How to Profitably Grow Beyond a Business of One

Build Your Freelance Starship

First off, there is nothing wrong with manning a one man craft. You can earn quite a bit of income and reach a great deal of success on your own. It's good to keep your eyes open for opportunities though, especially if you identify with the 'captain mindset' of leading a team.

Business growth is iterative. It's made from a series of small risks taken and successes won. Moving from a one man operation to captaining a team happens as opportunities present themselves and you take advantage of them - one by one. A bit of planning will help you identify those opportunities. Some analysis will help you mitigate the risk involved by taking small steps that are likely to be successful.

Adding Crew to Grow Your Business

What Size is Your Starship? What Size Do You Want it to Be?

An enterprise level freelance operation doesn't get built overnight. Growth happens one step at a time. Each worker you add to your operation slowly transforms your business structure.

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Let's take a look at what crew you might need for your business. In order to be profitable it's important to find affordable help. Consider the factors that effect hiring costs?

What Crew Do You Need?

When hiring workers for your freelance business understand that cost is often tied to level of skill, the task they will be performing, and location of workers.

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Level of skill - A seasoned freelance professional with years of experience will cost more than someone new to their craft. You might consider hiring someone with lots of experience in situations when time is crucial and you have a tight deadline to hit. Otherwise, consider saving costs by hiring someone more affordable.

Type of Task - If tasks can be performed digitally with clear instructions, with little variance, or need for creative thinking or judgement, then you can hire a virtual assistant to take care of it. This has dramatic potential for cost savings.

Location of Worker - Hiring workers located in areas of the world that have lower standard of living costs can save you tremendous amounts of money. Outsourcing globally, yes even at the freelance business level, is commonplace today.

It's Time to Plan Your Freelance Business Blueprint

What does the schematic of your freelance business look like today? What could it look like tomorrow? Have you brought more hands on deck to handle parts of your client projects? Could you imagine doing so?

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It's OK if the blueprint of your starship still looks a little fuzzy to you. You'll have a clearer picture of what you can construct after we cover a few more details.

Let's take a deeper look at tasks that you can outsource, as well as systems and procedures to put in place, which will deliver consistent results from your team. Predictable, quality results are key to building a profitable freelance business, and will allow you to scale your venture with confidence.