Posted: Jan 28, 08 5:35pm

Not long ago I got really, really lucky, but in a way that could have destroyed my company if I wasn’t set up to manage growth.

Here’s what happened. As some of you already know, I was profiled on CNN.com about my work tracking the rise of the virtual economy (which includes home-based companies.) Even nicer, the online article ran for much of Dec. 17, 2007 on CNN.com’s home page.

Here’s the catch: media coverage of that magnitude can really do you in. Suddenly, my email box was filling up faster than a southwest wash after a freak storm. The phones were ringing off the hook with well wishers. With only me to field all of the attention, I felt like I was drowning.

Getting a grip, I left my office to take a walk and sort out what to do. As I trudged along the bike path in the snow behind the mall in nearby Hadley, Mass. I put together a crisis plan. I decided to shelve whatever I was going to do that day and focus on handling, and yes leveraging, the attention CNN.com had generated.

What calmed my spirit were my own “words of wisdom” about managing growth gleaned through years of crazy, badly managed experiences and from my many business mentors. I reminded myself that when things felt overwhelming that was actually a good sign. It meant you were building your business and needed help.

“Don’t sit there alone,” I told myself. “Reach out and get some help.”


But what kind of help? How much could I afford? How to manage it?

That’s where “the accordion” comes in. This is the name I’ve coined for hiring subcontractors to back me up on projects. I always keep a stable of subcontractors and alliance partners to handle work overflow (as you can see at HYPERLINK "http://www.a-zinternational.com" www.a-zinternational.com).

When work is booming, I bring on more people and pay them for hours of work completed or negotiate project fees. Sometimes we even barter assistance. When work is reduced, I either cut back on the hours they work for me, reduce projects, or in the worst case (and this has happened too many times, sadly), I have to let my “subs” know I have nothing to offer for a while.

I’ve been operating a virtual, home-based company for 20 years and can attest to the effectiveness of the “accordion.” For those of us with variable revenue streams who don’t have the cash flow or inclination to hire employees ( with all the attendant benefit issues and added accounting that comes with that turf), subcontracting work to third parties works phenomenally well.

But, as always, there’s a caveat. You have to want be able to manage projects and manage people, and do that remotely if you don’t have space to bring people in to supervise. Whether my subcontractors or alliance partners live across town or across the country – and I have both arrangements – they rarely work in my office with me. There just isn’t room for them or even need.

I’ve learned how to break out projects in manageable chunks and work very, very hard to communicate clearly what I want and need done. It’s always been my policy that no question is too small or too tedious for me to hear from a subcontractor. What irritates me, as they have all found over the last two decades, is people who muddle through without seeking help and then get us into costly misdirections.

One day soon I’ll go deeper into some tricks of the trade around remote management and communication. Right now I need to tell you how I resolved my overload problem from the CNN.com coverage. Mainly, I decided to set up a PR team that I had sorely been lacking. I figured I could spend about $1,000 that quarter on PR, reminding myself of the old maxim that “you don’t make money without spending it.”

So I returned to my office and called my chief researcher and backup person – a local writer/editor who I pay what amounts to a monthly retainer. He agreed to create a standardized reply to all inquiries the CNN.com had generated and handle responses.

Next, I made a decision to hire the PR firm in Texas I was dangling a bit while I decided whether or not I wanted to pay their freight. That meant taking half an hour that night to answer their questionnaire and forward them $500, but I figured it would be worth it to have others handle the media in the event any one else came calling.

Last, I called a long-time friend and PR pro with New York City agency experience, and asked her to back up my local colleague and the Texas agency if we decided to post a press release reflecting the coverage. She readily agreed.

Voila, in a few hours I had mobilized two subcontractors and hired a PR agency. By that night the initial “crisis” was over. All parties kicked into high gear to handle the overflow and I was able to return to my regular work the next day a little shaken, but delighted with the positive responses the article was generating.

For some reason, as sensible as the “accordion” is, cost-effective and practical, I’m finding that many virtual company owners operating as solopreneurs have an aversion to bringing on backup help. Yes, it does cost money, but what people forget is the high cost and risk of doing it all yourself. There’s only so much one human being can handle in a day, week, month or year without burning out. Eventually, we all find our limits and if we persist in working alone we will be limited in what we can generate unless we invent some fabulous process and sell it for gazillions of dollars.

I’ve been trying to make this case to Theresa L, who you will soon meet as the A – Z International education/admissions/financial aid expert. Theresa has been building a consulting business in this area after years of work in the field at high-brow institutions like Harvard, Smith College and Boston University (a current client). She’s got a great niche with international access and outreach as she lived and worked in Brussels as director of admissions for a liberal arts college, and regularly travels the world for a client.

Of late, as Theresa’s marketing advisor, I’ve highly recommended she start pulling on back up help. She’s starting to bring on more clients, though not too many that she can’t handle a few more. But what would happen if those five clients suddenly became 20? 50? That could easily happen if our small advertising and PR campaign in the works took off.

Even so, it’s taken a bit of arm-twisting for me to convince Theresa to make the time to work on the exercise below. She felt she was doing great and was facing several weeks of travel. “Why do this now?” she wondered.

“Because the future of your business is at stake,” I replied.

So here’s the “accordion” I’ve developed for Theresa (yet to be implemented):

She needs to outline all the steps she takes when she works with a client on admissions or financial aid guidance and note all steps that can be delegated.

She needs to rank those steps in terms of difficulty to determine the level of support she needs. Could a high school or college intern be of use, or would this have to be a professional of the same caliber as Theresa? The answer will determine how much the help would cost and how much supervision they would require.

As Theresa has long-time college experience and often worked with students, coordinating and assisting interns would not be problematic for her. (Note that this is not a solution for everyone as students require patience and training.)

Once this outline is in place, she and I can sort out the type of help that would be most suitable so Theresa can make a budget. She has a ball park figure of $100 to $200 per client as a possibility, which is very doable if she can utilize students and/or work with an alliance partner.

Now you’re heard our struggles on the managing growth front. Let’s hear from you!