It’s not your fault. If you are a business owner it is most likely in your personality to do things yourself. You are a go-getter, a self starter and a boss! It’s actually commendable and something a lot of people admire. You take risks and you make things happen. You probably have been that way your whole life. So it is with your business. You probably do the work of several people every day to make it a success. It’s admirable, but lately people have been taking advantage of that kick ass trait of yours. Over the past several years the paradigm of the business owner has been transformed ever so subtly and it’s as if you are expected to do everything yourself.
Your time is probably worth more than you think.
It’s a neat trick really. Companies that service your business have figured out that they can get you to do a lot of the work yourself and still pay for the service. The funny thing is that this brave new way of doing things was largely invented by us business owners. With technology making things “easier” we kept on demanding more control over things.
- Design my own business cards
- Print my own flyers
- Build my own desk from Ikea
- Write my own ad copy
- Build my own marketing list
- Do my own taxes
- Build my own website
It’s a wonder any business owner with the DIY attitude can get anything done at all!
Companies try to convince you that spending 6 hours fiddling with your own business card design in a myriad of different programs in order to save a whole $100 in design fees is smart business. The first time you do it, it’s great. “I made this!” you think to yourself, and you are proud. You didn’t need anyone’s help and you saved a few dollars in exchange for several hours of your valuable time. Was it worth it? If you are a budding entrepreneur in his/her early 20’s it is. You need that self confidence boost and to be able to say you can do stuff. However, as you mature into the business world you find that the pat on the back you give yourself and the little amount of money you save doing it just isn’t worth it.
If your business is not that of a CPA you should not be wasting your time doing your taxes
I can think back over the past 17 years and remember so many instances where I spent countless hours doing something that is none of my business for my business. Countless hours wasted on what would have taken a pro in that specific field no time at all and with better results. Sometimes I wish I could go back and kick younger me in the ass and show him a better way. Delegation.
I spent countless hours doing something that is none of my business for my business.
I know, it’s not always in the budget to hire a pro. Sometimes you have to roll up your sleeves and just get the job done yourself. There is no shame in that. My new strategy when in this situation is to re
ally evaluate the situation and consider what kind of time and effort it is going to take on my part and if I am going to lose money dedicating myself to the task. If the cost of the pro is less than the money I could make running my company then I suck it up and hire the pro. Every time I have been happy. It is such a great feeling knowing someone is working on tasks I need done but shouldn’t be doing.
When it comes to your website and managing your web presence, don’t fall for the DIY companies that want to charge good money only to have you do all the work yourself under the guise of “it’s easy”.
It’s a waste of your time and money and you have more important things to do that to try and become a web designer.
My company helps companies like yours manage their web presence and we handle every aspect. You not only get great design but you get full web management services that include local listings, SEO, tracking, social, content creation and more.