The Reality of Outsourcing No One Tells You

I recently had to let someone in my team go

I was very surprised by how it panned out tbh

I spent hours training them, sending them training videos, voicenotes, lots of guidance, and support.

When they made mistakes that negatively affected my bottom line, instead of firing them, I asked, "How did you make this mistake?" How could I have made my instructions clearer for you?

All was great, lots of trust and good rapport between us, and one day after 2 plus solid years.. They just went AWOL

Disappeared and stopped working for a week with no warning, no communication. Abandoned all work tasks.

I reached out to them, and they said they were about to go on a big trip abroad, but they also fell sick and ended up needing to go to the hospital, so they got overwhelmed.

I said sure, but next time, please inform me or ask a family member to inform me. A simple 30-second message is all it takes, so I can make alternative plans and also,I was really worried about them.

They agreed. The following month, they went AWOL again, and when I asked, they said they would prefer to take a break from working with me, but they wanted to work again in a few months, as they were abroad.

I think if they had come to me asking for time off and explained the situation, I would have been happy for them to take a break and explore the world.

But the way it was handled broke my trust.

How do I know they won't go AWOL again if another big life event comes up?

So I just let them go indefinitely.

For a long time, I thought outsourcing would make my business easier.

I also thought hiring a team was a milestone in my business

Because if you are earning enough to pay your salary and someone else's too.. that's a form of success, right?

And in some ways, it did make my business easier.

It certainly helped me scale my income

But it also taught me many hard lessons.

Here are the ones I wish I had known before hiring

1. No one will care about your business as much as you do

This sounds pretty obvious, right?

But its not.

There are many weekends when you might try to squeeze work in, even when you are super tired... BECAUSE you want to deliver the best content, service, and product possible

Your business is a reflection of you, and if something is crap - well, its embarassing O_O

But your team may not have the dedication and motivation you have with your business (why should they?)

And that’s not a bad thing.

It’s just reality.

Once you accept this, you stop expecting others to treat your business as if it were theirs.

There’s something else I didn’t expect, too.

Outsourcing doesn’t just mean managing work.

It means managing people.

And people can be far more complex than tasks.

Different personalities. Different expectations. Different levels of reliability.

That shift alone makes things harder than most people realize

It can be quite tiring

Tip- To avoid meetings because I am an introvert, I recorded quick Loom trainings for my team. They can learn and watch in their own time. And it saved me to 'jump on a Zoom call'. and I could reuse the training for new team members.

2. You have to be okay with 80%

Outsourced work will rarely be exactly how you would do it.

It might be 80% as good.

But that’s the trade-off.

You get time back.

If you expect 100%, you’ll end up redoing everything yourself.

If you are a perfectionist or you like being in control, you will find this part the hardest to let go!

Which is better, a perfect outcome or more time and energy?

You want both? Ok, be prepared to pay lots for that.

And not all of us can afford to pay lots, especially at the beginning stages of growing a business.

Speaking of paying....

3. You always pay - just in different ways

You either pay:

more money for someone skilled
or more time training someone

Either way, you pay.

There’s no shortcut.

I prefer the latter because it means I get the satisfaction of upskilling someone (I like to teach) and having them do things the way I want. And it costs me less financially.

BUT it does cost me time. And it's not something I always have nowadays.

4. Hire for flexibility, not just capacity

I prefer working with contractors on a need basis.

Instead of a monthly payroll, I bring people in, when I need them.

It keeps things lighter and less stressful.

For example, let's say I have 10 articles to upload and publish on my website, I will pay my VA per project.

Or I will order 10 articles and then not order them for a bit.

I hire on a project basis, which means when cash flow is low, I don't stress, I just do the work myself.

5. You can train skills. You can’t train behavior

Any people pleasers or soft-hearted peeps here? You need to take note so you don't get taken for a ride!

If someone:

submits work late
disappears
doesn’t reply
delivers sloppy work

That’s not a skill issue.

That’s behavior.

And it rarely changes.

Cut your losses early.

Don't waste precious time and energy trying to raise the standard- it should have been there from the start.

I have this mantra which helps me: 'Don't make your problems my problem - as I am hiring you to reduce my problems, not add to them!'

6. You don’t have to outsource everything

Some things should stay yours.

For me, it’s writing my newsletter.

I could outsource it.

But I genuinely enjoy it.

So I don't :)

7. Learn the basics of what you outsource

You don’t need to be an expert.

But you need enough knowledge to:

set standards
give feedback
avoid being taken advantage of

Here is an example where I didn't follow this advice :

I was too busy (lazy) to learn Gutenberg. But I needed to switch my clunky website to Elementor, as the core web vitals were failing

So I hired a tech expert who charged me A LOT OF MONEY, and it still looked average.

But I assumed it was some complicated tech solution, that's what he told me it was!

A few years later, I watched a few YouTube videos and realized he charged me over USD300 for something I could have done myself in 5 mins.

Learn the basics, folks.

There are also many times when I hire someone, and they tell me it takes much, much longer than it should (so they try and charge more)

But because I know the basics of how it works, I can tell them to stop bullsitting me :)

8. Hire from your own community

Some of my best hires came from:

my newsletter
my Instagram
my customers

They already understand my voice and business.

Hire people who already support you.

9. If you want reliability, be reliable

If you expect people to deliver on time…

Pay them on time.

Always.

This is non-negotiable.

PAY PEOPLE ON TIME PLEASE!

I used to be a freelancer once upon a time, and the number of clients who think it's acceptable to drag out payments and delay paying for work that's been completed is SHOCKING.

Nothing gives your business bad karma more than paying people late or even not paying them at all

10. Give positive feedback too

If someone is doing well, tell them.

People do better work when they feel valued.

I noticed we humans are quick to comment when things go wrong, but don't point out when someone does a great job.

Be fair and recognise and reward both

Outsourcing can help you grow.

But it also adds complexity.

And over time, I realized something important.

If you don’t want to manage people…

You don’t have to.

There’s another way to scale.

Leverage 1-to-many instead of 1-to-1.

Through:

systems
automation
and assets

For me, the most powerful one has been:

My email list.

One email.

Sent to thousands.

No managing people.
No chasing deadlines.

Just a direct connection.

And the best part?

An email list is like having a mini website you actually own.

You can:

sell products
offer services
earn through affiliates
work with sponsors

All without the hassle of building and maintaining a full website.

No SEO.
No constant content treadmill.

Just writing.

Sharing.

Connecting.

And over time, monetizing.

You don’t need to be a “business expert” to do this either.

I’ve seen people in everyday niches build income through email:

A baker sharing weekly recipes, then selling:

baking guides
recipe ebooks
online classes

Someone in arts and crafts is sending tutorials, then monetizing through:

printable templates
craft kits
affiliate links to materials

A gardening enthusiast sharing tips, then earning through:

seasonal planting guides
digital planners
sponsored partnerships with brands

They’re not doing anything complicated.

They’re simply:

sharing what they know… and building a relationship over time.

Some of the biggest creators do the same thing at scale.

People like:

Justin Welsh (built a multi-million dollar business largely through his email list) I am part of his email list!
Codie Sanchez (uses email as a core revenue driver) LOVE her book btw

Their email lists drive a huge part of their income.

Because they have direct access to their audience.

And that’s the real leverage.

That’s why I created a workshop on this:

Elevate Your Emails (Grow, Engage & Monetize)

Inside this workshop, I’ll show you how to:

build an email list from scratch even if you have ZERO subscribers!
turn your ideas into simple products you can sell
earn through affiliates and recommendations
create income without relying on social media
and build a business that doesn’t depend entirely on your time

So you can start making your first $1,000 online.

Because the goal isn’t to build something complicated.

It’s to build something that works.

You don’t need a big audience.
You don’t need to be an expert.
You just need a starting point.

If you want to:

make money without posting every day
Create something simple that can sell again and again
and build income from what you already know

You can check it out here:

Elevate Your Emails (Grow, Engage & Monetize)

Ps; have a cheeky 50% discount for the next 4 days with code: EARNFROMEMAILS

I’m curious:

Would you rather
manage people or build systems?

Just hit reply and tell me.

I read every response.

Talk soon,

Thanks for reading

Aisha Preece from Outandbeyond.com

PS: I share my bare minimum low effort strategy to grow my blogs on my Instagram stories — if you want more behind-the-scenes like this, come hang out: @aishapreece

PPS; I've recently taken up cycling with my daughter! I want to try and stay fit and also get her outdoors as much as possible. So, I cycle to her pre-school (she does half days where she plays with other kids, its great )

We wake at 5:30 am, and we are off cycling 6 hills at 6:30 am! O_O

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