Lots of people start out as a freelancer, but then try to hire a few freelancers to work under them. Growth through hiring more freelancers can make things tricky, especially if you still want to work as a freelancer, because someone has to also be a manager. You run a good risk of frustrating and pushing out the other freelancers, especially if they see that you selectively pick from the job jar and keep the best assignments for yourself. Instead, decide if the nature of the business is such that you are actually an owner rather than a freelancer.

You get to choose what you are: freelancer or owner or entrepreneur.

Words of Wisdom

As Michael Gerber has taught for many years with his seminal books on The E-Myth, if you’re an entrepreneur, you cannot grow and succeed in business by doing all the work yourself. You’ve got to step back and see the larger picture of the business in order to create the circumstances to move forward. If you are doing all the work, you’re not systematizing a business and making it bigger; you are simply hiring yourself to do the work. If you’re happy with doing the work (which Gerber refers to as working in the business and not on the business), then you need to hire a manager to run the business, and take your direction from the manager. If you want to continue in the role of entrepreneur, then you need to assume the role of manager and create a company where the people you hire do the work.