Carpentry Life

I once read a quote that said “Entrepreneurs will work 80 hours in a week just to avoid working 40 hours a week”.

This couldn’t be truer! Successful business owners are hard workers and have a certain personality and drive that fuels them to be successful. They have a desire to do things their own way and often have a Do-It-Yourself mentality. Because it’s OUR business we have a need to make sure everything is taken care of a certain way, this makes trusting others rather difficult. 

When running a business we understand the importance of making money and being profitable so often the idea is that if we DIY then we are saving money by not having the extra expense. This is a common misconception.

Most independent businesses will never reach the next level because of their unwillingness to branch out or take risks. Often times we operate out of fear and it becomes easy to stay in a comfort zone especially if it’s working.

There are several advantages to hiring help and working with others, some you may not have even considered:

• Hiring someone to share the work responsibility frees up your time to bring in additional business. You can focus more of your efforts on exceeding client’s expectations, making new connections and finding more clients; this results in more money overall and usually can pay for the expense of additional help. Note: It’s important that you hold yourself accountable for bringing in new business. If you don’t, you’ve only added an expense.
• You can choose more of the part of the work you enjoy doing. It’s a proven fact that people happy with what they do perform better. By hiring help, you can do the part of your business you enjoy and hire someone really good at the stuff you don’t care for. It’s a win-win. Spending your days doing things you enjoy will enhance your life in every aspect and it can be highly rewarding, I promise!
• Hiring people great at a specific skill set ensures your customers and your business is getting the best possible support. For example, if there is a task you hate doing it probably shows in some way. Now if you hired someone who was really good at it and enjoyed doing that task you are raising the bar and the customer’s experience. Great business owners aren’t afraid to recognize weaknesses in process, recognize skills that are lacking and making the appropriate adjustments. Why do something mediocre when you can do it the best?
• When you work with local people you are picking up their circle of influence. Everyone has a circle of friends, family or acquaintances and you can bet if they need what your business has to offer you have a good chance of getting that business when your employee or partner is referring you. Hiring others in the community is also a great way to make connections and show you value the people there.

You are only one person, everyone has their limits and you can’t be everything to everyone. As much as you try, something will slip through the cracks or you will get burnt out. When you DIY for business you are limiting your potential for growth and making money.

Now if I could just heed my own words.