Ralph Winters, an English man, is a Chartered Accountant. He is a business consultant. Last night he called me over telephone to discuss about his new project.

“I have been working to create a big website that would organize the human knowledge. At minimum level, this website would supply practical knowledge to its visitors that help them create prosperity, and lead a life of accomplishments. The maximum level can never be defined because the project has potential for infinite growth,” he said to me.

“Even the minimum level seems to be next to impossible. Human life has hundreds of aspects. Each aspect has thousands of variations. Trying to organize knowledge on life is a great selfless service to the humanity. I wish you all success in this wonderful project. May I ask you a personal question? I know your working style. You are an individual and don’t have any employees. How do you manage a project of this magnitude all alone? Please give away the secret to me,” I requested him.

Ralph said, “When I started to work on the project, I thought I could easily organize the thousands of papers I had with the help of a few templates and later the operations could be easily automated through a software solution. Within two days I realized that I may need a dozen assistants when the website was fully operational even if I bought the best software for automation. However in the initial phase of the project I needed only an assistant who could work online and collaborate with me through the Internet. In later phases I could hire more people. You know I am a man with limited resources. Hiring an employee in London and training her is an expensive affair. When I was trying to find a solution to this problem, someone suggested to me that I could outsource the work to India or China.”

“Did you contact Indian BPO companies?” I asked him, “Yes, I contacted a few BPO companies in India and China. But, these companies were providing service only to big corporate houses. An Indian colleague told me that her family friend would be happy to work for me,” he replied.

“Individuals interested in BPO work from developed countries can find work quickly if they seek the help of their friends and relatives living abroad,” I said. “I agree. If you don’t have the support of a corporate identity, then personal reference is the best route to take. I sent an email to this woman - Saraswathi - and asked her whether we could chat about the work over Skype. It is a little piece of software that lets you talk or chat over the Internet to anyone, anywhere in the world for free. She responded immediately and positively. The next day we had a chat for an hour. She is a housewife. Her husband is a bank officer. They have got a two year old child. Saraswathi has a computer and an Internet connection at home. She could work for 5 hours a day. She had basic working knowledge in computer,” he said.

“What do you mean by basic knowledge?” I asked him. “Saraswathi knew how to use a word processor, browse the Internet and use an email program,” he replied and continued, “The real criteria are values such as punctuality, sincerity, and willingness to work hard. However, it is difficult to assess anybody through a short interview. So, I gave her a work on trial basis. I asked her to organize a few pages of content that I wrote and proofread them. She did a satisfactory work and I immediately hired her,” Ralph said.

“What is the nature of work and how much do you pay her?” I asked him. “The work is basically manual in nature. I gave her a help manual and within three days she learnt the entire workflow. I post my content on the website every day. She corrects the typos, place it under the appropriate category, create links and does similar works. I pay her a minimum of Rs.15,000 a month. The actual amount depends on the number of hours she works.”

“If someone contacts you for work directly, what will be your response?” I asked him. He replied, “I always like to hire persons that have been personally referred to me by people known to me. I never feel comfortable to hire someone without reference when the work is done remotely.”

Many of us have friends living abroad. Requesting them to do us a favor may open up the door to new income opportunities.