How to Earn More and Play More: Getting Started With Personal Outsourcing
Please note: if you like this article, stay tuned: Kristen Fischer will be interviewing Ed tomorrow! — Skellie
I remember it like it was yesterday.
We were new parents and our newborn baby boy had a severe case of reflux. He was constantly crying and was waking up 6 to 8 times every night.
My wife had very little time for herself. She was exhausted. I was working long hours but did everything I could to help in the evenings and on weekends.
Around that time, my wife called one of her good friends to vent her frustrations.
She told her about how tired she was—and how she didn’t even have time to clean the house. She was on the verge of tears.
Then my wife’s friend said something I’ll never forget: “Why don’t you just hire a house cleaner? You’ll have one less thing to worry about.”
It was such a simple idea. But (I hate to admit this) we’d never thought of it!
That very day we found a house cleaning company. I still remember how great it felt to have someone take that chore away from us.
Shortly after that, I started taking a home-study copywriting course. But I only had weekends to work on the course assignments.
With all my other personal responsibilities, something had to give. So I hired a lawn-care service. That alone saved me 2 to 3 hours every weekend.
Make it easier on yourself
Launching a freelance business is no easy feat—regardless of whether you’re looking to go full-time or part-time. And if you’re trying to build the business while holding down a regular job or taking care of the kids, you have it harder than most.
There are only so many hours in a day! You can’t expect to do it all. And if you try, you’ll burn out sooner or later.
The secret lies in outsourcing tasks you’re not fond of, especially if someone else can do them for less. Here are some ideas:
- Personal stuff. We outsource our house cleaning and lawn care. My wife goes to school and I work long hours. Plus, we don’t enjoy doing that stuff anyway. We’d rather spend our free time on other activities.
- Tax preparation. The U.S. tax code is 67,000 pages long. I wouldn’t even think of filling out my own tax returns. If you don’t have one already, hire a good accountant today. It’ll be money well spent. I’m even looking into outsourcing my bookkeeping (yet another activity I can’t stand!).
- Local errands. Standing in line at the post office is about the most counter-productive activity I can think of. So I order postage stamps over the Internet. And I pay my sister $12 an hour to take my packages and important letters to the post office. (Check out Craigslist.com for people who are willing to run your errands for $10 to $12 an hour.)
- Shopping. Office Depot will deliver orders over $50. But even if I have to pay, say, $7 for shipping, it’s a bargain when compared with driving to the store, standing in line and driving back home.
- Get creative. A local car wash will pick up my car, wash and detail it, and bring it back. A dry cleaner will pick up our clothes, launder them and deliver them the next day. In some cities, local supermarkets will even deliver your groceries to you!
I realize that outsourcing costs money. But don’t just focus on the costs. Think about the benefits.
If you’re pressed for time and you’re earning (or soon will be earning) $50 or more an hour, isn’t it worth outsourcing tasks that someone else can do for much less?
It’s about balance
I’m not saying that the goal is to squeeze every possible billable hour out of your week. It’s about keeping your sanity by letting others help you. That way, you can get more work done AND have more free time.
Regardless of where you are in your freelance journey, give yourself a break. Spend some time this week thinking about tasks you could outsource.
Start small. Pick one or two activities you detest… and start with those.
Ed Gandia is a successful freelance copywriter and the publisher of the biweekly newsletter “The Profitable Freelancer.” To get a free copy of his report “7 Steps to Landing More Lucrative Freelance Projects,” visit www.TheProfitableFreelancer.com.
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This article has only scratched the surface of living a delegated lifestyle, I hope there is a part 2!
Alright, this may seem like a good idea, but if I were to do this I would feel so lazy. I know it sucks to be busy and not have time to have fun and junk, but really, I somehow am able to manage everything and have plenty of time to hang out and do my thing.
Between work, school, and freelancing I am doing fine with all my busy work and junk. If I were a full time freelancer I would love those moments to go out and do things. It’s nice to see people and talk to people. If you’re lucky you get to see a crazy guy get in a fight with a bus stop or a guy dressed in a complete Civil War uniform.
It would be nice to outsource stuff, but why be lazy and waste money? I can clean my house and do all the busy work I need to do before or after work. Whats so bad about going for drive to the store and socializing with people? Plus I would prefer all the money I saved by not outsourcing to enjoy something more fun like a weekend vacation or something exciting.
Just saying, I’m lazy (you can ask anyone that knows me) and find this suggestion to be lazy and a waste of money.
Very nice article. Thank you for sharing.
My wife and I could relate well on the story. The time when we’re starting as parents was really the toughest.
Outsourcing? Sometimes its not easy to find a reliable person (especially off-site) whom can work according to the quality that my clients are expecting 100%. Another issue is not finishing the work on the deadline.
So the solution for me is to accept or not to accept the job.
Being our own boss, we have the right to choose. Being knowledgeable and skilled, we should know our own limits.
Ed:
It’s funny how many of us will spend money on our businesses, but won’t on ourselves — at least not to free up more “time,” which is an intangible many freelancers have a hard time trying to wrap their brain around as a valuable resource.
Thanks for this fruitful reminder.
Yuwanda
Rongen, I feel your pain. I started having young contractors (many of them university students) in the industry come in to help on the little bits–filing, making follow-up phone calls, making sure the office fridge was stocked, straight forward aspects of a project, etc. I trained them up and they are now an invaluable and integral part of the team. The ones that didn’t last…. Well, nobody died, and we have some great stories
I agree with Ed, sometimes having someone do something for you free you up to be more productive in other aspects of your life. And just think, the person you’re hiring to help you is just like you–someone looking for a “gig”. When you outsource, you’re helping the economies of everyone involved.
I completely agree with you. One aspect I think many people forget who have a home office, is that if they get a Cleaning Company to clean their entire home, that the cost to clean their home office is tax deductible. I think cleaning services for a home based business is vital.
Ed, great article and great point. As a friend of mine said recently, our time is valuable–but not valuable in the billable hours sense, simply that we should spend time on things we (mostly) enjoy, full stop. If we love cleaning/shopping for food/etc., that’s one thing, but to the extent that we can find low-cost, high-quality services, we should definitely do it. That being said, I have always felt a little odd about some outsourcing, as I harbor a fear that those kinds of things reinforce existing socioeconomic conditions. I also love big words!
Thanks for the comments, everyone! Glad to hear the feedback.
@ Rongen – I think outsourcing some of your core work to others is another issue altogether. I was referring to everyday time robbers and personal tasks that can be easily outsourced. Sometimes we can find an individual who will run errands for a fraction of what we earn. And when it comes to personal household stuff (lawn care, house cleaning, house projects), others can often do it faster and cheaper, freeing up more time on the weekends to enjoy ourselves and our families.
@ Yuwanda – I agree! Our minds are our greatest resource as freelancers…yet we’re often stingy and refuse to give it a break. I think we’re all more creative when we’re relaxed. And I’m more relaxed when I know I DON’T have to take care of everything…because I’m paying someone to help me with simple (yet time consuming) tasks.
i’ve tried explaining this theory to people, and they only get it when i put it in terms of money. lets say for example, i charge $50/hour for my services. Lets then say that a house cleaner would cost me $75 once a week. if it takes me three hours to clean my house (which is about right), it costs me $150 to do it, but, i can pay someone else to do it for only $75! what a bargain!! plus, the house is probably a lot cleaner than if i do it myself
i’m all about the outsourcing. the only thing is, i like to go to the post office and bank and grocery store bc it gets me out of the house. so i’d probably continue to do those things for myself.
Some great points. Thanks for sharing the helpful info. I’m not at that point yet, but I have a feeling when I have kids I will be using this advice.
Cool tips, they border on laziness but they definitely are time savers -> I’ll give you that.. I agree that an Accountant is a must! For all serious freelancers who operate like a business their is no reason to not just form an LLC, S Corp or C Corp, to get some tax reductions, and a corporate veil of protection from creditors. Plus you can set yourself up with some really great perks…
true !
tehre is actualy a car washer that come sto home and business to do it on the put (you can watch him by your office window. how cool.)
Great article! Melek—I was going to say the same thing about the cost savings of hiring a house keeper when you factor in your hourly rate. I freelance full-time from home, and when I tell people we have a maid that comes every 3 weeks, they don’t understand. “Your home all day . . . you should do it . . . blah, blah, blah.” But it totally makes sense to free up my time to work on billable projects instead of scrubbing the toilet.
I’m also a big fan of the Staples Ink Drop program. When I run out of ink for my printer, I put the cartridge in an envelope they provide and mail it back (they pay the postage—and they recycle the cartridge.). A few days later, I get a replacement in the mail and I don’t pay any shipping, just the price on their website.
Great points Ed. In my first year of freelancing I hired an accountant to do all my taxes – little excise taxes and big federal taxes. The first bonus – I never spent any time worrying about taxes. The second – she saved me tons of money.
Looks like all these tips have the possibility of saving us from stress while helping us earn more. Thanks for the article.
I’m quite the busy freelance gal, but I still find time to clean my own house and take care of my own yard. How do I do it? First of all, I bought a small house on a small lot. So, the size of the space sets a low limit on the size of the work. Second, I keep up with the mundane cleaning tasks on a daily basis. I don’t let dishes pile up in the sink, and I’m pretty diligent about keeping this place tidy.
I first learned how to do these things when I was growing up. My parents made me do chores, and this requirement taught me many more things than how to scrub down a bathroom, pull weeds in the yard, or make the beds properly. I learned about responsibility. And the pride of accomplishment. None of these things would have happened if my folks had outsourced the cleaning and the yard work.
Hey Ed- I like~~! I wrote along the same lines about getting a Virtual Assistant to outsource to at Leo Babauta’s Write To Done blog. So, for your bookkeping, you could consider a VA that has some experience in bookkeping and also use him for other things. Voila~!
wohooo great points their you know, I am on that stage right now hehehe, I love your post Ed, this gives me a lot information. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
I outsource my oil changes. I used to do them myself, but I can get it done locally where they have WiFi for about $5 more.
That’s totally worth it. I can play catchup on e-mail and RSS, and when I get back to the home office, I have less of those tasks to do so I can focus on real work.
Hmmm, I would love to subscribe to this theory–in fact, one of my goals is to be able to outsource the housecleaning someday soon.
Unfortunately, as a single parent with a fat mortgage, two childcare fees, gas, insurance, food, utilities, taxes (ugh) etc., there is rarely enough money left over at the end of the month to pay for stuff like this. For me, they all still fit firmly into the “luxury” category, and will be there for the foreseeable future.
It’s not that I take time away from work to do the cleaning–I work a pretty solid 40 hours each week, and make sure nights and weekends are available for my kids, my boyfriend, and yes, myself. As we all know though, some months can be more lucrative than others, and anything I am able to set aside during the windfall months often gets called upon during the leaner months. This doesn’t always leave much in the kitty to spend money on things like housecleaning, shopping, and the like.
I’d love to be able to do it, but it’s really not realistic for everyone.
Outsourcing housecleaning sounds great… until you get stolen from a few times. The people I know over the years who have outsourced cleaning have all had recurring problems over the years. As for myself, the only time I let a stranger alone in my house was for a repair when I was younger, and I had an irreplaceable piece of jewelry stolen when I was in the loo for 2 minutes. The idea that I would have someone who I don’t really know, who obviously works for less money than me, have the free run of my house is just plain NO. If your house is too big to clean then you are living in too big of a house.
Hello everyone. Thanks for all the wonderful comments and ideas!!
I wanted to address some of the concerns raised by a few of you. They’re valid points and I feel like I need to explain myself a bit better.
On the comments that outsourcing some of your personal, everyday tasks seems like a lazy thing to do, I understand where you’re coming from. However, the point wasn’t to go extreme with outsourcing. Think of it as a “dial.” You can turn that dial up or down depending on your specific situation. It’s completely up to you. There’s no right or wrong here.
For me, I prefer to turn that dial up as much as possible. I work long hours and I prefer to work on the tasks that I enjoy. I can’t stand the lines at the post office. I don’t get much out of running out to the office supply store for more paper and toner. I’d rather focus on my work and knock off a bit early so I can spend it with my family. And I don’t mind paying someone $12 an hour to do these things for me. It gives me more time to do what I really want to do.
HOWEVER…if you enjoy this and look at these errands as a way to clear your mind and break up your day, that’s fine. I would keep doing it. Only you can make that decision. But it should be based on what you enjoy/not enjoy and the financial resources you have available.
Which leads me to the second point — that outsourcing these tasks will make you a boring person because you’ll never leave the house. Here again, the idea is to do what you enjoy. If I ran some of these errands myself, I would feel more stressed out when I came back to the office than I did when I left. To break up my day and ensure that I don’t lose my social skills, I schedule lunches and outings with friends, family and colleagues. Or I’ll go visit a client every once in a while (I visited 2 clients today). That, to me, is a much more enjoyable way to get out of the office.
Finally, it’s an issue of how you view this sort of thing. My weekend time is priceless. I spent more than 2 years working 7 days a week, balancing a full-time job and a part-time freelance business. I’m glad I no longer have to do that. So I make sure that I’m poductive all week long (hence the reason for outsourcing)…and I outsource weekend tasks that I hate (e.g., yard maintenance). I can’t tell you how happy and relaxed I feel when I know these things are taken care of.
Hope this clarifies these issues.
I’ve outsourced my sweeping and vacuuming to my robot “Roomba.” In fact, he’s “working” right now on the floors, while I work. Best $200 I ever spent. (And he entertains the kids and cat, too.) My husband is hoping they come out with a “Lawnba.”
I just outsourced someone to write this comment for me while I took a break from a project. Outsource is just great!
great article!! I totally agree. I hired a cook for a while.. it was very very nice. While I no longer use her.. she really helped me get on a nice dinner schedule for the fam. We have a cleaning lady too. I can assure you that it is not laziness either… we have 7 kiddos.. so, need to make sure there is time for them. And, soon, they will be old enough to help, so I guess I will be outsourcing to them.
Thank you for these excellent ideas, which really make sense for people who are short of time. We already get organic fruit and vegetables delivered, and this saves us a lot of time that would be spent shopping. Additionally, we frequently order food from the supermarket online. Who enjoys pushing a shopping cart around the supermarket, and then standing in line? Doing it over the web not only saves time, but is also less stressful.
Hiring a house cleaner is the next thing that we are thinking of.
i like doing the dishes….i find a zen like calmness of mind that occurs while making everything clean…perhaps my mind is too easily fooled…
The problem with this article is it’s too short! Bring on part 2, please!
I few months ago I was at a point in my business where I was falling behind. Very behind. So, I started out sourcing a lot of my normal development work to the point where I’m now more of a project manager then a developer. Still, it’s got it’s own set of problems.
This article is about personal outsourcing not business but it’s all about what your time is worth vs what you do with it.
Nice article & great advice.
I’ve just reached the point now in running my own small operation that I desperately need to outsource a certain amount of work. the business development program I am on suggested a student intern who would benefit from working with a company and who could add benefit by taking on some smaller tasks. I’ve just sent her the first little assignment, filling in some content and making amendments to a site i am completing.
As for outsourcing more important tasks, I think almost anything can be outsourced, but as a design I can never be sure whether outsourcing creative work will ever work with me as I have no idea what the designer will come up with. Sound like a confused client hey. Any advice for a designer needing to outsource certain creative tasks?
Great article, I would like to see a Part 2, and maybe on how to make the best decision on selecting a person to outsource, all the areas we can outsource and maybe have users input their experiences in that area.
#nomad-one
I don’t think you can outsource “creative tasks”, at least not a 100%. Maybe you need to give some guidelines to your provider and ask them to present several solutions to choose from.
As programmer/sort of designer I think it is easy to outsource programming and content (copywriting), but not “graphic design” or similar “creative tasks”. “Graphic Design” shows your personal taste. If a client chose you over other designers is because he/she shares your taste. Then if you are planning to outsource your designs, make sure your provider is in tune with your taste.
I have an answer for folks who are afraid of a housekeeper stealing from them: stick with people who are bonded. It is NOT a guarantee that they will never steal from you, but it *does* weed out the most obviously criminal. It’s kind of unfair to completely dismiss the idea of a housekeeper by believing that they are all thieves. The biggest thief I ever encountered was my own husband (now ex). The second biggest was one of my brothers. You can’t judge someone’s honesty by how well you know them.
I totally empathize with the objection that hiring help seems to preserve less-than-optimal socioeconomic conditions. On the other hand, if you hire sole proprietors rather than, say, a team from Merry Maids, you’re actually helping someone better themselves. If I could work out a way to do it that let me bring my daughter along to help, I would totally do housekeeping because it’s good exercise, good money, and you know when you’ve done a good job.
I’ve been hearing a lot about this outsourcing business, and I definitely see the advantage to using this technique.. If you spend an hour mowing the lawn instead of working, you could pay a neighbour kid ten bucks to mow it, and spend that hour working, you’d still be ahead 30-40 bucks, depending on your rate.
As one of those “freelancing after-hours while holding down a day job” people, I’m really going to have to seriously consider this, otherwise I’m going to go crazy
Hi,
IWe have a consultancy firm in India (CAs & MBAs). I need to know how we can approach companies/Indivisuals want to outsource their work related to F&A outside.
Regards,
Sweta
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There are pluses and minuses to this. I love my job, but doing some of the other chores not related to my work helps me take my mind off of some things. This way things are not as repetitive.
Nice article. I have been doing freelancing for more than a year.
I am inviting you to join the community of freelancers – Freelance Fest: http://www.freelancefest.com
Really great article! We all know that doing this kind of work is not easy. Management plays the important role in this area so you could take time to enjoy and relax.
Phil
Sorry for re-post, it didn’t seem to work the first time I submutted my comment.