Ok, there are some questions. This is MY experience. I don't like to "show of", but one of my companies sold it's first million dollars last week (yeah!!). It's "only" a 20% revenue, but that's fine by me (we are 3 business partners, tho). The other one (with one partner), in nine months, have sold USD 200.000. But it was hard. Hard as fucking hell. It took me a lot of time to really "get it". But, now, I'm celebrating.
Here are some good tips:
1.- You gotta do yourself EVERY TASK before you try to outsource it or hire someone. E--VE-RY-PART-OF-IT. If you buy a linkwheel, do some yourself first. If you buy content, write 10 articles yourself first. Once you KNOW what you are asking for, you are gonna know what to ask and when someone is giving you excuses.
2.- If you have your special sauce, DO NOT hire a freelancer. Hire someone and make him/her work at your office. Make him sign an NDA but, most importantly, make it FUN for him. Ley him enjoy his work.
Always put him on a trial period. Give specific instructions and see how he goes. What I like is people who ask all the questions first (even if they are "stupid" ones) and, then, work without bugging you.
If you have a feeling that an employee is not trustable, fire him. Don't hesitate.
4.- The less people you hire, the better. You won't believe how hard things become when you have 10 guys working for you. Even 4. There are a lot of "hidden costs" that you won't predict. Only hire a new person when you need it to escalate.
5.- Before hiring a freelancer, purchase some small services. Work with people who already know what they are doing (linkbuilding, public relationships, etc.). I like Fiverr (yeaps) and Odesk. But there are a lot more options, I think.
I have a VA. And I love it.
6.- Document everything. I don't, but I should. If you lose someone, you need to replace him ASAP.
7.- There are a lot of services and apps. USE THEM. But remember the first rule: use them yourself before giving it to your team. ASK THEM if they like it. If they can work faster with it. If they don't, then don't use it. It's not only for you, it's for everyone.
Al the services must be SIMPLE and with limited options. I use Teambox, Dropbox, Skype, Google+ Hangouts, Gtalk (Adium for me), Google Docs, Freemind, Whunderlist and Balsamiq Mockups (I've heard Mockingbird is cool, but I haven't try it yet).
That's it. If I can help, let me know.