Page 192 - The $100 Startup_ Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love

paid on commission only. We use virtual assistants for telephone answering
when we are unavailable. —Jonathan Pincas (read more about Jonathan in
Chapter 14)

We contracted with an outside printer to make our first run of maps, and it
was the best decision we have ever made. Our business would literally not
exist if we had tried to print the maps on our own. As demand has
increased, our printers have been able to provide us with additional
inventory. We never would have been able to print large quantities of
posters while maintaining our full-time jobs and tending to a growing
business. We are also happy that our business can support the work of other
artisans. —Jen Adrion and Omar Noory (read more about Jen and Omar in
Chapter 6)

These quotes are representative of others who have all said similar things:
Outsourcing increases freedom and allows a business to scale without the
owners doing everything themselves.

CASE 2: ANTI-OUTSOURCING

The camp opposed to outsourcing can be represented with the following
statements from business owners who believed that expansion would be difficult,
undesirable, or otherwise limiting of the freedom they had achieved through the
business:

I’m at the point where I need to find a way to grow my ability to respond to
customer demand, but I struggle with concerns over reputation to the extent
that I turn over bookings to employees or contractors. I’ve been offered
partnerships, but I turn them down because either I have concerns over the
quality of the partner or because the partner wants a referral commission. I
could easily raise my price and provide the commission, but I know I
wouldn’t be happy working for less. And thus I haven’t grown further,
though I’m comfortable with that for now. —Gary Leff (read more about
Gary in Chapter 3)

I actually prefer not to work with contractors, employees, or assistants. My
business succeeds on the fact that it is intentionally small. I can fit my
whole business into a backpack and take it wherever I go—no office, no
stationery, no administrative staff. Keeping my overhead to zero has
lowered the risks and kept profits high. —Adam Westbrook (Adam operates