Some freelancers opt to take on only what they can handle, turning down offers of more work. Others see the potential for earning income by hiring another freelancer to handle the excess demand. Which is best? Here are some things to keep in mind if you do choose to team up with someone:
- Your reputation: Regardless of who does the work, your name and reputation is on the line. If you hire another freelancer, his or her work has to be just as good as yours – or even better.
- Quality of work: Not only are you going to have to make sure your work is consistently up to par, you’ll have to keep an eye on the other writer’s consistency of quality as well.
- Time Management: Organization is a priority, and you’ll need to answer emails, schedule for deadlines, delivery, and manage time effectively. You’ll need a dependable worker to ensure smooth scheduling to avoid juggling a mess.
- Accounting: When you’re on your own, you only have to worry about yourself. When you start to branch out and work with other people, all sorts of small accounting details are going to come into play. You’ll need to treat your freelancing as a business.
- Communication: You will need to communicate effectively with your teammate at all times, as well as be able to trust his or her word.
- Stress Management: A team needs a good leader who makes decisions, who is responsive, and who can take care of the business. For many people, being the one person in charge with no one else to go to for help can be stressful when things get rough.
- Decisions, decisions: Organizing a team means that you’re going to need to separate business from pleasure. While working with someone else can be fun and profitable, it can also be uncomfortable. You may have to take some hard decisions, such as firing a person when things don’t work out. Can you do fire a person without twisting yourself in knots or continually giving the other person a second, third, and fourth chance?
It’s not easy being the head honcho. Before outsourcing and building a team, decide what sort of commitment of time, effort, and responsibility you’re willing to make to your business. When others look to you as a source of work and income, you need to be ready to take on the responsibilities involved.
