I\u2019ve started the new year with an interesting conundrum. When, or even if, is it right to take someone else on? Are there ways of partnership, collaboration, subcontracting or just plain asking for help when you\u2019ve got more work than you need? I can\u2019t believe I\u2019m saying that it out loud, but I have more offers of work than I can manage. I feel incredibly lucky and also slightly uncertain how to handle it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the charities I\u2019m working with wants some fundraising work and when it came up very early in our introduction conversations, I was upfront it wasn\u2019t my specialism but I had a number of high level contacts who I might be able to utilise. As I\u2019ve bedded in with this charity, the topic came up again \u2013 particularly in case I was able to offer them more time than I was currently. That had been the plan but with two unexpected extensions to existing contacts, my time with them was capped. And already maxed out with existing work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I\u2019ve mentioned to a few freelancing contacts that I\u2019m currently in the midst of too much work already, the most common response is whether I can pass any on, particularly by contracting out. And for now, I\u2019m pretty sure that\u2019s a whole load more complication that I have brainspace for right now. But it did get me thinking – where do you start?? First up, you need a network of contacts, and not just any freelancer you can find online, but reputable, dependable, skilled freelancers that you can trust. And it takes time to build up that kind of network. I\u2019ve already linked a few people up to charities in need, but mostly under the caveat that I\u2019m just a conduit rather than it being a direct recommendation. I\u2019ve posted in some freelance forums, and simply collected contact details to pass on. No reputational risk to me. But if you\u2019re recommending, passing on work, or even subcontracting work out, then you need to be really sure of who you\u2019re working with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A question that came up pretty quickly for me is, am I even allowed? Bear with me on this. I think it stems back to the initial hesitation to go freelance at all, as if there was some exam I had to take, interview to pass, some governing body to sign me off before I could offer myself out for work. I\u2019ve got my head around the solo-aspect and I\u2019m getting more confident in the self-employed space. But the idea of involving someone else seemed to throw me right back there \u2013 would I need a company to do it? Would it need policies\/procedures\/HR-type functions (and more)? I genuinely don\u2019t know. If you\u2019re recommending someone, you\u2019re simply connecting people, but if they undertake work with you, or even for you \u2013 what do you need? That\u2019s a giant question mark for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then there\u2019s the practicalities of how you organise the work. If you\u2019re subcontracting down, I presume you remain the charity\u2019s contact and would need to safeguard time for meetings, agreeing progress, feedback etc. If anything isn\u2019t clear, are you connecting the person up with the charity directly, or are you always the conduit? If quality isn\u2019t up to scratch, you have to resolve it. It would put you fairly firmly it feels back in a management position, with, at the very least, responsibilities around work quality, timeliness, communication, etc. And once you\u2019re doing that, it\u2019s only natural and human you\u2019d be involved at some level on wellbeing, absence etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019d also have to work out the finances. Given you\u2019d stay fairly involved in the work and would be the lead in terms of overall contract management, you\u2019d need to consider a fair cut of the work, while making sure you met the sub-contactor\u2019s day rate expectations. The other thing I\u2019ve heard people mention is taking a finder\u2019s fee, more of a one-off payment for linking up the right person to deliver for an organisation. But something makes me think that might not be so prominent in the charity sector!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps the other aspect is communication with the client. You\u2019d have to make a decision about whether you were claiming the work in any way, and using additional expertise behind the scenes, or whether you were upfront about the fact that the work was actually sitting elsewhere, albeit under your guidance. There are pros and cons to both, but it strikes me that honest feels best, particularly if you are able to evidence the strength of the subcontractor and your rationale for the set-up. And you\u2019d have to recognise a risk that it may not sit well with a client, since they engaged you, and your business, there may be a frustration or nervousness about the work going elsewhere. Perhaps I\u2019m considering this too much from my own position though, as a single freelancer my business is me and only me and I talk and market myself as just that. If I was subcontracting out without communication to my clients, that may well feel wrong, deceitful even, but others are set up differently and may have the flexibility in the way they position themselves to cover this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, the other angle is formalised expansion. If you think there is likely to be too much work consistently, to consider taking on employees after setting up a company. And I\u2019ve been involved in enough small charities to know the plethora of policies, procedures, reporting and regulation that is likely to come with that. Right now none of that excites me. Even if it came with the possibility of significantly more income. More importantly, I\u2019m nowhere near that possibility!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For right now, I\u2019m staying as I am. A very busy but proud one-woman band, who\u2019s taken slightly too much on. I\u2019m lucky I have contacts in the right area, and I\u2019ve been able to make solid recommendations of strong candidates. It\u2019s also helped my stress levels not attempting to step into an area so strongly out of my comfort zone, particularly while I\u2019m battling my to-do list on a weekly basis. In term of the future, who knows. I like to keep my options open, and I certainly would love to explore more work in collaboration with others, but for now my preference is informal connections and protecting my solo space while I give it time to settle in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Photo by\u00a0Eric Prouzet<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Unsplash<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019ve started the new year with an interesting conundrum. When, or even if, is it right to take someone else on? Are there ways of partnership, collaboration, subcontracting or just plain asking for help when you\u2019ve got more work than you need? I can\u2019t believe I\u2019m saying that it out loud, but I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":307,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[34],"tags":[13,11,12,21,25,10],"class_list":["post-306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-contracts","tag-charity","tag-consultant","tag-freelance","tag-non-profit","tag-self-employment","tag-start-up-2"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t