My first blog was Time is Money and I wrote about how we, as small business owners, usually start off trying to do it all. Then, hopefully, we learn that we just cannot do it all, not to mention that it just isn’t efficient or the most productive use of our time; not to mention why this isn’t the best use of our time.
Your time costs you money
Consider a few of these scenarios to see where you fit, if you are weighing the options of outsourcing:
- If you are spending your time doing things that aren’t making you money, then you are wasting your time, and not making money.
- If it takes you twice as long (I’m being generous here) as a professional to do what you are ‘trying’ to do, then you are wasting twice as much time (or more) with things that aren’t making you money, and still wasting time…. and again, not making money.
- If you are doing it all, you think that you are just as efficient as a professional at doing their job, all to save you money on their services, while you aren’t making money, and again, wasting time.
I am sure most of us do all of these things, mostly the last one because we want to save money, right? I know you are nodding your head, me too, I’ve been there. But the catch is this; we really need to spend a little bit of time weighing our options.
Get the scales out – measure it
Consider this; is it worth your money, to save the time and get someone else to do it? Also know that it will be done well, by the professional and could save you money, and time, in the long run.
Be proficient in your biz. Outsource where you aren't knowledgeable! Got it? Click To Tweet.
For example, consider that website that you built on your own trying to save money… only to find 6 months later, it really isn’t doing you any good and you have to have it RE-built for you. Keep in mind, that your business is already in full swing and now you are spending extra time working with a professional to have it done right when, had you had it built correctly, from the get go, you would have saved all those hours, blood and sweat, tears and curse words (okay, maybe that last one was me lol) the first go round and now, 6 months later you wouldn’t be knee deep in a redesign but killing it in your business. Hmmm?
Or, this one I hear a lot, I don’t have the money to optimize my website. Ummm, okay.. but consider this, without an optimized website, YOU are the one who is going out to get the clients and there is very little likelihood you will come up in search engines for your product/service. Plus, let me remind, website optimization isn’t a one and done thing, so starting early and putting into practice from the get go only ensures that as you put in new pages, you are optimizing them as you go. SCORE!
I don’t have the money to market
Kind of like the example above, but this reminds me of days at Valpak when a restaurant owner said, I can’t afford to pay $300/month for these coupons. Mind you, this was after counting all of the coupons he DID get redeemed and after going over his ROI for the cost, the number of coupons needed to break even and profit. He got more than the break-even number of coupons so was profiting and still said that he couldn’t afford to pay $300 for the next month. I said, if you got all of the results you determined you needed so you broke even but actually came out ahead, how are you going to drive these folks in here without the coupons? I guess he had ‘extra time’ (you know what that is, right? Lol) I nicely reminded him… look, if you don’t have the money to market your business, you won’t have a business to market for soon enough. Not saying that Valpak was his only option, but if you aren’t doing some sort of marketing for your business, you are setting up your business for failure.
If your aren't marketing for your business, you might have nothing to market... Click To TweetBest time is with extra money and extra time
So hear me, if you think you don’t have the money, WHEN would be a good time? There is rarely ‘extra money’ or ‘extra time’ and as small business owners, we still insist on doing everything on our own to save a dime. But how are we really helping ourselves?
We say that when we make more money, we will outsource xyz, but when we make more money, there are always other things that need to be done to keep that money coming so we won’t have extra time or money. So when is a good time to help you, help your business? NOW! Consider, if you outsource the things that truly are a time suck for you, you will definitely have more time to make the money you are capable of. Think on that for a moment. Plus, you have that job done, and done well because it is done by a professional in that field, and you aren’t labored with that task, finding time to do it or worse.. learning to do it, let alone stressing over it (not that we do that, right?).
Hopefully this has helped you to make better use of your time. Should you need help with outsourcing your social media marketing, search engine optimization, email marketing or paid ads, contact me and I would be happy to help.
~Kristen
Great insights, Kristen. You had me really laughing at “If it takes you twice as long . . . ” Um, in my case, oh, about a hundred times longer to market efficiently than the pros! Although I’m learning a lot from them, they make my life SO much easier, and more effective, in a gazillion different ways.
Thank you for this!
I try to add humor Susan so I don’t bore people to death and keeps em reading, hopefully! lol Glad you are still learning & growing!
I agree with everything here. The biggest problem women have is that they don’t value their own time. If they did the math, to figure out how much their time is worth, I think more would outsource. There were several major investments I made in my business that I initially told myself I couldn’t afford, but all have had great ROI.
Yes, and you if anyone, Jackie, can attest to this… thanks… you inspire me!
Great post. I totally agree. As an admin business services business owner, I have to figure out how to show my potential clients that it will be beneficial for them to outsource theses tasks. This is a great post to share with them. Thank you.
I have the same issue Sabrina and thank you… please do share. 😉
Agree, and sometimes need to outsource what we are good at! I can do the books, but that does not mean I should do the books?
So very true Robin.. I actually wrote a blog on that too… even though you can, doesn’t mean you should.
One of the good things about women is that we are often more concerned with helping people than about money. And one of the bad things about women is that we are often more concerned with helping people than about money. We don’t do ourselves a favor when we don’t take a good hard look at ROI. We definitely need to spend our precious time doing the things that we like to do and are good at and outsource the others.
Another great point Beth… we also need to focus on the things we ENJOY doing as well.
I enjoyed your post. I recall a time when I was spinning out of control in my business, with not enough opportunity to strategically see or communicate with all of my clients. I worked with a coach to outline my top priorities, create systems and templates to increase my efficiency and outsource key follow-up tasks. Then I had my life back.
That is awesome Rachel and you stepped outside and got someone to help you refocus your life. Awesome!
I am currently trying to figure this out. I have used a VA a couple of times and can see how it can definitely save time and money, but when first starting it out, it is hard to spend the money. I am encouraged and will continue to contemplate this.
That’s the thing though Karen, you can’t justify spending the money because you are capable of doing things, but if it frees up time for you to market your business, talk to clients, etc.. then you are making more time to make money.
You know, Kristen. I think it all started when Chaka Khan sang to us, “I’m every woman, it’s all in me.” And oh yes, we SO want to do it all! But your message of wisdom is learning to make the right choices on what you need to be spending your time on and filtering out what you don’t is a great challenge. I’ve incorporated changes in my biz model this year to no longer give my time to potential clients who used to take up hours of my day only to not make a commitment. Enough of those time-sucking moments sent me on a journey to figure out how to vet out the serious people much earlier on. I do use the scale example you presented and have learned to contract out what I really don’t need to do myself. Which does save me money because it’s a return of my time. Priceless.
Excellent points and revelation you had Meghan. Great job!
I soooo agree with what you said. I believe the biggest handicap that entrepreneurs put on themselves is their mindset. A lot of their behaviors toward money in business stems from a lack mentality. You have to hire out to have time to focus on your strength.
You got it Webly, that is just that! It’s in our head, why pay someone to do something that I CAN do?
Totally agree. Outsourcing is vital to your success and sanity. Thanks for the reminder.
You know it Christy!
I am with you on this. A lot of new small business owners are afraid to outsource things even when its not something they’re proficient in. Maybe it’s a cost thing for some, maybe it’s the fear of handing over a part to someone else. But delegating is vital for small business owners to do.
Thanks Alan… you made another great point.. fear of giving up our biz to someone else.
Today I am liking the phrase time suck! 🙂 We’ve all experienced it, and it is draining on so many levels. I have been outsourcing some things, but there is more I would like to get off my plate. Hopefully soon! Great post, Kristen.
Oh yes Brenda.. time suck is one of my infamous sayings… lol You’ll get there, in due time. Keep it up and thank you.
Early on I hired a bookkeeper/accountant & I’m so glad I did. I also hired a coach & for a few years we work together on strategy & technical things. She believes in teaching us so we rely less on her. We have an extraordinary relationship & we are very fortunate.
I agree Roz… I believe in teaching, regardless of whether I do the work or not… so you, the consumer can understand what you are doing or what I am doing. thanks!
Hi Kristen 🙂
Awesome post! We must make our time profitable and worth it and doing things that waste time (like trying to figure something when you don’t have a clue lol ) just gets you frustrated and it s total waste of your valuable time. It just makes sense to outsource that so you can get MORE done with what you DO know 🙂
Great share!!
So very true Joan and glad you get that concept, many don’t. I struggle with parts of it also
This is so true. Sometimes it really pays off to outsource. Working with you made SEO so much easier. Having someone else design my logo, build my website, clean my house, all good examples of outsourcing.
Yes Carol.. and I am so glad that your time with me helped you to understand SEO better so you could add content on your website in a more optimized manner.
Totally guilty of trying to do it all myself. It’s taught me to be more focused and organized but I still get overwhelmed. Thanks for the kick in the butt to make me act on this.
Yep.. Joyce, you are not alone, I have that same issue… and not only that.. I want to outsource more.. but not sure what to outsource as what I do is very specific and I don’t want to trust just anyone to get on my client’s website.
Kristen – your words ring true for business & home care, as well. If it takes us twice as long to organize our closets as a professional … I’m so much in my infancy of social media and advertising that I’m just now learning what are worthwhile chores to outsource, and which are ones I just need to learn for efficiency’s sake. The only comparison I can draw is that here in the midwest, it is actually more time-efficient (unless one is mega-wealthy) to drive one’s own car. Likewise, it’s probably more efficient for me to learn how to upload my own blog posts. And I insist on writing my own social media posts, so that as my audience develops, they can count on ME. In the end, I think you hit the nail on the head: Consider, if you outsource the things that truly are a time suck for you, you will definitely have more time to make the money you are capable of. Great insight, thanks!
Those are some great points Joan and while I understand wanting to create your own content, as do I on my blog and social, you could possibly get help with the research or info gathering and still write or still put the content on your social in your voice. There are always options