My shit is too much to handle anymore. WTF am I going to do?
 

With my big ego I rarely ask for advice, but fuck I need it now. I have too many things going on at one time and am close to loosing control. I have like 5 full time people now and quite honestly I can't handle more than that. I do not want to get a real office and have staff working there. I value the ability to be able to work in my underwear (which I really do) and the freedom of not having to really go to work. I do work long hours when I am not with my kids, that is not what bothers me. What bothers me is that I jsut have too much on my plate. I assign guys different jobs and responsibilities but still the shit I want done is not getting done fast enough.

What I am thinking of doing is letting people with GOOD SOLID reputations resell my traffic. What I am afraid of first and foremost is someone hurting my reputation. But at this point if I want to continue growing what choice do I have? Do you think it would be wise of me to let people resell and I loose some control over my own system? Please discuss and share your opinions. My biggest fear is that letting other's take over some of my business will dilute my reputation and eventually my success. thoughts?

I suggest you begin outsourcing some of your tasks. Theres a ton of sweet little asians ready to work for you. ;)

photo gregg say hello from the beach

You need a CEO or at least a PA.

Don't ask, you couldn;t even remotely come slose to being able to afford me.

Either that or progress with this nice little smart strategy of clouding the water before announcing your new resellers.

he he

;-)

hahaha I would not doubt it

Choker.. contact me, we can work something out. I know where you are, have been there way too many times myself. But we have launched a USA Based Outsourcing company and we'd be happy to see what we could do to lift some of the headache off of you. That's why we are here. :)

And NO, I would not like to see you working in an office in your underwear, I am trying to save your staff THAT horror.. rotfl
I am teasing, you know I love ya...... but seriously, hit me up and we can see about taking some of this off of you. You should be enjoying your rewards, not letting them haunt you. :)

there comes a time when you have to delegate some authority and let others help you. Otheriwse you have grown as much as you can

LOL, nope, no announcement on new resellers planned. I am really looking for opinions here. The traffic system runs itself EXCEPT for soliciting new buyers. But to continue growing I need to, so the question is should I hire sales reps or outsource this. I need to spend less time on traffic selling and more on the other projects I have going on.

for bad advice turn to GFY

You need a right hand man, or several. Have certain people run certain aspects of your company. Give them a share of it so they have incentive to run it properly.

By outsourcing I mean to people already in this business. If I do this it would have to be with people I already know. GTS is already doing some and so far it is working out great. Aren't a lot of mainstream traffic brokers 100% resellers? As far as my underwear well Chicadee is getting a little tired of seeing me work in them all day long. LOL

EXACTLY man. That is where I am at this point. I do delegate a lot but not enough I guess. I feel like I have hit a wall here. Growth is still great but I really want to work less. My retirement a year ago went straight down the shitter, things fell apart on a daily basis.

Ummm..... HEY, I have been in this business since 99, you little grumpy dude. lmao
And I am not the only one in my company, I gots partners you know, I don't do anything with the traffic, I already told ya that, I can't get my head around it, but I have people that DO know it. lol

What I would do if I were you and what I have done with other people, employers, is have one person be your chain of comman and let them take a lot of the pressure off of YOU, this way you have someone you trust doing the majority of the work and let THEM micromanage the smaller things where you don't have to, leaves you to handle the important things that you don't trust to let anyone else handle.

It's like someone else mentioned, delegate that stuff out so you don't have to micromanage so much. LOL

hit me up on icq choker 176300 or email me at [email protected]

Hope someone could help you with true heart and really helps you with your problems...

this sounds gay, sir pray some one will help you.

for bad advice turn to GFY or think and think again and re-think

There comes a point in business where you have to form a chain of command. This is a good problem to have when you run your own show. But it can come back to bite you.

I would say delegate the work among several of your staff. Over time you will see who is the real leader. Someome who can take responsibility , lead and see that things get done.

This won't happen over night , will take a while and you are sure to face few road blocks.

But yea when your business is your name and not a company , yes you are taking a risk.

Sorry to bother you on icq today :(

seems like you need more people working for you, though its hard to find good people we all know this

I would not outsource, too much complications coming sooner or later

Choker atleast feel proud that you've come to this point, you're doing well

But by the way I know the system really well after all of these years. So if you have a chance to consider me I would be happy to help as always :winkwink:

Stating the obvious but can you not phase out those projects which are either not profitable or do not provide satisfaction?

Traffic has always been your key area obviously and you have mentioned that the traffic system pretty much runs itself so why not continue focusing on this area and avoid this situation where you are dependant upon other people who may or may not share your goals and direction.

Obviously staying purely with the traffic will allow you more time with your family which clearly is rewarding to you.

Please feel free to tell me if I`m talking bollocks.

Choker ICQ me please. 239088209

stop whinning and hire competent people - shit every sucessful businessman does it - either your going to make the move or be a small timer the rest of your life.

I would say DONT outsource. Toooo many mistakes that can hurt you.

What I would sugguest is that you make sure that the people that are owrking for you, are meeting the ROI that you have. If you want more help, hit me on ICQ.

NEVER outsource your sales staff,

bring in a seasoned veteran to head up a sales dept consisting of how ever many sales peeps you need.

oh shit i can see this coming, GTS takes over and choker traffic goes up to $1k/1k uniques :1orglaugh

Yeah I think you are right. Hard to be motivated when you are getting paid by the hour.

I say sell off some of your business or let Tam run it....I've never heard anything bad about her and she came out smelling like a rose during the pibcash scam. If she can come out of that shit with her reputation still in tact, she can be trusted to run your shit.

yes I do need more good people. The whole point I am trying to make is I think I have gone as far as I can with my work situation and my employees being out of town. I think I either need to open a office where I can more closely supervise or start outsourcing. But if I outsource it WILL NOT be from a company that hires general labor.

If you have at least ONE mainstream site then I have a VERY slick suggestion for you dude.

Get a hold of me.

Choker you rock! I mean that.

It's hard for some people to fathom but some business don't want to grow past a certain point, regardless of the gains available to them. My own father could grow his business exponentially based on his reputation but chooses to maintain a single man operation for simplicity and the sake of customer service.

I on the other hand believe in enterprise and corporate structure for effectiveness and growth. There is a happy median for sure.

Your reputation preceeds you and your fears of hiring the wrong person to sell for you are valid and real.

I think it may be time to set up shop. A physical office isn't a detriment and it would be a great opportunity to pool resources, ideas and encourage a free thinking group of entrepreneurs like yourself.

I feel your pain, and know what you are taking about. Hard to find someone who will not ruin your reputation, do things as you need them done, and most importantly stay motivated.

Money is powerful for the right person, but not everyone. Same going for the freedom of working in your undies. Let's face it, unless you are a disaplined individual, and can work from home, keep your hours, do your work, and be successful they are not a good fit. Some people need an office, that environment, out of their house, and someone with a foot in their ass to work. Unfortunate, but some just can't work from home, and waste all their time watching talk shows, or whatever is on and get little done.

I'd say for someone in your position, you need to sit and think about what your next 1, 2, 5, 10 year plan is. If you want to stay how things are with no office, you will need to work on a better business model, and chain of command, new people whatever. But if you are planning to grow, and know in your heart of hearts that you will eventually have to bring on more people, or it just will not function without taking the step. You had better just make it and get it behind you.

Honestly in the internet game, I would never outsource anything critical. Only mundaine tasks. Not sales. Not trade secret, seo or that kinda stuff. All depending on what all you are into with various projects. Some people can outsource, and make their coin. But some can't easily do it because of what they deal with in the industry.

My main suggestion would be work out your 3-5 year game plan, where you want to be, and if it's inevitable, just take the plunge.

:pimp

hire a manager & a small office.....have the manage delegate to the employees

Promote 2 people. One to Tech manager and one to marketing manager.
Give them a little more money and a monthly budget.
Tell them what you want and make them account for any budget spending.
Let them outsource for what they need.
If they don't produce then demote them or fire them.
Put all the pressure on them and none on yourself.

It'll cost you a little more money but you will grow without headache and not even notice the increased spending since it will be offset by new profit.

Heh, your the boss!
Just when you hire new employees, warn them that you'll be wandering around in your underwear, and have them sign a contract acknowledging it :)

Sell it all... then retire.

Interesting!

I just spent a week with, SweetT..awesome guy.
One thing I noticed about him, was his employees.

He has several, that do their jobs well, right down to security.

He set's the rules, and let's his people do the work, he isn't breathing down their throat's every hour or so..it's all about trust. Find a few you can trust, and as we all
know, it takes money to make money. He has a lady named Kathi, that does so much for him, and guess what? He knows it!

Tam knows the business and is a great lady, so thumbs up to her!

BTW: Kathi you rock and ya know we love ya :-)

~LL

Sell it and start something else or retire, if you really wanted to deal with the day to day bullshit with the size its become, you wouldnt be posting, you strike me as a builder, not a maintainer, sell it and build something else :2 cents:

I'm not sure whether I ever hit submit when you were talking about hiring someone a few weeks ago, but anyway I wrote something to the effect that someone like yourself might know in your head you need a right-hand man, but you may well not be able to relinquish enough control to let him do his job.

Similarly, if you hand off any of your core tasks to third parties, you are likely to get very stressed over what you will surely perceive are results that you could have bettered. BTW I also think that if you do outsource sales, you really can say goodbye to a lot of your business: few if any brokers have the reputation or the profile that you achieved and at best you will be their #2 priority.

If you don't have it in you to really delegate enough control to leave yourself with a manageable workload, I believe you only have two options: return to your roots, taking on only tasks you can handle and about which you have a high level of confidence, or else sell your business. You come across as someone who sees success as validation of your work, but that challenge is what you enjoy most. If I am right, cruising along at the helm of a successful business is really not what you are cut out for and you would get much more out of a brand new challenge.