certified Associates”) they screen and train, and who then work from home. In becoming a Solvate client, you are matched with one (or more) of these virtual Associates who are “on hand, guaranteed” from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm (in your time zone). Fees start at $20 per hour — but impressively, the pay-as-you-go aspect is down to increments of 5 MINUTES.
Key to the success of this kind of operating approach is a sophisticated, social interface (The Task Tracker, shown) that gives both the client and associate clear, transparent communication about what needs to be done, its status, and how long it took. Whether you want to be relieved from the onerous task of uploading all the business cards you’ve been collecting, help doing expenses and billing, or a myriad of other tasks, virtual help is easy to access.
As they ramp up the service (the website still has a decidedly Beta feel), you can currently try them out for free, for up to an hour of assistance (no need to even put down a credit card). Let us know what your experience is like if you do!
Introducing Our New Resource Directory
We’ve added a new Directory on ExecutiveMoms.com, a select listing of “Preferred Partners,” each of whom has a product, service or resource of special interest to Executive Moms and their families. Take a look!
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