Because our business does not employ full time employees (yet), some articles in business magazines don’t apply. Yes, we outsource and there are many parallels, though not always applicable. But while reading one an article by Jason Fried (co-founder of 37 signals and co-author of Rework) recently I was drawn to the many helpful points he raised. One of which really stood out for me because that’s what I’ve been sharing for a while too.
In the article, Fried says that they generally, prefer to find out how to do a job before they start hiring someone to do it. The reason he says, “If you haven’t done the job, you don’t really understand the job. Without that fundamental understanding, it is hard to judge what constitutes a job well done“.
We totally subscribe to that thinking here. It is always frustrating when I hear of gurus or guru wannabes telling people, many who are new, inexperienced business owners that they can do this. Whatever this may be. The theme is always recurring. That you don’t have to know a single thing about the business or the market. Just bark out orders to some lowly paid worker and Voila! Instant website, e book, product, fill-in-the-blanks. While that may be true, it is also very misleading.
- If you have no clue how to do something, how do you know the person you hire (or outsource to) is not asking you to pay top dollar for skills they haven’t developed yet and are still learning to master?
- If you have no idea what their day to day job pertains, how would you even know that you really need this job or position? Hiring someone just because you’ve been told you need such a position and aren’t quite ready for it yet is a waste of money.
- If you have no idea how to do a job, how do you know what orders or direction to give? There will always be smaller tasks you can get someone to do without needing to know the details for example, you don’t need to know how to transcribe an audio before you hire it out. But there are also other tasks that need a little more direction and knowledge from you. If you depend on the hire or contractor for direction, then you’ll likely end up paying more and spending more time on a job due to additional communication.
Let’s be clear. I am not saying everyone who encourages you to outsource is wrong. But when someone says they don’t know how to build a website and yet make a gazillion bucks off their online division, the truth is, they have a go between manager who knows how to do the job to manage a hire for them.
What am I saying, do it all yourself? No. Not for the long term. But is definitely a good idea to do the work once, twice, maybe a couple of times before you decide if the job is something you really need to do, whether someone else in the organization is already equipped and capable of handling the job. After that, you decide the is a job worth hiring out for, now you know how to weed out the good people.
