Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash
Becoming your own boss can be exhilarating. Not having to answer to anyone, controlling your own workload. As you begin to pick up momentum and sign new clients, the demands on your time start mounting up. Not only do you need to work on your core business activities, but you also have to be a salesperson, marketer, accountant, and admin. The list goes on.
A good way of keeping on top of things can be to outsource them. We look at some of the reasons that this might be a good idea for you.
You can concentrate on your business
The success of your freelance career rests on your being able to do what you love, the reason why you went freelance in the first place. For example, if you’re a financial adviser then you can outsource your offshore loan processing services, diary management, or customer service functions.
It might feel strange to outsource tasks to other people but you won’t believe how much more you can accomplish.
Avoid Burnout
Fewer late nights working, less stress, and the ability to focus. Taking some tasks off your plate can improve your work/life balance and reduce your risk of burnout or stress.
A good option could be a virtual assistant. They can provide a range of services, from finance to admin and social media to inbox management. Finding someone that you can work well with can take a huge amount of pressure off you as you begin to trust them.
You Want To Add To Your Services
Freelancers often find themselves tweaking their service offerings in line with customer requirements. Sometimes, this could mean that you have to start offering a new service in order to win business. Setting this up and undertaking training can take time and money that you just don’t have. Outsourcing this new business function is a great way to diversify your income stream without committing too many of your own precious resources.
How To Work With Other Freelancers
By looking to hire your own freelancers, you get a unique look into what it is that clients are really looking for. You can use this knowledge when you are pitching for jobs in the future. Here are some tips for finding the right freelancer:
- Get recommendations – good recommendations are like gold dust to freelancers.
- If you are hiring to outsource client work (rather than admin), make this clear to both the client and the freelancer.
- Always have a contract in place. It saves so much hassle later on. If the freelancer is going to be working with your clients, ensure that you have a ‘golden handcuffs’ agreement in place to prevent them from trying to steal your clients.
- Treat the same way you would like to be treated. Freelancers all have a list of things that they don’t like about how clients treat them. It could include being paid late, treating you like you’re their on-call employee 24/7, giving unrealistic demands, etc. Make sure you don’t fall into any of these behaviours.
