How to Start My Own Work at Home Temporary Agency

Increasingly wage earners have decided to search for home work opportunities. Work-at-home agencies match employers with temporary employees who will fulfill the clients' employment needs through their home work. These agencies take responsibility for evaluating the needs of the client and finding a suitable worker who can fulfill those needs. Setting up an agency which makes the connection between employers who need a "virtual" temporary worker who works from home and the temporary workers themselves demands skills in evaluating the clients' needs and the temporary employee's skills. The agency must then bring them together in a mutually profitable manner.

Instructions

1. Determine which type of temporary work the agency will contract out for. Simple secretarial work might provide the easiest to begin with. The agency can move on to specialty work (scientific work and research, translations and so forth) later, or alternately begin as a specialty home temporary agency from the beginning.

2. Prepare the operating plan for the at home temporary agency. Many temporary agencies find it most expedient to have the client pay a "finder's fee" when a match with a temporary worker works out. The employer then becomes responsible for all salary arrangements, withholding and tax payments and the relationship with the at-home temporary worker.

3. Set up intake forms for the at-home temporary workers to gauge their skills. Ask for a resume and ensure that it includes experience with the sorts of tasks that clients will want. Ask for references, and check the references thoroughly. Ask to see samples of the applicant's work if the needed work will include, for instance, composing or translations.

4. Create employer profile forms which detail the types of work that the employer client wants, what conditions each employer offers the employed at-home temporary worker and what the client is willing to pay for an at-home temporary worker.

5. 

   Draw up a contract between the client and the agency which specifies the "finder's fee" that the client will pay the Work at Home Temporary Agency when the agency pairs the client with an at-home temporary worker. Consult with an attorney for assistance in drawing up a contract.

6. Develop a relationship with the temporary employees that helps them develop themselves as at-home temporary employees. Share some ideas with them to assist them as they look to further their careers as at-home temporary workers. Some subjects to address may include the importance of responding immediately to employer emails and requests with an acknowledgment of the assignment received, maintaining a log of ongoing assignments and work completed and showing initiative and responsibility.

7. Ask home workers of the temporary agency to download a contractor account, such as Freshbooks, which allows the employee to track her time and invoice the employer once a month.

8. Request home workers of the temporary agency to download a fax account, such as Drop.io, to receive employer's faxes.

9. Request home workers to set up a special email account for their temporary work, which should function only as their work account and should include an auto-signature that demonstrates a professional business-like presentation. The signature should include the worker's full name, phone and fax numbers, email address, title (i.e. "virtual assistant") and the name of the work-at-home temporary agency that finds her work.

10. 

    Request that the home workers of the temporary agency set up a message on their answering machine for the employer's benefit. Even if the answering machine serves as the home answering machine, the message should contain only information that seems proper for an office setting.

11. Suggest that the home workers of the temporary agency use a web calendar, such as Google calendar, to help the employer track a schedule. Both the employer and the employee can see and edit a web calendar, allowing the employee to work at home while helping the employer maintain her schedule.

References

• MSN: Jobs You Can Do From Home
• Entrepreneur: Starting a Virtual Assistant Business

Resources

• Freshbooks: Tracking Hours
• Drop.io: Receiving Faxes
• Google Calendar