Remote Pioneer Takes Outsourcing to Mid-Market America – with Catherine vanVonno of 20Four7VA
In this podcast episode, Derek Gallimore talked with Catherine vanVonno, the President and CEO of 20Four7VA. 20Four7VA is a US-based virtual assistant services company.
Their virtual assistants can be hired for tasks like bookkeeping, content creation, and marketing, among others.
Derek and Catherine discussed US businesses’ perception of offshore staffing, and the adoption of this strategy among small businesses.
About 20Four7VA
20Four7VA started in 2014 as a niche company focused on the e-commerce industry.
“We focus on the small to medium-sized [businesses]. We run the gamut anywhere from solopreneurs to companies with 100 to 150 employees. That’s our sweet spot,” said Catherine.
She noted that her company provides businesses with various skill sets that can be handled remotely.
“We offer services in bookkeeping, web development, any type of back-end admin tasks, sales, customer support, basically anything the client needs. We create job descriptions and maintain a pool of candidates ready for hire at any time.”
Describing the beginning of remote work, Catherine recalled, “Because e-commerce business owners were used to working remotely and communicating with their customers, hiring someone remotely seemed to be a natural fit for them.
But when COVID hit, it expanded awareness to a level I couldn’t believe. Remote work became normalized for businesses across America, and the communication and productivity tools that arose due to the pandemic were remarkable.”
US businesses’ thoughts on outsourcing
What are the typical American business owners’ thoughts about outsourcing?
Catherine said, “The mom-and-pop businesses are very American-focused. So American-made, American jobs.”
Businesses adapting and surviving in this time realize that if you offshore jobs to the world outside of the United States, it enables them to scale their business, and they’re driving more money into our economy.”
The 20Four7VA CEO added, “I think the businesses that are catching on are the ones that are going to survive long-term. The ones that deny this will have a really hard time. Looking into the future, I’m doing everything possible to spread awareness.”
Celebrating company milestones
Catherine shared her company’s recent achievement: its recent award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
“Our company just received an award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as one of the 70 honorees for American top small businesses.”
When I went to the event and went to the organizers, I said, I never thought that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce would recognize a business model like ours.”
And they said, “We’re looking for solutions that small businesses in America are suffering, and we need solutions, and we see your company is a solution.
So the fact that the U. S. Chamber of Commerce is recognizing [20Four7VA’s] offshore staffing as a solution is a huge step forward.”
The CEO is also proud to share their partnership with the Argentina Telehealth Association and a for-profit company, Remote AR. Their goal is to spread awareness in Latin American countries regarding online jobs and remote work possibilities.
To get in touch 20four7va, you can visit their website at https://www.20four7va.com.
Or you can visit their LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/company/20four7va or
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/20four7VA.