An issue I continuously encounter with my entrepreneurial clients is whether they should hire an assistant. As a solopreneur, you get conditioned to do everything yourself, cut costs and work really hard. However, there’s a point where too much hard work could work you out of more business.
A few of the core factors in deciding whether it’s time to get an assistant are timing, expense and purpose. I’d like to pose three strategy questions to help you figure out whether now is the time for you to hire someone and where they will add the most value to your business.
1. Is it time for an assistant or a strategy overhaul?
A good indicator you need help is realizing you’re extremely busy and can’t get everything done. You may feel stressed, overwhelmed and rarely end a day with a sense of accomplishment. Before you hire someone, assess whether the issue is needing help or needing focus. You may be so busy trying to hit every sales and marketing channel that this lack of focus is the problem itself. If this sounds like you, make a list of all the methods you’re using. Next to each, write down how many clients you’ve generated. Temporarily eliminate any channels you’ve used for six months or more that haven’t resulted in clients. See if removing extraneous work leads to you getting more done and better serving your clients.
On the other hand, if your challenge is a steady stream of clients generating administrative work, which takes you away from serving your clients and getting new ones, you need to hire someone.
The most important consideration is whether your current activities increase your revenue or waste your time. Why pay someone else to do activities that don’t help your business grow? If you do, you risk wasting money on a person, in addition to a monthly subscription fee, potentially tripling your costs, just to outsource work that offers you no return on your investment.
Here’s a perfect example. I find my clients often default to hiring someone to do their social media. When I ask what…