Busy as Bees

I dreamed about bees last night. An entire room full of them. A giant hive of swarming black and yellow buzzing beasts. I've got a slight phobia about bees, well earned I think, since I was in England one summer and found one trapped in my UCLA sweatshirt - while I was wearing it. Ever since then, I hyperventilate if a bee buzzes by.

Dreams about bees:

"To see bees in your dream symbolize wealth, good luck, harmony, creativity and bliss. Bees are also symbolic of hard work and industry as represented by the common phrase "busy as a bee." Your hard work will pay off in the end with sweet results. Alternatively, the dream represents the things that are happening in your life or something that is buzzing with activity. Is there a lot going on in your life?  

If bees symbolize hard work and industry, that makes a lot of sense for me right now. I'm working so hard that my new husband comes home at 6:15 to find me still sitting at my desk, typing away. One quick kiss hello, I say "I just need 20 more minutes," and an hour later I finally emerge to fix dinner. It's a good night when I can stop work when he comes in the door, have a glass of wine and watch TV until bedtime.

A few factors have come together to make my life busy. I'm clinging onto my dream job of managing 20 bloggers for a women's adventure travel website by the skin of my teeth, though that job had expanded into other areas that I had to cut back for my own sanity. So, I should say I'm back to just managing 20 bloggers and minding the website, but there's still a bit of the other areas that creep in frequently. Manageable now. On top of that, the writing business is booming so much that I reached the limit of projects I could take on. So, I took on two partners.

Then we three took on enough work for three people. And then one partner got the opportunity of a lifetime to travel across the country and be featured in her own documentary. And then the other partner went to China, then Spain, and has a full-time job that pays her way better than writing - leaving one little Indian to hold down the camp. Me.

Well, I've been thinking I have to figure out how to make a real business out of this writing thing for a while, and now with three times more work than I can do, I am forced to do it - now. As in, hire people to take on the smaller projects so the ones that need all of my energy and expertise can get it. So, here I am, juggling big projects while trying to figure out a system for parceling out the smaller projects to people who work for me. My ... worker bees, if you will.

It's not easy. Figuring out how much to pay people for their work while still making money myself (because I still do editing, quality control, posting, and sourcing photos). Being terrible at math has finally caught up with me. Should I divide it based on percentages, flat rates, hourly? How do I not shortchange anyone, including myself?

It's like BOOM - You are Now an Adult. You're not just playing at being a freelance writing small business owner anymore, you actually are one. You have people working for you. Which would be great if I had the slightest idea of how to do this. Which I don't.

I really hope my dream about those terrifying bees "pays off in sweet results." I hope it's a good omen. I need it.