As a solopreneur, you are juggling many balls – customers, marketing, finances, legal obligations, products and services. To be flexible to suit your customer’s needs, scale your business, and still do what you love; you will need help. This may be to assist with the peaks of customer demands, or the development of back-end systems for automation of your business. There are a number of ways you are able to meet these demand without having to work yourself around the clock!
There are 5 capacity builders to help busy solopreneurs manage, leverage and grow their businesses.
1. Technology and Systems
There are multitudes of technology to help you in your business. Starting with a good finance system to track expenses and issue invoices. We use Xero, which I love for its simplicity and accessibility.
Another important technology, especially for us who are in service based occupations is a method of tracking the time we spend on work so that we are able to track how long jobs are taking, where our time is going, and not letting any unbilled time slip through the cracks. For this I like to use WorkflowMax, which integrates perfectly with Xero.
We are Microsoft Office 365 subscribers using SharePoint, which ensures we are always using the most up-to-date MS programs, documents are securely saved and accessible anywhere on multiple devices. Just these systems alone have helped to streamline what we do thus saving significant time that is better spent elsewhere on the business.
There are also many marketing technologies to automate your efforts such as email marketers, CRMs, and social media automation. There’s an enormous range of options to choose from. Here are a few I like for solopreneurs: Mailchimp for email marketing, and Hootsuite or Buffer for social media.
2. Freelancers
I am a huge fan and user of freelancers. Our online learning courses were designed and developed by freelancers in Dublin. Our first logo was developed in India. We have used website developers in the Phillipines. My book editor was a Canadian based in Budapest. My podcast producer is in London. You get the picture.
In 2015, a third of the Australian workforce is already freelancing in some way. That’s $4.1 million people – 32% of the workforce. With our change in demographics, globalisation, technology and a move to portfolio careers, freelancing is an attractive option.
Australian company Freelancer.com is the world’s largest freelancing, outsourcing and crowdsourcing marketplace by number of users and projects. They connect over 20 million employers and freelancers globally. Other popular freelance sites are Upwork and Fiverr.
Most importantly, you need a clear project plan or position description with key deliverables and clarity around the type of skills and experience you require. You post the job, and people/companies apply from all over the world. You are then in the driver’s seat to select the best applicant for the job with reference to their previous ratings and feedback, work samples, and you are also able to interview them (via Skype) and do reference checks if you like.
3. Outsourcing, Offshoring and VAs
Yes, really, these are three strategies in one; but let me explain each one and you will see some commonality.
Offshoring is outsourcing work to another country. The Philippines is a popular option for Australians. I recommend you go through a company who specialises in offshoring from Australia and can help you navigate the right arrangement for you. To get you started, have a look at Mike’s Manila Tours. My experience is that this works best for routine type tasks, and you do need to provide a robust induction and training package for your requirements.
Another option is to outsource tasks to a specialist such as a bookkeeper, marketer, web designer, or graphic designer. What takes you a whole day could be done by these specialists in an hour – save yourself time and frustration. Focus instead on the important tasks of building your business and delivering great service to your customers.
Fantastic Virtual Assistants are worth every cent. They keep you on track, organised, looking professional, and that makes your life so much more pleasurable – and the customer so much happier. All those little tasks that you’re either doing or not doing can be done my a delightfully proficient VA, such as diary management, responding to emails, customer follow-ups, or whatever else you need. A company I have used with success to source great VAs is VA Placements.
4. Contractor
Contractors are commonly used for set projects or jobs. We have used HR contractors with specific skills for large pieces of work when we don’t have capacity within our existing team. A major benefit is that the project outcome is directly linked to contractor costs, so payments are linked to outcomes and you don’t have ongoing wages obligation. Contractors enable you to be flexible in your resourcing based on the often ebbs and flows of solopreneurs.
There is an important distinction to be drawn between contractors and employees. Get this wrong at your own peril! Here are important points to note for contractors:
- Minimise liability by only using contractors who are an incorporate company, i.e. Pty Ltd.
- The contractor is responsible for their own insurance, superannuation and workers compensation (be very careful about these requirements, and I recommend you seek expert advise to ensure you are doing it right).
- The contractor is paid on outcomes not by the hour.
For further information around contractors versus employees, please refer to the Fair Work and ATO websites.
5. Employee
When you have consistency of work, have outgrown your own capacity, then it is time to consider employing your first person. It is common for your first employee to be another “producer” – someone who provides service to your customers and generates revenue, and frees your time to work on the business.
There are a number of modes to employ your first person:
- Casual – temporary, not set hours, and therefore more flexible
- Part-time – less than 38 hours per week
- Full-time – 38 hours per week
Before employing your first person be sure to understand your obligations around:
- Terms and conditions of employment – see Fair Work website, including modern award coverage
- Superannuation – see ATO website
- Payroll – see ATO website
Integral to the employment relationship is an employment contract so ensure you have an appropriate contract signed by both you and the employee before the employee commences work.
COMMON SUCCESS FACTORS
The common success factors for all 5 capacity builders for solopreneurs are:
- Being absolutely clear on your requirements, which can be documented via a project plan, position description, performance measures, and/or skills and experience requirements.
- Selecting the best person for the job/project/task through a robust process.
- Setting expectations, providing feedback, and monitoring performance.
- Communicating is the ultimate success factor to any of these strategies working for you as the solopreneur.
