Have you ever gotten so wrapped up in a project that you couldn’t focus your energy on the parts that you enjoy?
Perhaps you love writing, but you’ve been hired to build a website and you’re so bogged down in setting up WordPress, editing the template, creating graphics and pulling out your hair that you haven’t had more than a minute to think about the great content you were so excited about when you took on the work.
Or maybe you were so excited that your ideal client hired you to design her graphics that you took on the task of designing the whole site as well. And now you’re bogged down in Dreamweaver, you wish you could escape to Siberia instead.
Perhaps hiring complementary subcontractors will help you.
Complementary Subcontractors
Some people hire subcontractors that do exactly what they do. For example, a writer might hire a team of writers so that she can take on more writing projects. Or a web designer might hire more web design subcontractors so he can churn out more sites.
While this is a common and effective means of extending yourself, it’s not the only way.
You can also hire subcontractors whose skills go along with yours.
For example, if you’re a virtual assistant who specializes in affiliate management, you might hire a graphic design subcontractor to create banner ads and a writing subcontractor who can put together email articles and blog posts for your client’s affiliates. You simply manage the project, making sure everything is up to par and is implemented as it should be. Of course, this is assuming that project management is your best skill.
But maybe writing is your talent. So, you might hire a subcontractor as a project manager, along with a graphic designer and a web designer. You write all the content, the graphic designer creates all the banners and the web designer uploads everything to the client’s sites. The project manager keeps track of the calendar and ensures that each element gets where it’s supposed to and on time. As the business owner, you keep an eye on everyone, making sure all pieces of the project fit together, and communicate with the client.
Another example, say you are a Realtor, you might hire a REVA Real Estate Virtual Assistant as a subcontractor to help you to get those daily tasks that you would LOVE to have someone else take care of; for instance, handling your lead management, your transaction management, email management, listing management, etc. So that you would be able to be more of that face-to-face Realtor with your prospects, buyer/seller clients!
Overflow and Special Skills
You can also hire subcontractors to handle any overflow work that you have. Perhaps your busy season is a couple of months before Christmas. Everyone is getting ready for the big holiday and you need to get articles, blog posts and banners ready to go to promote holiday specials.
Hire subcontractors who have complementary and similar skills so that you don’t get bogged down in all of the projects on your plate.
In short, your subcontractors don’t have to do the same things you do. They can offer related skills that will serve to meet more of your clients’ needs, thereby increasing your bottom line.
Once you have your team in place and everyone is working together smoothly, you’ll reduce your stress and will be less likely to get bogged down in projects and tasks that you don’t enjoy. Hey, that’s the benefit of running your own business – if you have too much work, or don’t like the work, hire someone else!
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Some people hire subcontractors that do exactly what they do. For example, a writer might hire a team of writers so that she can take on more writing projects. Or a web designer might hire more web design subcontractors so he can churn out more sites.
Hi Barbara, and yes there are some that are called Multi-VA’s and yes them have VA teams which I do happen to be on a few. It works out really well for example some VA’s have more clients than others and so if you are on a team then at the times when there are tons of work coming in or say one goes on vacation of needs personal time off the work still gets completed! That is another way to look at why it is good to hire subcontractors. Keep the thoughts rolling…..
Traditionally, the contractor who found the client and is subcontracting out work will keep a project-management fee. This “cut” can vary greatly. Ad agencies may mark up your freelance work by 50%-100%. Other freelancers probably won’t take quite that much off the top.
Yes, that is correct. But you being the contractor whom found the client did all of the marketing to get that client so shouldn’t you keep a project management fee or a “cut”. How else are you to grow your business? And as long as the contractor is making sure that the client’s work is getting done within the agreed time frame and to the satisfaction of the client is that not what matters, to me it sure does!