So you hired a virtual assistant or a ghostwriter, and the experience was a total nightmare…
Did those contractors miss important deadlines?
Or disappoint your clients?
Did their mistakes make YOU look bad?
If you’ve been burned by outsourcing work to freelancers, it can be tough to muster up the courage to hire out again. It’s so much easier to just say, “Forget it! I’ll just do everything myself from now on.”
Don’t. Please don’t!
I’m here to tell you that bad experiences with outsourcing do happen on occasion, but shouldn’t prevent you from ever hiring virtual support ever again.
There are dozens of advantages to sharing your workload with talented freelancers, and even MORE ways to make sure that the team members you hire are reliable and skilled.
So if you’re a little gun-shy due to past disappointments, read on for 5 compelling reasons to give outsourcing a second chance!
Mistakes Are for Learning, NOT Repeating
Maybe you outsourced using a tool like Upwork and went for a contractor who looked like a bargain.
Maybe you hired a virtual assistant without asking her the right questions and vetting her experience.
Look back on the hot mess created by your outsourcing choices, and do some analysis. In all likelihood, you know what went down last time that led to your bad experience … which means you can learn from it. Make changes and do it differently in the future.
Real Business Growth Takes Teamwork
Do you want to stagnate forever, make the same amount of money every year, and never expand the work you’re doing?
Of course you don’t!
You built this business with every intention of nurturing it as it changed and grew. But here’s the thing, lovely: You can’t go it alone forever if you want to expand your business footprint.
In order to add new projects, build new offerings, and expand into new spaces, you’ll need support. Even if it feels risky to outsource due to past experience, you’ll need to take that risk again if you intend to spark meaningful growth. (And I know you do!)
There Are Plenty of Fish (I Mean Freelancers) in the Sea
Freelancers are a dime a dozen! OK, I kid 😉
But seriously, there are thousands and thousands of skilled VAs and contractors out there, and just because you had a bad experience with one of them doesn’t mean the rest will disappoint you.
If you write off outsourcing forever, you’ll never find out how many dedicated, insightful, talented, supportive, organized freelancers are just waiting to help you nurture your business.
I know you’re still wounded from that crappy experience, but try to let it go and move on to someone else. If you do, you might just find your dream team …
Running a One-woman Show is Exhausting
If you’re tired of working around the clock—and I know you are—something’s gotta give.
You can’t squeeze more hours out of a single day, and you can’t clone yourself. Outsourcing is literally the only way to get work off your plate without abandoning it completely.
Your time is valuable, and if you want to reclaim any of it so you can see your family, hit the gym, and maybe sleep once in a while, you’ll need to give outsourcing another shot.
Girl, You Need to Think Bigger
When you spend half of your workday answering emails, tweaking your schedule, and sending out invoices, you can’t focus on the bigger picture.
You’re clogging up your calendar with repetitive work that can easily be outsourced to a VA or freelancer, and keeping yourself busy instead of creating room to hit your long-term goals.
If you want to do more of the work you love doing, you’ve got to find a way to delegate the work you DON’T love doing. And that means (you guessed it) outsourcing.
When you’ve built a business from the ground up, it’s hard to trust other people with its inner workings. Even harder if you’ve tried to outsource and been let down!
But the fact is that outsourcing simply isn’t optional for entrepreneurs who want to catalyze growth. It’s mandatory. It’s the one and only way to set yourself up for expansion and long-term success.
So let go of the past, look toward the future, and get ready to dive back into outsourcing!
