Like most people I always feel like there isn’t enough time to do everything I’d like to do. The hours slip by and most things seem to take longer than I think they will. But it used to be much worse, because for a long time I used to try to do everything myself. It took me a long time to realize that doing things yourself will only get you so far.
Case in point, on our site FlashDen we have to have someone reviewing every file that comes in for quality, functionality, pricing and approval. That person used to be me. Now at first that was probably a good idea, because I got a great feel for the types of files, features and pricing. I also interacted with the community and it was a very personable experience for early authors whom we really needed to get on board.
Fast forward a year and the file queue was permanently stretched out for days and days at a time. I would do blocks of file reviewing when I had time but increasingly that wasn’t very often. On top of that, I’m not sure I was doing a very good job of the file reviewing because a combination of time limitations and the wrong personality for the job led to me taking shortcuts.
And yet whenever it was suggested that someone else should take over, I kept resisting saying “It’d be too hard to explain everything to someone else”, “Only I can make sure it’s done right”, “No-one else will be able to price things how I want” and so on.
Eventually the pain of reviewing became so great even I had no choice and we hired one reviewer, then another and another. These days we have a team of about 15 and in retrospect my reasoning is very obviously flawed. But somehow it seemed real enough at the time.
Initial Cost = Long Term Freedom
I don’t think it’s uncommon to fall into the trap of believing only you can do something, or that you’ll never manage to find a replacement. But in fact pretty much everyone is replaceable and even if the replacement doesn’t do quite the same job as you did, in the long run it’s the only way to grow.
What I’ve discovered is that every time I’ve replaced myself there is a short term loss followed by a huge long term gain. The loss is the initial cost of finding someone, training them, answering questions and the time it takes for them to grow into the job. But the long term gain is that once it’s done, you (hopefully) will never have to do that job again.
It can be very difficult to let go, especially if you are a perfectionist or are giving up doing something you really enjoy. Currently I still design all the sites at Envato and I can see this is going to be a problem soon. What other company has the CEO also pushing pixels? But for now I love design a little too much, and I’ve got a barrel of excuses for why I can’t be replaced there! 
Great post Collis! Definitely something that I struggle with too, I always want to do it myself to make sure it’s “just right”… Going to have to give myself a crash-course in letting go a little!
I totally agree with you on this post Collis. But actually that is one of the most difficult parts of running a business. When you’re running a business you have to let others do what you love and start doing yourself what you hate in order to verify that everything in your business is going according to plan.
Great article Collis, specially that part “What I’ve discovered is that every time I’ve replaced myself there is a short term loss followed by a huge long term gain”.
Thanks a lot.
Nice article, my friend. I only learned to delegate recently, letting my friend Lucijan push the pixels of my personal site and projects. It ended up being one of the best decisions I ever made. I make the plan, the vision and he manages to create something that always surprises me.
In any case – letting people do their stuff is something people need to learn to do. We seemed to have and it payed out. Who would have thought?
Thanks Collis, this post was very timely. Working through some similar items in my world.
There’s a saying that if it doesn’t break your heart to stop, then it’s time to pass it on to someone else.
I’m suffering from this exact problem at the moment, I just do literally everything myself, from writing, publishing, promoting, designing etc… It’s rewarding in many ways but it’s also definitely time to expand. Any tips for how to expand when you’re relying on the money you’re taking going solo?
I think it’s great you are designing all the sites at Envato – it gives a great appeal to all of them and keeps your designer street-cred high !
I cant wait to see the rebrand you’ve been mentionning.
And at least, you don’t do the coding !
Certainly it is very important to be able to delegate parts of your work. Not only one person cannot always do everything, but many times you are not the best person for some tasks.
It is important for you to make the jump and hire someone to do certain tasks, it is even more important to make the leap and trust that that someone will get the job done.
Nice article. Since you still design, have you ever considered creating a mobile theme?
I’m kind of in the same situation; I don’t want to hand out work to someone else because I feel it’s not right and think I only know how things should be done.
But it’s exactly like you said; there isn’t enough time to do everything yourself and hopefully will that short term loss be followed by a huge long term gain.
Great article!
Great post, Collis! Really interesting to me especially, as I’m contemplating going freelance. As a developer who doesn’t do design, the clients I’m after are designers who are ready to hand the coding to someone else.
@Tom Ross: “Any tips for how to expand when you’re relying on the money you’re taking going solo?”
My tip would be, while it seems that you get a smaller slice of the pie on any given project, the upside is that your potential to take on projects grows. You have more time to do your bit, while someone else does their bit. Your day will hopefully still be filled with billable hours, just doing different stuff
Great post!
When faced with this challenge, I ask, “What *else* could I be doing if I sacrifice short time pain for long-term time gain…?” The answer is usually enough to get me over the transfer hurdle. By the time I’ve begun asking this question, it’s usually when I’m already mentally checking out, so it’s time to hand it off…
Let’s hope that you keep “pushing pixels” for Envato for awhile longer. I’m a big fan of your designs.
I would think the hardest part would be hiring that FIRST person. I can imagine how that would be a huge hit to profitability, yet clearly they key to long-term larger success.
Right now I do everything on my site… Like… well, everything
even most of the icons.
Great post.
Great post .. I’ve been freelancing for about 4 years now and this is something I’m just now coming to realize – I need to let go. I work full time and freelance during the weekends and late evenings. As my business has grown so has the ‘lateness’ of those evenings. A big focus for me is finding the right partnerships and outsource opportunities to take on some of the day to day activities so that I can focus on the money generating and more complex issues of running a freelance business. I’ve added your blog to my RSS! Great stuff!
Hi Collis,
I am in the initial start of my business & blog so I am in the same phase.
Nice article… As my freelance work continues to expand into consulting that brings diverse organizations together to save chinook salmon from extinction (www.callingbackthesalmon.com) I am trying to find freelancers I can trust. I know I have to do this as I have a couple dozen clients that require service on their web based apps. But this is where my comfort zone goes way beyond red flags.
For instance, I’m in need of the right person(s) to do css and move a blog to wordpress, but I just can’t find that right place to turn… another is a database project for a virtual history library. There isn’t enough time to do it myself, yet I want a comfortable place to get reliable help.
true, true, true
Letting go and delegating are two very difficult skills to learn. We are assisting a client who is being taken advantage of by a web designing company. Either they think they are idiots and can be easily fooled or they are incompetent. Either one is not wonderful when you are paying to delegate the work to someone. Experiences like these just reinforce why it is so hard to delegate. Hiring people to take on tasks for you seems like such a great solution. And probably in most cases becomes essential as companies grow and expand. But we can’t forget to oversee what is being done for us. So we don’t wind up like a current client paying someone to oversee and quietly correct the mess someone else has been paid to create. Definitely not optimal in this economy. But one can only do so much. Help eventually becomes necessary or business bills will pale in comparison to medical bills for exhaustion lol.
Yeah, not doing things is always better than doing things
I love writing, marketing etc but I’m definitely more the ideas person so I’ll usually hire other people to do the grunt work. In the end it’s less stressful and of a better quality that I could do myself. It’s a completely win-win situation.
Personally I’ve enjoyed watching your growth from freelancer to the New Rich as Timothy Feriss would call it.
It’s been an inspiration for me as I’m about 2 steps behind you on the road.
So thank you. I look forward to this site’s content as it will be able to pick up with 4 Hour Work Week left off… the online new rich.
I recommend you read “The E Myth: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What To Do About It” by Michael E. Gerber. the book came out over 20 years ago, but addresses this exact issue in depth and gives great ways to turn each job into a system that anyone can do. I’ve been reading it for a few weeks now and am applying it to my own business.
I’ve found somethings come to me naturally and I wasn’t aware all the things I should be teaching while training someone. I’ve learnt what are actually the key things to watch out for from people making mistakes. Did you have a better way of how to train someone?
I’d also recommend Michael Gerber’s “The E-Myth Revisited.” As Dan mentioned above, it has a some very insightful ways to systematize your business so that you are not forever stuck doing tactical work (e.g. reviewing files, keeping the books, etc.), but are allowed to do the strategic work (e.g. asking where your business is going, what it will look like when it is done, and when to sell it). As a one-man studio, I’m wrestling with what aspects of my business do I farm out so that I can do the work I love: designing!