Welcome back to another episode of The Boujee Boss Up Podcast! As some of you may know, I recently began investing in contractors for my business within the last few months, so today I’m sharing some outsourcing tips.
Tip #1: Don’t Just Pick the “Big Names”
This should go without saying, but of course there’s a lot of people who opt to invest in the more well-known contractors in the online space. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that – just so long as they align with your business. As I’ve stated numerous times before, larger followings don’t always guarantee higher quality. It can actually be quite beneficial to work with a “smaller name” because they can be more attentive to your needs, which will therefore optimize your ROI. That’s not to say that larger brands don’t produce high quality deliverables, obviously most do, but they have a larger pool of clients to deal with, taking time away from your project. Plus, even if they are a high quality brand, that doesn’t mean that they’re aligned with your brand. This leads me to the next tip.
Tip #2: Make Sure Their Style of Work is Aligned with Your Business Model
I think the biggest lesson I’ve learned recently in regard to hiring contractors is that it’s not enough to make sure their quality of work is good. You also have to ensure that their deliverables align with your style, or it’s not going to be a good fit. I had a situation where I invested in someone who, although great at what they do, couldn’t seem to wrap their head around my business model. At first, I was quite frustrated, but then after giving it some thought and doing more research, I realized that most if not all of this contractor’s previous clients seemed to have a different business model than mine. They offer a wider variety of services, whereas I only offer one, my Brand Boss Accelerator program. The other client services were more one off types, and even the “extended” services were a lot shorter than my 8-week program. Obviously, the way that you approach those different service types is extremely different, especially in regard to what the contractor was hired for. So, it turned into a situation where I still ended up having to do some of the work I paid that contractor to produce because they couldn’t understand my offers enough to effectively deliver what I asked for. Now, of course, there’s no hard feelings at all. As I stated before, this contractor is extremely talented, they’re just not a good fit for my business.
Tip #3: Follow Your Gut Instinct as the CEO
If I had listened to that contractor, my branding would be in a completely different place than it is right now. There comes a time where you have to let the people you hire do their job as the professional, and there comes a time where you need to step in to redirect as the visionary to make sure that things are executed correctly. So, how do you know when to step in? For me, I knew when to step in due to really knowing who my consumers are. I buy the type of offers that I sell, so I know what strategies are and aren’t effective on the consumer journey. For this project in particular, I knew that a certain method worked better than that of the contractor’s because the method I prefer is what sold me on the programs that I invested in. I make most marketing decisions based on what I would want as the consumer, because I happen to have a lot in common with my consumers. So, that’s how I knew this contractor’s strategy wouldn’t be a good fit. That’s why it is so important to be in alignment with what and who you serve, because it will be your saving grace, especially in situations like these.
Tip #4: Let Them Do Their Job
I know it’s hard to give up control with your business, it’s like your baby, and you’re scared that no one will be able to care for it the way that you do. But what I want to emphasize is that you cannot effectively do everything by yourself. You’ve got too much going on as the CEO as it is. And even if you didn’t, there’s some things that you can’t produce at a high quality, even if it was the only thing you had to do. I hate to break it to you, but you’re not the best at everything, you’re not even good at everything. There are weaknesses that you have that are the biggest strengths for other people. Just as your consumers acknowledge your expertise, you need to acknowledge the expertise in other people, and let them do what they do best. I promise, your future self will thank you for it.
Tip #5: Don’t be Afraid to Ask Questions
When you are paying these people your hard earned money, that is not the time to act timid. Speak up for your brand, and make sure that you are 100% clear on both roles and deliverables. When you don’t speak up, that’s how you end up with unsatisfactory deliverables, and you won’t have anyone to blame but yourself.
Tip #6: Know Your Preferences as the Client
This is something that most entrepreneurs don’t consider until something goes left, but knowing this beforehand can save a lot of frustration, time, and money. When that situation that I described earlier occurred, something else I realized was what I do and don’t like when working with contractors. For example, you don’t have to be in constant contact with me, but if we’re collaborating on an extended project, I need multiple touchpoints for us to check in on the project to make sure that things are running smoothly. I don’t do well with only meeting once in the beginning and not hearing anything from you until the project is completed. I also need to meet with you before agreeing to work together, so that we can make sure we’re a good fit. So, that means if a contractor doesn’t offer any sort of consultation, I probably won’t invest in them.
I hope these tips were helpful, let me know which one resonated with you the most by tagging me on my Instagram, @khalasimmons. Listen, we’ve got a lot of dope content coming, we’re really taking things to another level with the interviews! So with that being said, this will likely be the last solo episode you hear from me for a while, but I can’t wait for you to see everything we’re rolling out.
Stay Boujee and Bossed Up, and I’ll catch you next week!
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Client Spotlight: You can work with Britney by visiting her website, www.bossupbrit.com and make sure to follow her on Instagram, @bossupbrit, while you’re at it!
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