The Level of Skill You should have to Confirm Your Employees are Competent

[yungmaghlas]

This came to mind as I hired someone from Upwork to design my logo. It was a task that I believe that should have taken 1-2 hours. It required combining 3 reference images into a rather simplistic logo. However my artist took 4 hours and even forgot some features he took. The fact that he didn't take more money to fix the other parts confirms that I was ripped off. It took a lot of excessive time that could've been better spent. Now this was on me for not setting a fixed price. But I learned a good lesson here at a small cost.

In order to be a decent marketing agency, I'm going to have to hire employees. And in order to do this I need to learn a certain level of what they do so that I can make sure they are properly working well. That's a given. Of course I will try to keep a detailed checklist. The question is could I make a detailed checklist without having a professional expertise in a skill (eg SEO).

I'm planning to offer a variety of services such as SEO, different types of marketing, app development, and a lot more. That means I will have to spend a lot of time learning each skill to more than a competent level to offer exceptional services. I don't have a problem with the effort. What I'm wondering if that is standard. I know a lot of people who succeed in digital marketing here already have had professional experience in the field. That's why as a newcomer to the field, I'm wondering if I should try to emulate their expertise.

Do you think it is feasible/practical for me to spend time learning each and all skills of what I'm hiring (to the point that I can step in and do it myself if stuff goes awry and make sure we are delivering exceptional quality) or do I have to have faith in my employees to put out? (Obviously I will try to be selective when hiring, but I fear that will only go so far.) Personally I'm planning to put in the work since I don't see a way to ensure that I am delivering great quality otherwise. Curious to see what others (especially those who have found success here) think.

 

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[AceVentures]

Become friends with people who are each insane-level competent in the things you're interested in. See how they do the things that otherwise seem elusive. They'll be at the forefront of how to do the thing - and you'll get to see.

 

[Ronak]

This came to mind as I hired someone from Upwork to design my logo. It was a task that I believe that should have taken 1-2 hours. It required combining 3 reference images into a rather simplistic logo. However my artist took 4 hours and even forgot some features he took. The fact that he didn't take more money to fix the other parts confirms that I was ripped off. It took a lot of excessive time that could've been better spent. Now this was on me for not setting a fixed price. But I learned a good lesson here at a small cost.

Are you a professional graphic designer?

How did you know it should only take 2 hours? Did you guys agree to that time limit?
I'm not sure how you conclude you were ripped off if they fixed the problem for free?

Before getting into this or any business, you should spend time setting up your own expectations and on self reflection. Can you imagine spending your days constantly second guessing everything your contractors/employees do? Sounds like a nightmare for all involved.

On top of that, you want to try to become an expert on something you don't have a background in and then build a business around it while trying to "cram" years of expertise into...days? weeks?

Why not start with something you're good at and familiar with instead of trying to recreate the wheel? Alternatively, you can get a partner who has that competence and can handle that part of things, but you would have to let them do their jobs while you focus on your value-add.

What do you do well, what do you know, what have you done? Start there. Your focus is way too scattered right now, and you need to niche down to be successful, at least in the beginning. SEO is very different from app development, which is unrelated to graphic design, with almost no overlap.

Don't mean to sound harsh, but hoping this can save you potentially months or years of spinning your wheels.

Good luck.