When you are a one-person company you are kind of used to doing everything yourself. You wouldn’t have gotten to where you are at unless you could wear many hats. When you are first starting out this is fine but once you start to experience success this can be a downfall because you waste your time doing remedial tasks.
For example, I’m quite capable of running my own server and hosting WordPress, yet spending my time being a system admin does not help my business. If your business is making money and the cost of your using a service is less than what your time is worth then hire it out.
Another less obvious example is housework. I calculated how much time I spend doing things like cleaning bathrooms, kitchens, etc… This valuable time adds up. Why not hire it out and use that extra time to spend with your family or work on your business.
You cannotĀ and should notĀ do everything yourself or you’ll quickly get overwhelmed. I’m still learning to let go of some task and hire it out but there’s a part of me that want to just do it myself. It’s the perfectionist in me I guess. I know though that ultimately to continue to grow I need to start delegating and learn to let go or else I’ll always be a one-person company.
What are some things you do to save time and become more efficient?
[…] to need help. But don’t just take my word for it, read my friend John Turner’s recentĀ blog postĀ andĀ listen to the most recent episode ofĀ Startups for the Rest of […]
Thanks for writing this John. You inspired me to write two blog posts. The first was just published http://bradt.ca/blog/i-hired-my-mom/.
Awesome, just read it! I like the title š
I completely agree, thanks for the writeup. I would add that many freelancers and small business owners will first try to work with the cheaper outsourcing options, but the more expensive options can have huge benefits that outweigh the cost difference.
I once hired an anonymous service in a faraway land to do some relatively simple business work for me. I thought I really had made a good decision until I tried giving the same work to someone local. The local person cost 3x more, but saved me huge amounts of time just by being in the same time zone and being willing to communicate with me over the phone or in person. Then they saved me money by stepping up to take responsibility for more of my business.
There’s really nothing like the feeling of hiring somebody to do stuff you *could* do, and then watching them do it well enough that you just don’t need to care anymore.
Yep, been there and know the feeling.