Outsourcing strategies (freelancer edition!)

August 27, 2013 8:53 AM

You're a freelancer and you've outsourced some of your admin/non-creative tasks by hiring a skilled assistant or specialized service. How did you identify what to outsource and to whom?

After many years of a busy freelance arts career, I'm clear that I need to hire an occasional-assistant to do SOMETHING... but I've got the typical solo practitioner problem: having done All The Things by myself for so long (and having no tasks that feel especially boring or inefficient), nothing leaps out as obvious stuff to delegate.

What are your strategies for identifying tasks to outsource, and then managing your assistant(s) as they learn and do those tasks?

Anything you wish you'd done differently here at first?

posted by kalapierson to Work & Money (1 answer total)

I largely outsource things that others can do better, faster, and/or more cheaply than me.

Management is another matter, but I try to start small, increase responsibility with demonstrated ability, and check in regularly while developing best practices as well as ground rules.

Bringing others on board will require resources, so budget those accordingly.
posted by suprenant at 10:37 AM on August 27, 2013