My business is growing very slowly. I prefer it that way, so I can keep my frame of reference. I don’t like huge and sudden changes in any case. Life is full of surprises and unexpected turns. Growing a BPO outsourcing business also has issues that come up, and growing pains are a huge one.
When you go from being a worker to a manager, it is completely different. I actually like doing grunt work. It is easy. You just have to do a good job and get it done on time. Managing others is much harder. YOU are responsible when they screw up, and it is not always easy to deal with unpredictable people. My strategy is to try people out on outsourcing projects that don’t matter, that way you can get to know them without having consequences other than the money you spent having them do a fake project!
For many years I operated with the same sales lady, the same programmers, and everything remained the same for the most part. We grew a little, and developed our skills in many facets slowly over time — particularly my SEO skills which I started acquiring in 2008 which saved my life. But, now I am confronted with interviewing dozens of people. I have lots of phone calls with companies I wish to hire for outsourcing as well. I have to test out blog writers, programmers, and assistants as well. This really tires me out.
I remember a day when I had two interviews in my county. One was an hour from my house. After that I went to the other meeting which was twenty-five minutes from the first interview. I had a light dinner, and then went to have wine at a nice hotel not far from my house. I was exhausted. The actual time I spent interviewing was only 90 minutes total in the entire day. It completely drained me out. I began to think that I am not cut out for this higher level type of work. I prefer to do my tasks myself and not do much hiring and firing.
“Will I ever make it up the food chain?”
But, then I thought that if I am ever going to make it up the food chain to higher management, I need to be a pro at hiring and firing. On a more comforting thought, when I talk to others in business, I realize that they are not really any better than I am at hiring and firing even if their organization is much larger than mine. Hiring is a skill that requires mastery, and mastery takes a lot of hard work, thought and refinement. I’m having growing pains slowly moving up the food chain, but I think I’ll make it. I’m not sure how long it will take until I’m comfortable doing a higher percentage of management rather than grunt work. Maybe I will be a full fledged manager in a year. When you work for yourself there are no promotions. You do what is necessary for the company to run, so this promotion is one that evolves or doesn’t evolve. We’ll see what happens!
If you are having similar growing pains growing your outsourcing company, you are not alone. Learn to master the art of delegation to the point of it being a science!
You might also like:
Should you have slack in your schedule as a manager?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/10/07/should-you-have-slack-in-your-schedule-as-a-manager/
6 ways to be more in control of your business
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/09/25/6-ways-to-be-more-in-control-of-your-business/