I ran into this when I was hiring an assistant for my, you guessed it, boutique creative services company. Those of us who have grown accustomed to self-employment (and calling the shots) sometimes have a hard time letting go. ButI had to admit that I couldn't simply leverage my own productivity any more and squeeze more billable time out of your work days. In fact, my primary goal in hiring an assistant was to separate my potential income from the number of hours in the day.

1. Start looking for candidates within your own network. (I ended up hiring a guy I've known for five years, and it was my wife who told him I was looking for someone!)

2. Write down character traits that matter in your business. Here was my list:

+ Strong understanding of professionalism
+ Punctuality
+ Appropriate dress for various occasions
+ Good manners
+ Confidence
+ Willingness to listen without interrupting
+ Willingness to ask questions
+ Willingness to take initiative and NOT ask questions, as the situation warrants; doesn't always wait to be told what to do next

The last was perhaps the most important to me because I simply didn't have the time to look over his shoulder and explain everything step-by-step. I needed a confident self-starter.

I then wrote down needed personality traits, skills, and finally the things that I was most excited about offloading. Hire someone to do the things you least enjoy doing! I call those "low-leverage activities." You can see my list here: https://kicktastic.com/blog/article/how-to-hire-an-assistant/.

Anyhow, I started onboarding my new assistant in late 2012, and my business grew by over 200% in 2013. So the proof is in the pudding I guess.

Hope this helps,
Austin