How do you define an independent contractor?
How do you know when you need one?
A definition of independent contractor starts off with someone who owns their own small business who you hire to perform certain tasks for your business. These contractors could range from freelancers, to consultants, to virtual assistants to outsource teams. Who you choose depends on your business needs.
How do you define what an independent contractor does for you? You start off with your first objective: what do you need done that you can't get done because of time or lack of skill? Here are 4 ways to have an independent contractor work for you:
Independent contractor work #1: similar skills
Contracting out your work to someone who does the same work you do is as close as you'll get to cloning yourself. You know the work like the back of your hand, so you'll have a very specific idea of what you want done. This will help with communication and help ensure consistent quality for your clients. And it will allow your company to take on more work.
For example, if you are an affiliate manager, you may have enough time to write 3 promotional articles, create two graphics and answer 200 questions in a week. Hire a contractor who does the same things you do and suddenly, you can write 9 articles, create 6 graphics and assist in answering 20 questions in that week. At the same time, your contractor is answering the rest of the questions and creating articles and graphics as well.
Add another contractor to the mix and you can see how much more work you can get done.
Independent contractor work #2: complementary skills
On the other hand, what happens if you hire someone with complementary skills? For example, if you're a website manager, you might hire a contractor who is really good at writing. She writes the content, you add it to the website and your client is impressed.
You could even expand your services to email marketing, article marketing and other areas of website management and Internet marketing. Expanding your available skill set allows you to provide more services to your clients, who will then pay more for your work.
Independent contractor work #3: tasks you have no skill at:
Reserve this category for skills in which you need specialized and professional help: bookkeeping, legal issues, website maintenance or accounting fall into this category.
Independent contractor work #4: your personal life
Housework, chores, errands, childcare take up a lot of time, even if you enjoy doing them. A lot of the tasks involved are also very routine. The reason you started your small business is to have more more control pf your life, so let some of these tasks go too. Hire a babysitter, instead of trying to work with the kids around. Ask around for a mother's helper to help get rid of the housework. Or how about a part time or shared housekeeper? Or, if you are single, and too busy to date, consider a matchmaker, who can help you save time and effort by weeding out the people you're not compatible with!
Once you have your team in place and everyone is working together smoothly, you'll reduce your stress and will be less likely to get bogged down in projects and tasks that you don't enjoy. Hey, that's the benefit of running your own business — if you have too much work, or don't like the work, hire someone else!
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