Posted on May 27, 2009 - by J Lane

Expansion anxiety

I’m at a funny place right now, but I’m sure that I’m not the first to be here. Industry Interactive has enough client work for more than one person (me). Timelines are starting to stretch out, Mailmanagr is waiting in the wings. I’ve flirted with hiring before, and had even announced that an old high school friend of mine was going to join in part time (that didn’t end up happening though, he became tied up in another project). The truth is, however, that I’m one step short of terrified.

My biggest hang up at the moment is with being responsible for another person’s livelihood. If a client is late to pay, I can survive and coast on savings for a month or two. If I have to pay someone else, that arrangement becomes complicated. I’m building a case reserve to try to buffer that problem, but I don’t have a ton of cash saved yet.

So where to I go from here? Is this just a “gut check” moment, where I’m going to have to take the plunge? Or is my hesitation rooted in an overall sense of instability? Do I wait a little longer and build up that reserve?