When running a small business, it can be a real challenge to try to find that balance between getting a little deeper into the water, and getting in over your head.
The good news is that getting in a little over your head is how building a business works, it’s how you keep pushing forward. A wise man once said that if you’re coasting, you’re going downhill. Building a business shouldn’t be easy. It wouldn’t be any fun if it never required you to step outside of your comfort zone, and it’d be impossible to make a living at it, since everyone would be doing it. Now and then, you should take on bigger projects than you think you can manage, and see if you can surprise yourself. A project is only too big when:
- It’s bigger than it needs to be, or…
- Your budget won’t cover the project if it flops.
You’re looking for projects that are daunting, but manageable, and which will hold your interest after the initial excitement has worn off (remember that “challenging” and “tedious” are two different things). Here two major points to consider when taking that step a little deeper into the content marketing pool:
Are Your Writers Up For It?
Are you planning to tackle a new project with the writers you’ve already worked with? On the one hand, these writers have already proven themselves capable. When you hire writer assistance there’s always a little bit of luck that plays into the process, and it can be scary when you have two hundred assignments to get finished by the weekend but half of your writers are new and you’re not sure if they’re up to it.
Making sure that you jump onto a big project early will give you time to work out these kinks. Or, you can scale up, taking on larger and larger projects, bringing on a couple extra writers at a time, until you eventually have a small army of pros that you know can deliver.
Are YOU Up For It?
You don’t have to write every word yourself, but you’re going to need to scan every piece to make sure that it’s up to par, or, you’re going to need to hire an in-house editor. Are you ready to scale your business up in order to start tackling more ambitious marketing projects? This is the growth we’re talking about, a big project isn’t usually just a one-off, it demands that you evolve and adapt as a business. So the question of whether or not you’re going to wind up being in too deep comes down to: Are you ready to grow in order to take on bigger projects?
Gilbert S is a writer and artist who lives in rural New Mexico with his dog, Sir Kay, and his wife.
