Unlocking Growth in Service-Based Businesses Through Project-Based Work

Are you ready to take your service-based business to the next level?

Look no further than project-based work! In our podcast, we explore the benefits of project-based work, from pricing strategies to creating a scope of work. Join us as we dive deep into this topic and discover how it can help you grow your business.

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Podcast Transcript:

Kiva Slade 0:01

Welcome to Collab with Kiva, where we let our inner nerd geek out on all the non sexy parts of your business. I'm talking data and operations, neither as flashy or glamorous, but both are foundational to your business growth. I'm your host, Kiva Slade, your strategy and analytics guide here to break down what feels complicated, so it is understandable, and executional. Let's dive in. Hey, hey, hey, welcome back to another episode of Collab with Kiva. I'm excited to talk about today's topic, which is using project based work to grow your service based business. I'm talking about this because I feel that this is something that's overlooked. And I think there's some parts to it that, in my experience, people need a little bit more fleshing out. So let's dive in. Project based work can look differently for each of us, depending obviously, on what our business is, what we do, what services we offer, all of that kind of good stuff. The key here is in many instances, for project based work, you know, there's a definitive start date, and there's a definitive end date, this is not retainer work, where it's ongoing month after a month might be, hey, this is a project that's two days versus I need someone to work with me for four weeks on this particular project, or four months, whatever it is, it can look differently. And I want to talk about this because I feel that there are business owners that are overlooking this as a means of growing their business, growing their revenue, and also growing their experience. And I say this, because I've recently been looking for some people to assist with some project based work. And one of the key things that I find is that people do not know how to price their services.

Kiva Slade 2:16

The ability to create a scope of work, and an actual proposal, those are roadblocks, hurdles, hindrances, speed bumps, to using project based work to grow your service based business. You have to and I always say know your numbers, but seriously know your numbers. If you don't know how to, how your numbers come together, you don't know how it is that you're charging what you charge for whatever it is that you do, it's going to be really hard to put together a scope of work to put together a proposal in which to get this work. And I say that because I've been asked, Hey, what kind of figure did you have in mind, if said person who wants to pay for work, had a figure in mind, they would just say that. In many cases, though, just like if you, you know, you go to the car mechanic, he's like, this is parts, this is labor, this is a total, the person who's looking like if you see a contract come out, or someone who's looking for sub contracting work, they're not going to say in many instances like this is the budget, it's a million dollars, it might be more if we have such amount of funds allocated. That doesn't mean that you get all of those funds, there can be other things that also tap into that allocation. In addition to that, they want to see what is your scope of work. So if you don't know how to put together a scope of work, I would strongly encourage a site like ‘wethos’, that's w e t h o s. They have a free service that's available. I understand they're transitioning somewhat to a paid one, but the free one is fine. It allows you to search for proposals. It allows you to search for these proposals that you can then use to put together a proposal for whatever the job is that you're trying to, you know the project that you're looking to work on. And this is important because it might be something that you know how to do, but you may not have done in this particular capacity.

Kiva Slade 4:28

For example, you know how to put together SOPs, hands down, you got this. However, someone's looking for you to put together 20 SOPs and they might have varying degrees of difficulty and what other things would you possibly need to know about this project? Are you going to require some meetings? Okay, how many meetings at how much time three hours of meetings? Okay, good. Now we got three hours of meeting. We know we're going to put together these 20 SOPs. What's the process going to look like, are you going to put them together? Or are they recording loom videos and sharing it with you? You're transcribing those and sending it back to them? How many edits do they get? Oh, okay, you have to factor in all of these bits and pieces. And how much time that is. And why is this important? It's important because you will be rock solid in your number that you put forward, and detailing out what that scope of work is going to be, i.e., that's going to make up that proposal. And they're going to want to work with you. But in addition to that, you're going to know that you're going to actually make money and not out here, just working to be working. So if you say that there's going to be 3 hours of meeting, 10 hours of transcribing, and putting together SOPs, another 3 hours for review and edits, and a follow up meeting that's going to take place at 1 hour. And I've already forgotten the numbers, but let's just say it all adds up to 20. What is your hourly rate? What is your overhead, there are things in your business that you're going to need to access for this, whether it is Google Workspace, whether it is ClickUp, to manage the project on your own in, whether maybe there's a spreadsheet that you share with them. Again, you're back into Google Workspace. There's emails. There's this. Are you gonna have to actually design something? Maybe there's a need for Canva. You need to have some overhead built in to whatever this project is in terms of your scope of work and proposal. And then you have a number that you can actually put forward as their investment with not just pride, but with confidence that this is the number because you've worked out what's included. And granted, you're not always going to know. So add in some buffer, add in a little extra. Because there might be something that comes up if there's a contingency, or you actually add to your proposal, any additional meetings are going to cost X or any additional such and such is going to cost Y. This is how you do project based work and people get the proposal and they're like, Oh, yes, I want that, willing to pay that. Boom.

Kiva Slade 7:26

Project based work for some people is more preferred than retainer work. They don't want to be in someone's business all the time. They like the variety, they like the different things that they may come across. Whatever the situation is, though, you need to know how to put together scope of work, folks. You need to know how to put together a proposal so that people can actually engage in this, this type of work with you. And I feel that a part of project based work can also come, like there's that subcontractor component of working with someone like myself. Like recently I've had I subcontracted out a piece of work that I was doing for a client to a colleague of mine, because A I didn't have the bandwidth to do it and B she does this, I know that she's way better at it than I am. But you know, it's like, being able to do that, it adds revenue to your business, it adds another referral to your business, it adds more work under your belt to your business. And for some people, I see they're frustrated, they're not finding clients. And this isn't happening fast enough, or a client leaves or something along those lines. But in many instances, they overlook project based work. There are people out there who are running businesses that might feel overwhelmed, they need someone to step in, for this project or for this aspect of something. Don't cut off your nose to spite your face just looking for retainer clients. Understand that there are other things that do exist out there, and other ways in which you can grow your business. But it has to make sense. It has to make sense. Your proposal needs to make sense, your scope of work needs to make sense. All of these things must come together and make sense for this to be an actual means for you to grow your service based business. I think it's important to just understand that that level of collaboration does exist. There are some of us who don't want to do all these things. I had someone reach out to me on Trainual. It's about a platform that I'm trained in and certified in. I don't always use it though. I know someone else who uses it on a regular basis.

Kiva Slade 9:48

So, I'm like, Hey, got this opportunity. Are you open? I've had the meeting with people. They're reaching out to me. They want to work with me. So, we can partner, and you can do this aspect of it, I do this aspect of it. Again, it is so important to be focused to be knowing what's needed, and being able to articulate what's needed. So if someone says, Hey, I have some project based work for you, and you're like, well, we could do this, we could do that. Well, we could also, this is not the time to be at the buffet, trying to pick all the things. This is the time to say, No, this is the fixed price menu. It's step one, step two, step three, that person is coming to you for your expertise. They're coming to you, because you are in this platform, or you are in this space, and you know this stuff. So show them that they made the right decision in approaching you, by Sure, I can definitely help you do that. I have a few additional questions, yada, yada, yeah, great, based on this information, step one, step two, step three, it's going to take this long, it's going to cost this much. Thank you. That's all I needed. And also remember, when it comes to sub contracting, please don't go adding in all your marketing and all these other costs, like your subcontractor rate, in most cases it's about half of what your regular rate is. You did not have to go out and solicit this work. Someone has come to you. You do not have to incur all of these other additional overhead costs. Keep that in mind. Don't price yourself out, before you could even get in the door.

Kiva Slade 11:38

So, all of this goes back to, though, you need to know your numbers and what your price is, in order to be able to develop a comprehensive proposal and scope of work and actually detail out what's going to be included in that deliverable. So know your numbers. Get a gauge. How long do these things take? Write out what the steps are. And what you envision these things taking. Is there going to take an hour? Is it going to take three hours? Because at the end of the day, if you put forth a proposal that says it's going to be 20 hours worth of work at such and such rate, and you've added in, you know, at some level of something, and then it takes you 30 hours, okay, there's a lesson you can learn there, obviously, there were some things wrong with that whole entire scope of work. And if you didn't charge and didn't factor in some of these things, or if they were unexpected, you should have put forth a second scope of work to address those and not allow that scope creep to take place. So lessons to be learned there. But the key is, again, project based work is a great way to add revenue to your business, to add experience to your belt to add resources and colleagues and collaboration and referrals to your ecosystem. So do not overlook it in the search, the hunt, the elusive hunt, it feels like for some days of that retainer work, there are projects people are in need of your expertise in areas, help them put together their launch plan, because their launch feels overwhelming. And it's too many pieces and they don't know what they are. You're great at that. Detail it out for them. Give them the schedule for it. They will pay you for that. But you need to know how long it's gonna take you to do that. Okay. There are people who need help with hiring, maybe there's someone who they've gotten most of the process down, they just need you to evaluate the applicants. I love someone to help me evaluate applicants because I get tired of trying to do that. But like that's something that's a project. So I say all this to again say, it's important to know your numbers, because if you don't know your numbers, then none of this is going to matter. But it's also important to realize that there are other means to grow your business that are not traditional retainer work. There can be collaboration with others who are in your circle who need projects done. But they're gonna need you to step correctly. And in order to do that, you're gonna need to know what? Your numbers. So, that's my quick and dirty today for you on knowing your numbers so that you can use project based work to grow your service based business. Tune in next time. Bye. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Collab with Kiva. I'm wildly cheering you on is you go forth and execute data and operational efficiencies in your business. If you need additional support, connect with me via my website, the516collaborative.com. Your reviews on Apple are appreciated. See you next week.

Meet Kiva Slade - the Founder and CEO of The 516 Collaborative. With a unique background in high-power politics on Capitol Hill and sixteen years as a homeschooling mama, Kiva found her calling in the online business world as a trusted guide for entrepreneurs looking to build the business of their dreams.

Kiva's work began behind the scenes, orchestrating the back end of businesses and managing teams. But her inner data diva couldn't help but notice that small businesses needed help harnessing the power of data for growth. So she and her team set out to uncover and tidy up the data required to enable clients to grow their businesses confidently and easily.