Is it time to begin scaling your self?

Rising your artistic enterprise is difficult work, and in the event you’re operating the present alone, it’s actually extra like taking up three (or extra) roles abruptly. If the day-to-day administration of your online business is consuming into the time you could do your artistic work, or burning you out, it’s most likely time to consider scaling your self.

What does it imply to scale your self?

Scaling your self is a chance to increase the influence of your creativity, abilities, effort, and vitality — and to get you out of the weeds. It’s all about discovering methods to benefit from you. Hiring somebody, outsourcing or automating duties, auditing your present workflows to make them extra environment friendly, and reprioritizing the way you spend your time can all be useful ways for getting you there.

So, the place do you begin? 

How about proper right here? We’ve put collectively an train that will help you replicate on the place you might be with readability and objective so you possibly can decide your greatest subsequent steps to scale your self up. We’ll assist you to map and prioritize what must get executed, and stroll you thru making a plan. We even have assets linked all through that will help you notice your plan.

Able to go? Carve out an hour so, [obtain this spreadsheet to work with], and let’s get began.

Half 1: Getting organized

First, catalog your duties

Earlier than you map a path to your very best end result, it’s useful to begin with a complete take a look at the place you might be at this time. Open up the spreadsheet and record all of the duties you do in your artistic enterprise, Patreon-related or not. Nothing is simply too massive or too small.

You can even embody stuff you suppose you need to be doing at this time however don’t have time for proper now. However don’t fear about determining what you could be doing a 12 months down the road — for this train deal with at this time.

Subsequent, grade these duties

Now you’ll grade your duties on the next, utilizing a 1-Four scale, with 1 because the low finish, and Four because the excessive finish.  Take into consideration:

• How a lot you want doing it. Figuring out what actually fulfills you’ll assist you to prioritize your personal to-do record later.
• How a lot influence the duty has on the enterprise. Duties that don’t make an influence could be pointless busy work or would possibly should be revamped or reframed so their influence is bigger.
• How a lot effort or time it takes. That is key to serving to you handle your personal time and figuring out what modifications might be most impactful to your schedule.

Then, clear home

Earlier than you begin delegating duties, check out your present record and see if there are any duties you possibly can remove, scale back, optimize, or in any other case change for the higher. Your aim is to edit your record all the way down to what really must be executed, and to do away with inefficiencies or any pointless time sucks.

Take a very shut take a look at the next:

• Something low influence (particularly rated a 1) however excessive effort (particularly rated a 4). More often than not, you’ll need to both minimize these duties or revamp them to be a lot simpler and extra helpful.
• Something low influence basically. If it’s not “shifting the needle,” in some way key to retaining the enterprise afloat, or bringing you pleasure, contemplate whether or not it’s price it.

For something excessive effort (rated a three to 4), take into consideration the right way to make it much less time-consuming or extra environment friendly. In fact, not each high-effort process could be made “simpler” (see: making artwork), however you might be able to make some issues much less cumbersome by way of tooling, altering a part of the method that’s not making a big effect, or breaking it up into extra manageable duties that may be distributed.

Take notes on modifications you need to make as you go alongside, and trim that record all the way down to a dreamy, very best define of what actually must be executed.

Now you’re able to do what we got here right here to do: make the plan to scale you up.

Half 2: Make your plan

First, take an knowledgeable go at delegation

Let’s see what is going to keep in your private to-do record going ahead, what could be automated, and whether or not some duties can or needs to be owned by one other particular person.

Construct your private to-do record

You’ve made certain the duties on the general record are an excellent use of time. Now, divvy up that record to ensure the duties you personally full are an excellent use of your time. Your aim right here is to determine what you actually need and need to do, so you’ve got a crisp define of your function and what you possibly can delegate.

Strive asking your self two massive questions as you run by way of the duty record:

1. What duties do you, personally, really must do? As in, issues would genuinely break or really feel inauthentic in the event that they weren’t in your palms.
2. What duties would you be actually bummed to not do anymore?

For something that’s teetering on the sting of “I ought to do that” and “I might let it go,” contemplate whether or not you possibly can practice somebody that will help you out. And take a look at whether or not the duty might be damaged into two or extra components so your creativity is leveraged however your time is spared. For instance, might “social media” turn into “writing social posts,” which possibly you continue to need to do, and “scheduling pre-written posts” and “monitoring replies,” which might each be executed by another person?

After which sculpt your “someone else” record

After getting your personal record collectively, it’s time to assign the remaining duties. You would possibly go to a detailed working accomplice, an knowledgeable in a selected area, or possibly you’ll take a digital strategy. In the event you want a hand as you assess, strive among the following questions:

• Do you see a sample within the remaining duties? If, as an illustration, you’ve acquired ten administrative duties, you would possibly be capable to resolve your issues by discovering freelance assist or a digital assistant by way of a supply like Fiverr.
• If another person did this process, would you could oversee it carefully? This could be a process for somebody who works carefully with you, like a full-time staff member or common working accomplice.
• Might a instrument (like software program that categorizes bills, automates search engine optimization stories, or posts scheduled content material to social) flip this process right into a click on of a button?
• Do you want an knowledgeable to simply deal with it?

If you’re executed, type your record by potential assignee, and it’s best to have image of who and what you’ll must convey on to see this plan by way of. 

Wrap up with a take a look at the forest and the timber

Hey, you’ve simply executed an unimaginable factor. Congratulations! You must now have a transparent image of:

• What’s and isn’t driving influence round your online business, and what duties you’ll be altering or refocusing.
• What you completely need and must do your self.
• The duties you possibly can automate, so you possibly can decide the best instruments.
• What duties you’ll purpose to get some human assist for and what sort of assist that’s.

Supporting assets

As you progress into your subsequent steps — possibly hiring, investing in some useful software program or digital instruments for automation, or shuffling your schedule — these assets will help you keep on monitor. 

How do you know it was time to scale? What assets did you employ to make it occur? Speak about it within the Patreon Creator Group Discord.