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I spent $97,403 in hiring freelancers in my business in 2024. 

Even writing that feels a little bit like WOW. Not a regrettable ‘Wow!’ but I am so impressed that my business can happily sustain within my Team Budget kind of ‘Wow!’ 

Let’s talk about what I learned last year in hiring freelance contractors and agencies.

#1: Hiring Mindset – Letting go of Ego

I had a hiring mindset shift in 2023 that helped me in 2024. BIG Time. 

A thought that changed so much for me: It’s not the person I’m hiring, it’s the system.

That has been huge, and is a mantra of my coach.

Because of this hiring mindset shift, in 2024, I hired for the scope of work and had test hiring projects to see if the person could apply the system. 

I even had long-time friends apply for some jobs and they didn’t get the job. After doing the test projects, they realized this wasn’t a position they wanted. If I didn’t have systems, I might have hired them and this could have ended up in an awkward situation.

**Side note, in the Grant Professional Mentorship, we give you Done-For-You Test Projects for your positions!

Another mindset thought that has been game-changing is from Dan Martell, “80% done by someone else is 100% awesome.”

Last year when I hired people, I also created training materials as part of the onboarding. In this way, I know that we will have more going back and forth in the first 30-90 days. I also let them know those expectations so they don’t feel like I am nitpicking. I let them know I will give a lot of feedback in the beginning and have them edit items because that fast-tracks their learning and then there is less back and forth after 90 days. 

And it’s true. I don’t expect them to do 100% quality with no feedback or edits in the beginning. I expect to get more of a draft so they can get used to how I like something done. 

But I also have SOPs and training materials to help them so they don’t start with a blank slate.

Having these hiring mindset shifts has gotten me unstuck in my business. Literally, it has let go of a lot of hiring ego. 

I am no longer nitpicking every person or looking for 100% on every job, but I can be more neutral in understanding what the business needs. 

Ironically, these thoughts have also been instrumental in increasing the quality of my business. 

When it was just me, I might be the expert in quickly writing a grant or posting a podcast, but WHEN I got sick, wanted a holiday, or wanted to add a new service I couldn’t. 

And because I was doing it all, I was burned out and missed grant deadlines, didn’t realize a link was broken, or didn’t have a professional website. 

Now that support has helped me have a back and forth quality control period where the quality increases.

#2: Knowing Which Role to Hire for Today

In the past, I have made the mistake of hiring the right role at the wrong time.

I see a lot of newbie grant writers and creative services (and really, any entrepreneur) have this mistake.

Because they want to start marketing, they hire a marketer.

Because they want to start a YouTube channel, they hire a YouTube editor.

Now there is nothing wrong with doing those things. But it’s about timing.

If you are still overwhelmed with your current work, and don’t have a second to breathe, and then try to hire for a future desire or problem you won’t take care of your current problem – time.

Plus, some of these ‘desires’ for business growth don’t always have immediate ROI. So it makes it hard to sustain these hires.

First, hire for a role that will help reduce your current load. For you freelance grant writers that is usually grant writer support or a virtual assistant.

Once you can free some time up, then you can start thinking about growth. Because you will need to make videos to send to that YouTube editor,  have meetings, and review data. This takes time.

#3:  Know How Much Your Business Can Pay

Another mistake I see entrepreneurs doing when hiring, and one I also struggled with, is knowing what your business can afford to pay.

I see people either paying too little or too much. 

Once you know the role to hire, you need to know how much work your business can afford.

A good rule of thumb is anywhere between 10 – 25% of what your business pulls in. 

There are definitely other considerations, such as your expenses, taxes, debts, etc. but this a good range to be in.

If you aren’t paying what your business can afford, then you will start to feel bitter about paying people. 

**Inside the Grant Professional Mentorship, we do Customized Done-For-You Hiring Budgets so you know how much your business can sustainably afford.

#4 – Hiring the Right Person with a Job Description

Okay, I did say systems over people, but you do need to ensure that the person has the skills, education, or ethics that you are looking for. 

In order to do this you need to create a job description. To understand all the things, amount of time, etc. that you are looking for, I encourage you to:

1. Track your time doing the task: Over a period of a few weeks, track the time that it takes you to do the task. If it’s prospecting for grants, how long does that take you? If you are hiring for a new task or role that you don’t currently do (i.e. you are ready to hire that YouTube editor), then you can figure out what is the rate of delivery that you want for this? i.e. , 2 videos a month?
2. Write down about you, the company, culture, policies, and projects: For example, what your company does, your values, etc. What are also the things you do? Such as writing grants, grant prospecting, onboarding clients, etc. Also any policies you have, such as Out of Office Policies, etc. If you also require a 30-day (or whatever time amount) cancellation policy. For example, if you want to release them or if they quit. Can you have some overlap time?
3. Write down all the skills you require and you prefer: There are certain skills that you may require. If you are looking for someone and it’s vital they know how to write federal grants, make that a requirement. If you can teach them how to write federal grants, then make it a preference. 
4. Write down all the tasks that they will do: We like to create a ‘week in the life’ and bullet point out all the tasks that will be done and what a week would look like. For example:
   1. You check the Team Agency Slack channel once per day M-F and respond to any projects or ask any team members questions, responding within 24 hours.
   2. You log into the Agency Training for any SOPs or needed information on how to do your specific tasks.
   3. You check Click-Up to see where all project tasks are. 
   4. You work on a grant application, Master Grant Application, or Grant prospecting. 
   5. You attend a monthly client meeting, when needed. 
   6. You attend weekly or monthly team meetings. 

5. You include the expectations, average amount of hours, the pay, and how it will be paid: For example, This is a contracted role, starting at 15-20 hours at $50 per hour, averaging $750 – $1,000 /MONTH. You are expected to have a strong internet connection.

#5 – Hire with Test Projects

This has literally been a huge shift for me. I often hired the wrong person for the role because I ‘assumed’ they understood the work (or how I wanted it done). 

Test projects are a huge part of what my coach (Kirsten Roldand) teaches about. 

But basically you take the top 1-3 applicants and then you ask them to do test projects. You will want to test them on something they will do in the job.

For example, if they are doing grant writing: Find and cite five sources that have to do with teenage pregnancy in City X. 

You give them a few different short projects and see how they do. This is going to give you more than interview questions EVER would.

Believe you me, I have been sold on hiring someone after looking at their application, but after having them do the test project I quickly have seen they aren’t the right fit. 

This has saved me time and energy in not hiring the wrong person.

This step is vital in your hiring process. But make sure you pay for the test projects as that can take time. The amount you pay is based on the time the test projects take.

#6 – Provide Onboarding and Training

For onboarding, you do want to have a meeting where you do any password sharing, two-factor authentication, and show them where things are, etc. 

For training, you don’t need to have all your training done before you hire. Emma, inside the Grant Professional Mentorship, was able to hire and it gave her the urgency to do her Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) because she had to.

I love using Loom videos for training and literally just start doing my work as I record my screen and talk through what I am doing. This can be the same for you.

Even if you are hiring for a role that you don’t do (i.e., that YouTube editor), you can give them training on how you want to communicate or track work being done.

#7 – Delegating Work & Feedback Loops

When you are working with someone, you don’t need to feel like you need to ‘manage’ them. Just think that you need to be a good delegator. 

I love to let them know the following:

• Timeframe of when item is due for first draft (or review)
• How to ask questions (i.e., Slack, etc.)
• Any training (i.e., Loom videos, SOPs, previous examples, etc.)
• How much time each task should take 

The feedback loops are that they send over items, I give feedback. So if there is a need for an edit, I DON’T make the edit. 

I ensure there is time inside the Feedback Loop where I give them feedback to make the edit and they send it back to me. 

This has been a powerful way for them to learn quickly on what type of quality I prefer. And overall it has increased the quality. A lot of times, they do it perfectly, but because I have space I realize it can be done better. So I ask them to add the update into the SOP so that from now on it is a better product.

Wrap-Up on My 2024 Hiring:

For 2024, I was more than happy to spend nearly $100K in hiring folks in my business. I was happy to have that time back and to grow the business. 

I no longer am in my email inbox all the time, and have my Online Business Manager helping with all backend tech, billing, responding to clients, and scheduling out content.

I have co-coaches that come into my programs so that I can take laptop-free vacations. Plus, they add SO much value in responding in Slack, leading calls, and lending their expertise for our students.

I have beautiful marketing materials and rebranded my website by my designer. I don’t have to keep up with all the latest trends but can focus on creating value with content.

I had advertising help to grow my book sales on Amazon. I have now sold more than 10,000 copies of “The Beginner’s Guide to Grant Writing” and am a bestselling book on Amazon.

I have a great YouTube editor so all I need to do is focus on the content. We grew the channel and are reaching more and more people and helping people get grants and open grant writing businesses!

Now when I hire, I am excited because I know it is helping my business grow. And because I follow this process, the same one I teach to Changemakers inside the Grant Professional Mentorship, I have data that the hire will be helpful and I won’t cringe when paying but will be celebrating.

For all of our Hiring Systems and to learn more about growing your grant writing business, check out the Grant Professional Mentorship.

Links Mentioned in the Podcast

Grant Professional Mentorship

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