Should I hire subcontractors or assistants to handle extra work?
Deciding whether to hire subcontractors or assistants is a significant step in scaling your freelancing or entrepreneurial endeavor. It's a moment I remember facing myself, full of doubt and the temptation to do everything solo.
Here’s how I broke it down, and you can approach it similarly:
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Assess Your Workload: Document a week or two of your daily tasks. This will help identify which tasks are repetitive, time-consuming, or outside your area of expertise. These are prime candidates for delegation. When I was balancing engineering tasks while trying to build my writing and coaching projects, realizing I was bogged down by things like scheduling and basic admin tasks was eye-opening.
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Define Your Goals: Ask yourself what hiring help would free you up to achieve. Is it to deliver projects on time, maintain quality, or find room to develop new ideas? For me, it was about finding more creative space without the operational strain.
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Cost vs. Value: Consider the cost of hiring versus the potential revenue and growth from freeing up your time. Hiring someone might seem like a hit to your wallet, but if it allows you to capture more high-value projects or increase your passive income streams, it could be invaluable in the long run.
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Capture, Develop, Expose: Use this framework if you're venturing into something new like content creation or expanding services. Capture your procedures, Develop clear systems, and Expose these to your subcontractors or assistants to ensure they understand and can replicate your quality and vision.
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Start Small: You don’t have to hire a full team right away. Begin with a part-time assistant or a specific project-based subcontractor. This was crucial for me—dipping toes to test how well delegating worked for my business's nature and needs.
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Redefine Success: Remember, hiring help isn’t about relinquishing control but leveraging it to scale and redefine what success looks like for you. It’s okay to iterate and pivot as you find what works best.
Ultimately, hiring subcontractors or assistants should aim to relieve pressure points in your workflow, allowing you to focus on what you do best and continue growing your business in a sustainable way. Success isn’t just about juggling more; it’s about building something that lasts and thrives.