In episode 17 of the Crowd, we connect with Maren Donovan, CEO of Zirtual. Zirtual is a marketplace that connects busy people with personal assistants, virtually :)

For more information about Zirtual: https://www.zirtual.com/

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Transcript:

Kevin:          This episode of The Crowd is brought to you by Near Me. Power your marketplace with Near Me.

 

Hi. Welcome to The Crowd, a podcast by Near Me. We’re talking about peer-to-peer marketplaces. We’re talking about collaborative economy and we’re talking about thought leadership. We’re talking about all these things, any and all of them with some of the best minds in the field. And of course, I’m your host, Kevin Cohen.

 

                        Today, my associate, Angela, will be talking to Maren Kate Donovan, the CEO of Zirtual. What is Zirtual? Zirtual is a virtual assistant company that provides you with a right hand when you need it most. This is a critical, critical service for entrepreneurs and small businesses who need a few hours of help every day. Angela, take it away.

 

Angela:          Hi everyone. This is Angela with Near Me. We’re here today with Maren Donovan, the CEO of Zirtual. We’re so excited to have you here today. How are you doing?

 

Maren:           I’m doing great. How are you?

 

Angela:          Good, good. We’re really excited about our interview series and what’s happening with marketplaces and we’ve been watching the growth of Zirtual. Can you tell us a little bit about what Zirtual is all about?

 

Maren:           Yeah. What Zirtual is we’re a virtual executive assistant service so we provide virtual office admins, virtual EAs, virtual secretaries. And what we do is we hire people that are in the US and we match them with our clients. So maybe one of our clients could be in New York or LA or San Francisco and maybe their virtual assistant would be in Utah or Georgia.

 

Angela:          Great. And how long have you guys been around for?

 

Maren:           We’re just about to turn four.

 

Angela:          Very cool. Was this your idea? Or did you have a co-founder? How did it get started?

 

Maren:           Yeah. I started it four years ago and I was living in Reno, Nevada and I had a few different online businesses that I was kind of A/B testing. And I would hire virtual assistants to help me with them, everything from managing websites to editing copy to calendar management. And I realized it kind of is a more interesting idea than the businesses I was testing which is the idea of using a virtual workforce in the delegation. So I decided to move to San Francisco kind of on a lark went through an incubator program. And then when I was done with the incubator program I moved into the city and just started working on it. And about six months into it, my two co-founders joined. One is named Eric and he focuses on our marketing and design, the whole kind of user interface, the website of the company. And then Colin who focuses on our people and culture. He heads our training and hiring endeavors. And it just kind of grew from there organically.

 

Angela:          Very cool. So what were you doing before that? What is your background? It would be great to hear kind of how that came about. I know you mentioned working with virtual assistants yourself. But what led to that? What is your background?

 

Maren:           Yeah. I don’t have a traditional background. I’ve worked since I was 15. I’ve had a bunch of jobs. I’ve done a bunch of bartending and things like that in college, a bunch of service industry jobs. I’ve always been drawn to the service industry. And when I was about 18, I started trying out some different online businesses, selling jewelry on eBay, doing social media consulting, things like that. And I would do that while I was working and in school. And when I was a senior, I actually decided to drop out of my English Literature program and just pursue some of my internet business focuses instead full time. And that eventually turned into Zirtual.

 

Angela:          Wow. That’s a great story of you sharing the different types of things that you worked on because I think you sound like a true entrepreneur. You try different things to find out what fits with the eBay jewelry company to consulting. So it’s really exciting to hear how successful Zirtual is after your journey. Is there anything that you would say to those who are trying to figure out what they’re going to do or whether marketplace is the right thing? Or maybe I think – at some point, did you question what you were doing with Zirtual? What kind of advice would you give?

 

Maren:           Yeah. I mean everybody questions what they’re doing until it really starts to get traction. Testing things out is kind of the best way. Like put it out there. If people pick it up and people want it, then you can start incrementally improving on the product. I think one of the biggest things is just getting things out there and trying things and not always having to go for like something that seems super sexy or complicated. Go for more basic models and just – there’s nothing wrong with making some incremental improvement on a basic model. And then once you get some traction, you can always start getting adventurous.

 

Angela:          Very cool. So do you use any other marketplaces out there?

 

Maren:           Yeah. I mean I use a lot of stuff. I’ve used Homejoy or Handybook for cleaning. I use AmazonFresh for my groceries and everything from like water bottles to soap delivery. Obviously, I use Uber a lot. I use Thumbtack when we’re looking for in-person service providers for the house, things like that. I use Postmates for like getting food delivered.

 

Angela:          Very cool. Yeah. It’s really gaining some popularity. What are some of the reasons you use the marketplaces that you listed? You mentioned Thumbtack Homejoy and Uber and some others. What gets you to use them? Or why those over the others that are out there?

 

Maren:           I mean a lot of it comes down to trust. It just comes down to brand trust. If that trust is kind of broken, it’s really – I think that’s pretty much the biggest danger in the service industry. It’s something we think about a lot. If you lose that trust, then it’s really unlikely you’ll come back. And so, once you find a service that you like and they consistently provide what they say they’re going to provide, usually I’ll stick with them unless something big happens.

 

Angela:          That’s a great point you make. I think trust is really hot right now in a lot of the discussions in marketplaces. What do you think are some ways that trust has been proven to you? Or how can a marketplace be trustworthy? I know Zirtual as you mentioned, you guys are aware of that as people hire different people for different services. So what are you guys doing about it? Or what do you think others should be doing about it?

 

Maren:           I mean one of the biggest things is making sure that people trust your brand. We spend a lot of time on kind of connecting with our clients early on and really humanizing our brand. And that helps build trust and everything from extensive background checks and confidentiality agreement. And then if something happens if there is a mess up, making sure that people go over and above to fix it. So when one breaks a pot in your house when they’re cleaning it and Homejoy goes above and beyond and gives me three free cleanings and replaces the pot or whatever, that would really help regain that trust.

 

Angela:          Those are some great tips I think. You said humanizing the brand and background checks and going over and beyond when something doesn’t go well. I think those are some great tips for other marketplace owners out there. There are some trends right now with on-demand culture that various services are popping up or – you mentioned earlier about going with the basic. Do you see something in the marketplace industry right now that you think is going to work or is not going to work?

 

Maren:           I’m definitely interested to see how the 1099 economy plays out and that’s the idea of micro-labor and people doing small tasks and working whenever and kind of picking and choosing little pieces. I think that they’re starting to have more and more backfire into that. I think it’s hard to make a living doing that and most people need to make a full-time living. Most people don’t have the benefit of picking and choosing work as they need. That will be an interesting one to watch.

 

Angela:          Definitely. So what do you guys do with your different assistants on your platform? How did they get to work with the independent contractor issues out there with the tax season coming up? Was there anything that you guys are doing for your assistants to help them make it as soon as possible?

 

Maren:           Yeah. All of our assistants are actually full-time employees. So it’s a completely different model. So they have benefits. They have paid sick leave, all the benefits of a 401(k), stuff like that, all the benefits of a true employment versus the independent contract model which is – and the reason we do that is partially because of trust and partially just because we’re a relationship brand. So we want our people with us for the long term. We want to invest in them just like they invest in us as a career. And it really helps add a level of quality and trust for our people because we’re able to invest in them at that level. And we notice their service is a lot better because they have that stability.

 

Angela:          Very good point. I like that. So what are some challenges that you faced in the beginning to kind of set – was it always that way? Or did you start off with independent contractors? Or were they always full time? How did that work in the beginning?

 

Maren:           It wasn’t always that way. But it’s a definite time and monetary commitment but it’s completely worth it. It’s made a huge difference in morale. It’s made a huge difference into the type of training we can do, the type of employment engagement metrics we can test. We do bonuses, things like that, all the stuff to really make this a job that they want to stay with for the long term. So our clients have that relationship as well as the service is even more excellent for our clients.

 

Angela:          Very cool. That sounds like a great place to work and it sounds like you guys really have your employees’ back. What are some things that people can look out for from Zirtual in the future? What does 2015 look like for you guys?

 

Maren:           We’re really focused on growth and on kind of expanding our product offering. We’ll be rolling out something in February called Zirtual for Teams which is where a team of anywhere between 3-10 individuals – so imagine a startup, imagine a team within a large organization to work with a Zirtual assistant who is dedicated to their team and who acts almost as a virtual project manager or a virtual office assistant. And that’s a big push we’re going to have. We’re really excited about that.

 

Angela:          Very cool. So we know that there will be some entrepreneurs and some different brands listening to our podcast series. So I’d love to hear maybe some final tips on pursuing maybe their own independent project or what it looks like to manage a marketplace in this day and age. I mean they’re popular. They’re growing. Based on your own experience, what are some things that you think you wish you had known maybe four years ago or two years ago that you kind of either struggled with or you were able to accomplished?

 

Maren:           I would’ve invested in an HR professional inside the company way earlier. And I also would’ve invested in operational best practices like OKRs, KPIs, things to internally track and organize people.

 

Angela:          That’s very good advice.

 

Maren:           Those are the two really big ones. And people-type businesses and services companies that are dealing so much with people, HR is a component that people often really underestimate.

 

Angela:          Totally. I can see why some people wait until they hit a certain number of employees or a certain size. Would you recommend a certain size or time period that you would say by this point you should probably hire an HR person? Or what would that look like to you?

 

Maren:           I would say probably by 20.

 

Angela:          By 20, okay. And so if somebody were to look at the pros and cons of that, what are some – I guess, what’s the worst case scenario? Why do you think that it’s so important? I know you mentioned a little bit about that.

 

Maren:           I mean legality is a big one. There are so many ways for you to put yourself and your company and your employees at risk if you don’t follow all the proper Department of Labor Laws. And there’s so much of it that really need an HR person just like you need a lawyer early on. So I think really it’s just like basic kind of best practices. It’s the same thing as why you get a lawyer in the first year of your company versus going to the law library and reading it yourself. It just doesn’t make sense. And it’s a very specialized profession. It’s one that you can’t kind of just implement.

 

Angela:          Definitely. So for those companies that are starting off and aren’t quite at 20 employees, what are some things that you guys did in the very beginning to kind of take care of those things before you got an HR person?

 

Maren:           I mean we didn’t do a lot. We had one person who kind of was doing financial and legal and also just did a bunch of research on HR. You can sign up to SHRM which is like the largest HR community in the world. You should get tips and stuff. But at the end of the day, you can hire a consultant and you’re really going to need to have someone who has experience.

 

Angela:          Very cool. So what is one of the biggest things you’ve learned in starting your own business over the last four years that you would like to share with us?

 

Maren:           Probably the biggest thing is appreciating the struggles and learning to actually have fun with it and not think that like you’ll be happy when you hit some numbers at some point because that number point will come and you’ll just set the goal higher. And it’s really important to just enjoy the journey. And I think sometimes people forget about that and I definitely had done it in the past and even do it now. And it’s always kind of bittersweet because you want to desperately get to a point but once you get there, it’s like you just don’t appreciate it and aren’t present. You don’t take time to really enjoy the fullness of the journey.

 

Angela:          These are some great tips for people out there. So what do you think is your favorite part of your job?

 

Maren:           My favorite part of my job is job creation and hiring more people. I really, really enjoy when we create a new job or bringing in a new batch of virtual assistants on.

 

Angela:          Very cool. How big is your team now?

 

Maren:           We don’t have the specific number but we’re several hundred people.

 

Angela:          Wow. Are you international? Or do you cover certain parts of the world?

 

Maren:           We only hire in the US but we do have clients internationally, in London, parts of Australia are big for us.

 

Angela:          Very cool. And so in the United States, is there a certain area that’s really popular over other areas?

 

Maren:           Where our clients are, New York, San Francisco, LA, Chicago, Dallas are big ones for us.

 

Angela:          Very cool. And if somebody wanted to become a part of your team or an assistant, what would they need to do to go about that?

 

Maren:           I mean they just go to zirtual.com and they would go to our Job section and we’re always hiring.

 

Angela:          Very cool. Is there anything else that you want to share with our listeners before we say goodbye?

 

Maren:           Just if you have an idea and you really want to test it out, this is the easiest time in the world to try out a business and see if it sticks. So it’s awesome that you can even work on nights and weekends testing that on a very small scale without having to risk everything. And then when something works, just continue to pursue to it.

 

Angela:          Okay. Cool. Thank you so much for joining us today. And I like the quote on your website that I want to quote that “even if we can’t do it, we can still get it done.” So it’s very cool that Zirtual is out there in helping people get their different projects done and making things more efficient. And it’s really great to hear about the way you guys started and what works and some great tips. So thank you so much for joining us today.

 

Maren:           Awesome. Thank you so much.

 

Angela:          All right. Have a great one.

 

Kevin:            So that’s it for today’s show everybody. I’d like to thank Maren from Zirtual for joining us here today. They’re doing great stuff. Check them out. If you want to learn more about Maren or Zirtual, go to lour show notes at www.near-me.com. Click on the blog and then go to the podcast listing. If you like today’s show, we’d really appreciate it if you could go to iTunes and leave us a five-star review. Also, subscribe on iTunes and get updates as they’re available. Thanks.