Million Dollar Micro Business

20Outsourcing vs in-house team

Most seven-figure course creators I've spoken with have a team of between one and five people and use a combination of outsourcing (freelancers and contractors) and in-house or permanently hired satellite team members. Through my years of business coaching traditional businesses, I know that business owners often have one main pain point in common — staff.

Outsourcing means you have specialists on tap and can turn them on and off depending on the needs of the business. It's a great way of tapping into a worldwide network of professionals. I love to outsource for specific tasks — a graphic design job, say, or website updates or any project for which you can provide specific guidelines.

Because they're not part of your team and will often be working with multiple business owners at once, you need to keep your communication crystal clear to ensure a positive result when outsourcing. They also won't necessarily be a cultural fit or know very much about who you are and what your business stands for, so it's a very functional solution and you'll get exactly what you ask for.

You can use websites like Upwork and Fiverr to search for people who can fulfil your specific needs, or hire a virtual assistant. You can hire someone anywhere in the world who has the skills you need for the job.

Outsourcing do's and don'ts

Here are some tips for getting good results from virtual assistants and outsourced tasks:

Communicate clearly

Recognise that they're unlikely ...