The goal was to build an online business that gave them freedom, the power to be their own bosses, and actually enjoy this life that we have been given. But in the process, Taylor and Damien have found themselves on a much more empowering mission.
COVID- 19 has left a large portion of the population in the Philippines without jobs. About 4.5 million Filipinos have lost their jobs in the past year, with the unemployment rate at 10.4 per cent - the highest in 15 years, the government reported, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown shuttering thousands of businesses.
A lot of the husbands that were the financial providers for the family, used to own restaurants, small businesses or drive taxis, have now found themselves out of work.
So, a lot of women in the Philippines have now become the breadwinners for their households and taken up freelancing or working online to earn money to support their family. These amazing women are stepping up and upskilling because they simply have no other option.
This is where Taylor and Damian come in. In October of 2020, they started a virtual assistant agency called Outsource Monkey. They help to pair Australian business owners with virtual assistants in the Philippines and the majority of their team is made up of mothers who have started in the freelancing world to support their families since the start of COVID-19.
As a recent Payoneer survey points out: COVID-19 led to a short-term slowdown in revenue growth but has returned even stronger for freelancers in the Philippines. In fact, Payoneer reported that Filipino freelancing jobs have increased 208% since June of 2020, Which is the highest growth out of all the countries around the world. (2)
Take Ansherina for example, she was one of Outsource Monkey's first team members. She has been supporting her family of 4 as a freelancer throughout COVID and the continued lockdown in the Philippines. Her husband used to be a taxi driver before COVID hit. Obviously, due to the harsh lock downs to try and contain the pandemic, it was simply not possible for her husband to be a taxi driver anymore.
So, Taylor and Damien have paired Ansherina with multiple clients so that she has the equivalent of a full time salary.
"Outsource Monkey has opened so many doors for me. It has not only given me a long term secure work but also honed my skills as a Virtual Assistant" she says.
Ansherina is just one example from their team of 35 virtual assistants that has had to adapt after COVID. Taylor and Damien are now on a mission to help these amazing women to support their families and up level their abilities.
The couple have put a major focus on learning and self improvement in their business, buying multiple online courses for their team on topics such as strategic content marketing, social media management, Wordpress development and time management. All to help their team grow as freelancers.
'Our goal is to build a team of superhero virtual assistants that can help Australian entrepreneurs save time and majorly increase profitability in their businesses' Taylor says.
Currently, Outsource Monkey has a team of highly trained VA's helping dozens of entrepreneurs from all around the globe with tasks like: Administrative tasks, finance and accounting, customer care, digital marketing, content creation, human resources, web development and even sales.
So if you're looking for a quality hire, or if you want to learn more about Outsource Monkey and what they do, then feel free to check out their website or contact their Co Founders, Damien and Taylor, by email .
