Despite our best intentions, freelancers tend to operate on a pendulum that swings between feast and famine.
But how much your work needs your hand? If you’re like most, some of it is busy work that stops your earning potential in its tracks.
When you reach the point in your freelance career when you are spending non-billable hours on essential tasks and turning down clients to do so, it’s time to look at outsourcing work.
Outsourcing is a freelancer’s best friend, and you shouldn’t fear it. After all, your clients outsource their tasks to you, right?
Still, it’s not a decision to take lightly. Keep reading to learn more about outsourcing those tasks that don’t serve you.
Are You Ready to Outsource Some of Your Business?
Whatever your industry, you need to be fiscally and emotionally ready to hand over some of your work.
Outsourcing work won’t help you out if doing so (1) cuts into your profits too dramatically or (2) you aren’t ready to trust someone to help you.
If you can’t do either of these, you can’t afford to outsource.
However, if you are spending hours that you could use on billable work, but instead stress out over administrative tasks AND the amount you have to do, it’s time to prepare for the idea of laying your burden at another professional’s feet.
What Can You Outsource?
As you know, you can outsource virtually anything. The most common work given over to other professionals tends to include:
- Marketing (especially social media)
- General business administration and management
You also don’t need to outsource to a person – some of this work is quickly done by agencies or SaaS companies. For example, you can turn over some bookkeeping work to a check stub generator.
Don’t be afraid to outsource what you specialize in. Just because you are a marketer doesn’t mean you need to do your business’s marketing – you can’t bill clients for that time.
Be Prepared to Communicate
The key to understanding how to outsource work is to communicate well with the contractors you choose.
You can’t get what you don’t ask for.
Prepare documentation and expectations that demonstrates your needs from another freelancer or a service. Doing so will save you money (seriously) in both missed opportunities and extra effort.
When Will You Start Outsourcing Work?
Outsourcing work might cost you freelancer’s fees and a few gray hairs, but it will give back productivity and profits in spades.
Before you outsource any task, make sure you’re prepared to work with another freelancer or agency. Sniff them out as your clients do to you, prepare to trust them, and communicate well.
If you can check all those boxes, you’ll be back to doing what you love in no time at all.
Are you ready for more entrepreneurship hacks? Find more useful articles here.
