Sometimes you can’t make it on your own
Confession time.
So I work out. I may not be an Olympian, but I consider myself pretty strong and I appreciate what my body is capable of.
Naturally, I assumed my discipline in weight training and cardio would translate into being a (the?) star player on my church volleyball team.
I didn’t practice volleyball, of course.
Because I had physical strengths already.
Guys, it was ugly.
We lost 4/4 games. I hurt my hand. And my ego is nursing a bruise.
Business DIYs can hurt too
Turns out there’s a big difference between working out and playing a sport!
But it got me thinking — how often do we take my flawed philosophy into our businesses?
Most of us excel in a handful of really valuable business skills, but in an effort to save a buck we try our hand at everything:
- Marketing
- Bookkeeping
- Hiring
- Sales
- Website development
- IT services
When your business is in infancy, it makes sense to initiate some of these processes.
But as you grow, your skills and time actually become more valuable to your company.
Don’t squander yourself juggling tasks outside of your skill set.
There comes a time to delegate the “other stuff” to professionals in those areas.
An all-star player vs. an all-star team
You’ll find growing and leveraging other experts will give your business an edge and boost your bottom line in the long run — even though it increases some expenses up front.
Once you start delegating out the tasks you aren’t an expert in, you may also find it oddly cathartic to slough off the pressure to be the star player in your venture.
Why not build a whole team of all-stars?
- Web designers who can create a site that stands out among your competition, instead of blending into the sea of mediocre DIY sites
- Accountants who won’t make regrettable miscalculations due to juggling too many tasks at once
- An IT service provider who handles fires with skill instead of avoidance and guess-based fixes
- A marketing team of experts in identifying and winning your dream clients
The risks of sticking with business DIYs
If we make the assumption that our individual strengths in one area will compensate for our lack of experience in others, we introduce several quiet (but significant) risks into our business plan.
Legal and contractual (not to mention security) issues like compliance and proper tax documentation can arise with DIY bookkeeping and IT.
Costs creep up as we try to fix the mistakes we make in our haste, distraction, and instead-of-the-job learning.
And we haven’t even talked about the burnout that comes from wearing too many hats — especially the ones that just don’t fit us.
Take it from me (Tiffany): you won’t be sad you brought on other all-stars to handle the hats you just can’t wear anymore.
How we started letting go of business DIYs
When we first started 8 Signal, we decided we would handle our day-to-day bookkeeping in-house. After all, how hard could it be?
Turns out it was very, very hard … for me at least.
While I stayed on top of our bookkeeping, there were many, many things I did wrong in that first year. I think it’s safe to say I made a bit of a mess.
Once we finally decided to find a bookkeeper, I knew it needed to be someone I could trust. I didn’t want just anyone poking around in our business finances.
Sarah (of Las Cruces business Lockyear & Associates) has been amazing. Not only did she clean up our books up-front at a really reasonable rate, she has kept everything in working order since then.
Rather than losing control of our bookkeeping, we’ve gained so much peace of mind and security. She checks in with us every Monday to clarify anything that she isn’t sure about and ensure we are booked correctly.
The best part is that her rates are extremely reasonable. Now when tax time rolls around, I know our books will be ready for the CPA. I have recommended Sarah to quite a few friends, and I would 100% recommend her if you’re looking for a thorough, trustworthy bookkeeper!
Which business DIY are you ready to delegate?
If you’re ready to let go of an unimpressive DIY website, 8 Signal would love to help you create a beautiful, professional, and affordable QuickLaunch website.
Our QuickLaunch sites are built on WordPress, and they’re SEO-friendly and mobile-ready, so your site will look great on any device, and all your visitors (including Google’s SEO bots) will also notice that your site looks great.
We also give you a team of all-stars to take care of weekly backups, software updates, and immediate security updates.
Let go of the hat today
Contact us today to set up a free 2-hour business consultation to see what areas you can start delegating — while you focus on wearing your own fabulous, all-star hat as only you can.
