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Scaling a Project Management One-Man-Show

A detailed account of a Fastlane process...

Meikel Muhr

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
133%
Jul 15, 2021
9
12
Hello Fastlaners,

I came across MJ's book a couple of weeks ago and since then I am completely amazed by his thoughts.

I am 31yrs old, living currently in Germany and doing IT Project Management work (Freelance) for big clients all over Europe. I started my career +10 yrs ago as an intern (while studying IT + Business) for a big chemical company. I got into SAP and learned everything about it in the area of logistics, changed to IBM, working for big companies as SAP Consultant and ultimately started my own freelance business 4 years ago (same time when I moved to Spain for living the good life next to the beach).

The first 4 years as Freelance Consultant have been pretty good from a financial point of view. Friends & Family would say I am doing very good. Also lately I abadonned the role of SAP consultant for becoming a Project Manager. Why? Because I see my passion in PM and also it is a way to charge higher rates. Currently I am sitting in a low 6-figure revenue (of course pretty much limited due the time I have and the daily rate I charge). So the classic issue with time vs. money business. I am growing my rev every year by adding new skills and raising rates consequently (e.g. beginning of the new year +10%). By this I am now saying "NO" to a lot of recuriters / clients / agencies and only accepting gigs that fit my terms (payment, flexibilty of location and of course topic).

Having read FLM my eyes opened just realizing that I have created (a well paid) job myself and I am still in the Slowlane (and will be following this approach). Also I found MJ's thoughs on the stock market interesting. My second business (and I call it business because I treat this very professional) is investing in the stock market via differnt products (options, derivates, stocks, commodities). Also here I did quite well in the last 3 years being aware that the market was good to me and I am not in control of it.

So what brings me here to the forum and posting my story. I am now even better aware of the fact that I have no control over what I am doing. If I do not attend my clients projects, there is no revenue. If the stock market drops drastically, I still make some money but my strategies are more oreinted on bullish markets. The time I spend on client projects and in the markets determines what I can cash in.

So what I am looking for? Your thoughts and ideas on how I could get more leverage on my business by NOT hiring people for operations. Finding and getting people in my business niche isn't easy, one must be willing to pay good (high) salaries and of course managing them. Things I am not open for. So scaling via employees is currently no option for me. Don't get me wrong - I am very much open for people supporting my business like a VA or someone doing marketing, but "cloning" myself would imply high cost I am not willing to cover in the moment.

Ideally I would love to step into productized consulting, but haven't found a good way so far as my "done for you business" is very often so specific customized to the clients that I did not find "the one thing" that I could systemize. But maybe I am thinking to complex....

Open to any thought - IT consultans, PMs, Freelancer Manager / Interim Manager....

Thanks in advance and take care guys!
Michael
 
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Ronak

Gold Contributor
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Sep 13, 2013
573
1,814
Can you start hiring team members to take some of the work off your plate and scale? That could be in any area, whether its sales, fulfillment, management, etc.

Maybe start with a list of all the activities involved in your business, take a note of everything you do over a typical week, then mark the ones that only you can do vs what others can do, and start there.

It seems like you're in a good position, the key is not to abandon it for something completely different, but to gradually scale it into a business vs freelance.

Welcome to the forum!
 

Meikel Muhr

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
133%
Jul 15, 2021
9
12
Can you start hiring team members to take some of the work off your plate and scale? That could be in any area, whether its sales, fulfillment, management, etc.

Maybe start with a list of all the activities involved in your business, take a note of everything you do over a typical week, then mark the ones that only you can do vs what others can do, and start there.

It seems like you're in a good position, the key is not to abandon it for something completely different, but to gradually scale it into a business vs freelance.

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks for your feedback.
Like written in the initial posting it is very difficult to get people for operations/fulfilment. I don’t wanna say it is impossible (we all know it is not) but I comes with a certain price: high payrolls, lots of overhead managing employees and other risks. Also I fear losing parts of my freedom I have right now.

my business is pretty lean already. 90% of my work is fulfilment (working contracted hours at client projects). 10% is admin (LinkedIn, calls with potential clients —> I do not need to search for new business they come to me), timesheets and taxes, etc).
 

Valeri

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
50%
Mar 4, 2021
2
1
Hello Fastlaners,

I came across MJ's book a couple of weeks ago and since then I am completely amazed by his thoughts.

I am 31yrs old, living currently in Germany and doing IT Project Management work (Freelance) for big clients all over Europe. I started my career +10 yrs ago as an intern (while studying IT + Business) for a big chemical company. I got into SAP and learned everything about it in the area of logistics, changed to IBM, working for big companies as SAP Consultant and ultimately started my own freelance business 4 years ago (same time when I moved to Spain for living the good life next to the beach).

The first 4 years as Freelance Consultant have been pretty good from a financial point of view. Friends & Family would say I am doing very good. Also lately I abadonned the role of SAP consultant for becoming a Project Manager. Why? Because I see my passion in PM and also it is a way to charge higher rates. Currently I am sitting in a low 6-figure revenue (of course pretty much limited due the time I have and the daily rate I charge). So the classic issue with time vs. money business. I am growing my rev every year by adding new skills and raising rates consequently (e.g. beginning of the new year +10%). By this I am now saying "NO" to a lot of recuriters / clients / agencies and only accepting gigs that fit my terms (payment, flexibilty of location and of course topic).

Having read FLM my eyes opened just realizing that I have created (a well paid) job myself and I am still in the Slowlane (and will be following this approach). Also I found MJ's thoughs on the stock market interesting. My second business (and I call it business because I treat this very professional) is investing in the stock market via differnt products (options, derivates, stocks, commodities). Also here I did quite well in the last 3 years being aware that the market was good to me and I am not in control of it.

So what brings me here to the forum and posting my story. I am now even better aware of the fact that I have no control over what I am doing. If I do not attend my clients projects, there is no revenue. If the stock market drops drastically, I still make some money but my strategies are more oreinted on bullish markets. The time I spend on client projects and in the markets determines what I can cash in.

So what I am looking for? Your thoughts and ideas on how I could get more leverage on my business by NOT hiring people for operations. Finding and getting people in my business niche isn't easy, one must be willing to pay good (high) salaries and of course managing them. Things I am not open for. So scaling via employees is currently no option for me. Don't get me wrong - I am very much open for people supporting my business like a VA or someone doing marketing, but "cloning" myself would imply high cost I am not willing to cover in the moment.

Ideally I would love to step into productized consulting, but haven't found a good way so far as my "done for you business" is very often so specific customized to the clients that I did not find "the one thing" that I could systemize. But maybe I am thinking to complex....

Open to any thought - IT consultans, PMs, Freelancer Manager / Interim Manager....

Thanks in advance and take care guys!
Michael
Hello Meikel,

I'm not so sure if it is good advice, so let's call it an idea. Can't you find some mates as co-founders of your initially small organization, who will be aware that at the beginning is hard and won't expect the big IT paycheck at the end of the month? In that way I think will be easier to scale and start hiring people sooner.

Kind regards
 
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Andy Black

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
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370%
May 20, 2014
18,565
68,696
Ireland
Hello Fastlaners,

I came across MJ's book a couple of weeks ago and since then I am completely amazed by his thoughts.

I am 31yrs old, living currently in Germany and doing IT Project Management work (Freelance) for big clients all over Europe. I started my career +10 yrs ago as an intern (while studying IT + Business) for a big chemical company. I got into SAP and learned everything about it in the area of logistics, changed to IBM, working for big companies as SAP Consultant and ultimately started my own freelance business 4 years ago (same time when I moved to Spain for living the good life next to the beach).

The first 4 years as Freelance Consultant have been pretty good from a financial point of view. Friends & Family would say I am doing very good. Also lately I abadonned the role of SAP consultant for becoming a Project Manager. Why? Because I see my passion in PM and also it is a way to charge higher rates. Currently I am sitting in a low 6-figure revenue (of course pretty much limited due the time I have and the daily rate I charge). So the classic issue with time vs. money business. I am growing my rev every year by adding new skills and raising rates consequently (e.g. beginning of the new year +10%). By this I am now saying "NO" to a lot of recuriters / clients / agencies and only accepting gigs that fit my terms (payment, flexibilty of location and of course topic).

Having read FLM my eyes opened just realizing that I have created (a well paid) job myself and I am still in the Slowlane (and will be following this approach). Also I found MJ's thoughs on the stock market interesting. My second business (and I call it business because I treat this very professional) is investing in the stock market via differnt products (options, derivates, stocks, commodities). Also here I did quite well in the last 3 years being aware that the market was good to me and I am not in control of it.

So what brings me here to the forum and posting my story. I am now even better aware of the fact that I have no control over what I am doing. If I do not attend my clients projects, there is no revenue. If the stock market drops drastically, I still make some money but my strategies are more oreinted on bullish markets. The time I spend on client projects and in the markets determines what I can cash in.

So what I am looking for? Your thoughts and ideas on how I could get more leverage on my business by NOT hiring people for operations. Finding and getting people in my business niche isn't easy, one must be willing to pay good (high) salaries and of course managing them. Things I am not open for. So scaling via employees is currently no option for me. Don't get me wrong - I am very much open for people supporting my business like a VA or someone doing marketing, but "cloning" myself would imply high cost I am not willing to cover in the moment.

Ideally I would love to step into productized consulting, but haven't found a good way so far as my "done for you business" is very often so specific customized to the clients that I did not find "the one thing" that I could systemize. But maybe I am thinking to complex....

Open to any thought - IT consultans, PMs, Freelancer Manager / Interim Manager....

Thanks in advance and take care guys!
Michael
Similar background to me. I was an IT Contractor for 10 years (a production Oracle DBA). I dabbled with having subcontractors but decided not to go that route.

Lots of ways you can monetise your skillset while still being a consultant *and* not hiring other consultants.

Off the top of my head:

You’re doing the DFY service. What’s the Done-With-You (DWY / coaching) and DIY market like?

How many IT pros want to do what you do and are willing to pay?

Have you ever advised IT or PM guys on their CVs, interview technique, getting and extending contracts, or their careers in general?

What PM advice/workshop would you give to 20 smaller businesses that couldn’t afford to hire you?



There’s a rule of thumb that “10% will pay 10x”. As a consultant I think it’s a nice exercise to work backwards.

Say you have one client currently paying $15k/mth.

How can you get 10 clients paying $1,500/mth?

What would you offer 100 clients for $150/mth?

And what would 1,000 people subscribe to for $15/mth?



If 10-20 businesses were to pay you $500/mth or $1k/mth, then what would they get?

If 100-200 IT pros were to pay you $50/mth, then what would they get?

If 1,000+ people starting out in IT or PM were to pay you $5/mth, then what would they get?

Maybe this chat might interest you:

 

Meikel Muhr

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
133%
Jul 15, 2021
9
12
Hello Meikel,

I'm not so sure if it is good advice, so let's call it an idea. Can't you find some mates as co-founders of your initially small organization, who will be aware that at the beginning is hard and won't expect the big IT paycheck at the end of the month? In that way I think will be easier to scale and start hiring people sooner.

Kind regards
Hi @Valeri !

Thanks for the idea. I had the same in my mind 1-2 years ago and liked the though of de-risking by sharing the duty with likeminded consultants. Although I might find suitable people for that I'd rather prefer to stay in charge myself and scaling up other bits and pieces of my business.

Cheers,
Michael
 

Meikel Muhr

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
133%
Jul 15, 2021
9
12
Similar background to me. I was an IT Contractor for 10 years (a production Oracle DBA). I dabbled with having subcontractors but decided not to go that route.

Lots of ways you can monetise your skillset while still being a consultant *and* not hiring other consultants.

Off the top of my head:

You’re doing the DFY service. What’s the Done-With-You (DWY / coaching) and DIY market like?

How many IT pros want to do what you do and are willing to pay?

Have you ever advised IT or PM guys on their CVs, interview technique, getting and extending contracts, or their careers in general?

What PM advice/workshop would you give to 20 smaller businesses that couldn’t afford to hire you?



There’s a rule of thumb that “10% will pay 10x”. As a consultant I think it’s a nice exercise to work backwards.

Say you have one client currently paying $15k/mth.

How can you get 10 clients paying $1,500/mth?

What would you offer 100 clients for $150/mth?

And what would 1,000 people subscribe to for $15/mth?



If 10-20 businesses were to pay you $500/mth or $1k/mth, then what would they get?

If 100-200 IT pros were to pay you $50/mth, then what would they get?

If 1,000+ people starting out in IT or PM were to pay you $5/mth, then what would they get?

Maybe this chat might interest you:

Hi @Andy Black !

I think I have read through all your bigger threads and love your ideas and thoughts. Also good to read that there is someone similar who went the journey already. I am btw Production Consultant as well (but SAP not Oracle).

I have just finished a 3 month Coaching for a new freelancer. It was actually quite messy to be honest as I compiled the content more or less on the go (we talked a lot about market positioning and linkedin). I could sell it for roughly $3K gross and currently collecting the last invoice (I offered him a payment plan of 3 instalments). This client I have received via Word of Mouth.

This could be for sure something I could scale up. Formalise the content (give it a real structure) and then keep selling it as a package (maybe even offering group sessions to leverage my time).

I am thinking about an online course or a membership site that explains certain topics like

- Setting up the CV
- Clarity on your USP / Position in the market
- Negotiate with Headhunters, Agencies (99% of the B2B IT freelance business goes through agencies in Europe)
- How to talk to clients / dealing with extension / how to raise rates...
- Setting up LinkedIn (+ other business platforms we use in Europe) / become a personal brand on your topic

Additional content could be (based on my investing experience)

- How to invest your money for retirement (freelancers usually do not get a state pension so they have to invest in ETFs, Stocks, insurance plans...)
- earn extra money to your freelance gig with swing trading strategies

This is just some quick thoughts. However, there is a lot of competition on those topics already in the market.
It could be something to sell for a smaller price, making the purchase an easy decision, whereas the coaching program (with me) would be a high ticket product.

Marketing would be the toughest thing I guess. Cold calling (e.g. direct messages LinkedIn) could be one way but I think most people would feel annoyed by this (I am when people try to pitch in a direct message). The other (but harder way) is getting "warm leads" via content marketing/personal branding/... . Also I am not so sure how meaningful Ads are in this context. Maybe at a later stage.

I like the 10x thing, also the question what I could offer to smaller businesses (like SMEs). Here I could create a workshop/coaching for internal Project Managers to become better Project Managers so that the client does not need to hire expensive external consultants (like me). This would be a Done-With-You / DIY offer I assume. It could be a 1-3 day session (maybe even backed up by an online course, eLearning as well). This could also come at a higher price. Getting leads for this might work through Webinars or again cold calling (not too sure).

I need to check the chat you have linked!

Happy to hear your thoughts on mine :)

Best
Michael
 
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Andy Black

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May 20, 2014
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The other (but harder way) is getting "warm leads" via content marketing/personal branding/... .
I think personal branding is easy:
  • Do the work.
  • Talk about the work.
  • Help people.
  • Be seen helping people.
 

PhilKowalski

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Hi Meikel,

one thing that came into mind for me was "software dev". What do I mean by that?

Well, ask yourself: in your area of expertise (SAP logistics consultant) are there any flaws in project management software? Could you eventually replace some of the Excel files that fill your inbox? Something like a PM system for logistics consultants?

You could offer this also as a SaaS.

Like @Andy Black has mentioned, training would also be an option.
 

maximusharrison

Contributor
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So what I am looking for? Your thoughts and ideas on how I could get more leverage on my business by NOT hiring people for operations. Finding and getting people in my business niche isn't easy, one must be willing to pay good (high) salaries and of course managing them. Things I am not open for. So scaling via employees is currently no option for me. Don't get me wrong - I am very much open for people supporting my business like a VA or someone doing marketing, but "cloning" myself would imply high cost I am not willing to cover in the moment.
Hello Meikel and welcome to the forum! You're in a particularly complex circumstance as of the moment given that you are skeptical of bringing another person into the mix with the nitty-gritty parts of your business. That really hurts the potential of a business to scale because delegation is often an important aspect of growth. But I 100% understand your skepticism though. You've already built and achieved a level of quality with your work, and I know how hard it must be to try and bring someone in that could potentially mess everything up.

With that being said, the main hurdle that is preventing you from scaling is time. Given the current setup that you have with your business, and as you've mentioned, the potential to earn is directly affected by your time to produce an output and deliver a service. This means the main way for you to be able to increase your profit margins to catapult yourself towards the concept of actually scaling is hinged on you making more time.

But, as we know, we don't have control of time. One thing that we do have control of, is how we spend our time and where we spend it. I've recently come across two articles that could potentially address your situation. For reference, they were this and this.

I'm going to assume you don't have the time to go through these two articles as a whole, so I'll try my best to briefly summarize their contents. Both articles basically talk about automation. This may not come as a foreign concept to you. Given the current setup we have in the digital space, I'm sure you're already familiar with different apps and software. The first article talks about sales automation specifically. You know firsthand how difficult the sales process is. Email outreach, prospecting, lead generation and etc (you get the gist). Even with the presence of inbound leads, securing clients can be a drag and take a huge chunk of your time. Sales automation is basically that–integrating and intertwining a series of apps and software that will take the manual stuff from you. So administrative tasks like keeping track, sending outreach emails, or note-taking, are small bits and pieces of the entire process that when automated, can free up more time on your end. I think you know where this is going already.

The gist of it is the more you automate, the more time you create. So on and so forth.

The second article talks about a relatively new concept called hyperautomation. It's similar to the first one only that it involves Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the system build. This is more of a long-term investment since it has to do with Machine Learning. It's a more sophisticated approach that can lead to better results further down the line. But the concept remains the same; automating pieces of the process that can reduce the workload on you to give hyperfocus on scaling and gaining more clients.

Anyway, I'm no business expert, but I just found these new nuggets of information I've learned recently to be relevant to your predicament. I hope this helps in some way in your scaling process. Good luck Meikel!
 
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Meikel Muhr

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
133%
Jul 15, 2021
9
12
I think personal branding is easy:
  • Do the work.
  • Talk about the work.
  • Help people.
  • Be seen helping people.
@Andy Black agree with you on that - it is actually very easy but making it visible to people (e.g. on LinkedIn or YT) is the hard work part (creating content on a regular basis, ...).
 

Meikel Muhr

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
133%
Jul 15, 2021
9
12
Hi Meikel,

one thing that came into mind for me was "software dev". What do I mean by that?

Well, ask yourself: in your area of expertise (SAP logistics consultant) are there any flaws in project management software? Could you eventually replace some of the Excel files that fill your inbox? Something like a PM system for logistics consultants?

You could offer this also as a SaaS.

Like @Andy Black has mentioned, training would also be an option.

Hi @PhilKowalski !

thanks for your thoughts! This is acutally something I also though about and some consultants do. You can find small software pieces (e.g. plugins) that adress certain topics / issues with SAP.

However, I think the training game is something I have more to offer since this is already part of my job and while posting on this forum I have generated already some ideas to follow this path.

I am planning to host a Webinar on a MVP (minimum viable product) that I have drafted the last days. I will share every step here and tell you what whent well and what ideas just screwed up.

So the basi idea is to sell a toolkit / method / course (I will try to avoid the term "coaching" as it is very negatively connoted in the moment, everyone on LinkedIn nowadays claims to be a "Coach" and the word really got a bitter taste here in Germany, even if one is a really good coach) on helping (internal) experts that have been promoted to project managers recently and now struggle with this new role.

What I see very often at my clients: They call me to support the clients's project manager because he/she does not have the knowledge on how to steer a project the right way. The reason for this is simple: Very often clients plan new projects (e.g. an ERP implementation) and then they look for a suitable PM in their own organziation. Since smaller-medium companies (SMEs) usually do not have the role of a Project Manager in their organization they just take one of their best experts in this specific field as the PM (e.g. an SAP Order-to-Cash Consultant may become Project Manager or an Engineer becomes Project Manager). This is a common thing you will also find in bigger companies but at a certain level, corporations have their own PM teams that only do...guess what...PM stuff.

So with this I will adress two needs: 1) the expert that now has a project to manage and doesn't know how to do it + 2) I offer something to smaller companies that cannot pay for an external PM (like me), but would like to leverage at least external know how --> @Andy Black thanks for the impulss on this!

Like I said I will put this MVP into a webinar session and test it in the market. If there is demand, I will start building it. Most likely this will be a "Done with you" offering that consists of my best practices, maybe a membership portal including videos and templates + 1:1 sessions with me ones per week. Since this is directed to companies, pricing at the beginning could be somewhere between 3-5K (haven't thought about this yet).

This will me my first test, if I fail with this product idea, I will also test my B2C offering to aspiring freelancers (I have written about this in a previous posting further up).

If you like to follow what I am doing on LinkedIn you can find me HERE.

I will share updates frequently, but for the moment that is the plan.

Happy to hear what you think about my thinking ;-)

Take care and thanks all for your valuable insights!
 

Meikel Muhr

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
133%
Jul 15, 2021
9
12
Hello Meikel and welcome to the forum! You're in a particularly complex circumstance as of the moment given that you are skeptical of bringing another person into the mix with the nitty-gritty parts of your business. That really hurts the potential of a business to scale because delegation is often an important aspect of growth. But I 100% understand your skepticism though. You've already built and achieved a level of quality with your work, and I know how hard it must be to try and bring someone in that could potentially mess everything up.

With that being said, the main hurdle that is preventing you from scaling is time. Given the current setup that you have with your business, and as you've mentioned, the potential to earn is directly affected by your time to produce an output and deliver a service. This means the main way for you to be able to increase your profit margins to catapult yourself towards the concept of actually scaling is hinged on you making more time.

But, as we know, we don't have control of time. One thing that we do have control of, is how we spend our time and where we spend it. I've recently come across two articles that could potentially address your situation. For reference, they were this and this.

I'm going to assume you don't have the time to go through these two articles as a whole, so I'll try my best to briefly summarize their contents. Both articles basically talk about automation. This may not come as a foreign concept to you. Given the current setup we have in the digital space, I'm sure you're already familiar with different apps and software. The first article talks about sales automation specifically. You know firsthand how difficult the sales process is. Email outreach, prospecting, lead generation and etc (you get the gist). Even with the presence of inbound leads, securing clients can be a drag and take a huge chunk of your time. Sales automation is basically that–integrating and intertwining a series of apps and software that will take the manual stuff from you. So administrative tasks like keeping track, sending outreach emails, or note-taking, are small bits and pieces of the entire process that when automated, can free up more time on your end. I think you know where this is going already.

The gist of it is the more you automate, the more time you create. So on and so forth.

The second article talks about a relatively new concept called hyperautomation. It's similar to the first one only that it involves Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the system build. This is more of a long-term investment since it has to do with Machine Learning. It's a more sophisticated approach that can lead to better results further down the line. But the concept remains the same; automating pieces of the process that can reduce the workload on you to give hyperfocus on scaling and gaining more clients.

Anyway, I'm no business expert, but I just found these new nuggets of information I've learned recently to be relevant to your predicament. I hope this helps in some way in your scaling process. Good luck Meikel!
Hi @maximusharrison !

This is super interesting stuff! In fact I have two RPA (Robotic Process Automation) projects in my portfolio and know some about automation and its potential. It's also a good idea to use it for my own purposes.

Have to read the articles but I already have one idea in my mind where to use it (if I find an easy way to apply it since my own skills in this area are limited):

Timesheet automation: I have to deliver a TS at the end of the month containing my hours and what I have done on those 20 workdays. It is pain in the aXX because I forget about it very often so I have to fill it out at the end of the month not always knowing what I have done on those specific days. My calendar then is the basis of information.

This shouldn't be too difficult. Won't save a lot of time but some.

Thanks for that!

Regarding employees: Since posting on this forum I have spent more time thinking about it. I think the only blocker I have in my mind is the fear of having someone on a payroll and I cannot utilize this one at a level that generates a profit. So it is kinda fear of losing money here I guess. I will not totally say NO to this idea, but maybe I park it for the moment. Still this is a good and very logic way to free up my time and scale.

One way could be to hire PMO Experts (Project Management Office Experts). Why? Because there is a demand for organized people but daily rates are lower and so will be the salaries. Also easier to find people because this can be very often handled by Juniors. For the type of projects I am doing this usually requires people with more than 10 yrs of experience in projects. These people are not easy to get and on top they know what they can charge for their work.

Cheers and take care!
Michael
 
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maximusharrison

Contributor
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Jul 1, 2021
60
45
Regarding employees: Since posting on this forum I have spent more time thinking about it. I think the only blocker I have in my mind is the fear of having someone on a payroll and I cannot utilize this one at a level that generates a profit. So it is kinda fear of losing money here I guess. I will not totally say NO to this idea, but maybe I park it for the moment. Still this is a good and very logic way to free up my time and scale.
That's terrific! I'm glad that it falls within your realm of expertise! I've been in the process of beginning my automation journey as well, I'm a little bit old school so I still do a ton of stuff manually (post-it notes, etc) which could easily be taken off my hands.

I'm glad that you're not 100% against the idea. You know that business cliche: there's always a potential loss. But, the risk will be worth it if there is a heftier potential gain. It is a big jump, I remember when I hired my first employee, I was scared sh**less too. I've never been a boss before, I've only managed people, but getting someone onboard is a riveting experience and overall.

Try your best to really weigh this out, it's going to take a while. Not really a decision you need to rush into but try your best to get minimal costs without actually low-balling a potential employee. It makes a helluva difference when you give people what they honestly deserve. Good luck!
 

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