Three Surprising Reasons I Work Alone As A Freelancer (With No Team)

Find out the three reasons I choose to work alone as an independent professional, without hiring a team. (Hint: the first two reasons are financial. But the third is personal.)

A few weeks ago, I posted an article that revealed why I was happy I turned down a lucrative client.

But in case you missed it, take two minutes to read the article now — since the context is important to get the most out of what I’m sharing here.

See in the article, I explain why I’m already at capacity for the month of October.

And even though bringing on this new client would have made me good money, it also would have pushed me over the edge in terms of my workload.

So as hard as it was, I had to say no.

But after I shared that article, a bunch of readers replied and asked why I don’t hire someone to work for me as a subcontractor.

So today, I thought I’d go into more detail about why I choose to work by myself as an independent professional.

And why I currently don’t have a team. (Outside of a lawyer and accountant, who I only speak with a few times a year.)

The first two reasons are financial. And the third reason is personal.

Three Reasons Why I Don’t Have A Team & Work Alone Instead

See, I’ve actually tried hiring a subcontractor a few times before.

But when I look back at the numbers, they never pan out for two reasons…

First, Let’s Say I Hire A More Junior Writer As A Subcontractor

The upside of working with a junior writer is that I won’t have to pay them as much money. So I get to keep a higher percentage of my revenue as profit.

But junior writers also require a lot more time for me to manage and review their work.

And when I compare the amount I make per hour with and without a junior subcontractor, my “effective hourly rate” is actually lower with the subcontractor.

Meaning if I look at how much I make per hour for the projects I handle alone versus the projects I work on with a junior subcontractor, whenever I have a subcontractor, I make less for each hour I work.

Now that might still make sense if working with a subcontractor could increase the total hours my business has to serve clients.

Since in that case, I could still make more total profit by bringing on more clients. (Even if the business makes less per hour of my time for each one.)

But in my experience, that’s never what happens.

Because whenever I’ve hired a junior writer in the past, they wind up needing so much of my time and attention that I don’t add more bandwidth to my business.

Which means instead of spending time working directly with a client at a higher rate…

I Work The Same Amount Of Time For Less Money Managing A Subcontractor

But actually, it’s worse than that.

Because when you factor in the time I spend coaching and guiding the junior writer…

I’m actually paying them to get coaching from me.

And that’s no way to run a business.

So hiring a junior writer has not made financial sense to me thus far.

And that’s the first reason I work alone — the economics of hiring a junior writer don’t work.

But What About Hiring A More Senior Writer?

The upside of hiring a more senior writer is that they won’t require much time to manage. 

But they also charge a premium for that. 

Which means my profit margins on projects with a senior writer are vanishingly small. Since I have to pay out virtually everything I make to the subcontractor.

So once again, my “effective hourly rate” working with a subcontractor is much lower than it is when I work by myself.

Now with a more senior writer, I actually could increase my capacity to bring on more work. Since they take less time to manage. And that would free me up to bring on more business.

But since my profit margins are so low for the extra clients I can serve with the help of a senior subcontractor, I would need to bring in a ton more business before I see any real growth in my total profits.

And as you’re about to see, I have much better options to grow my business that don’t require nearly as much work.

Which means compared to my other options, hiring a senior subcontractor also doesn’t make sense. And that’s the second reason I work alone.

See, I Still Have At Least Two Easy Ways To Make A Lot More Money Without Bringing On A Team

Both of them involve increasing the amount I earn on each project or client I acquire.

The first is simply raising my rates.

Because compared to other top copywriters, I can still increase my rates a decent amount before I’m at the top of the market.

And increasing my rates alone is enough to drive solid growth in my income.

Plus I can also add bonuses or royalties to my projects based on performance — which I’ve started to do more this year.

Because once again, if I can earn significant royalties, that’s another way to get paid more for each project or client I take on.

But The Third Reason I Work Alone Is Probably The Most Important Of All…

I don’t want to manage a team.

I like being an independent professional.

So even if I could make more money by subcontracting and building out a micro agency, I still wouldn’t do it.

Because I wouldn’t enjoy my work.

And that’s the best part of freelancing. 

YOU get to choose the work you do day-in and day-out.

Not some nagging boss. Or some faceless corporate executives huddled around a conference table.

And that means the only question that matters is…

What kind of business do you want to build?

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But there is a small catch…

30-Second Referrals is only available to members The Freelance Like A Pro email list.

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Thanks for the freelancing guide and the emails that you've been sending out — the 30-second referral method is so stupidly simple, that it's genius!

Connor Inch, Freelance Copywriter