A client of mine wrote this great article for her newsletter and I thought it was appropriate to add it here. As a business owner, she “gets it” when it comes to making the decision whether to outsource, hire an assistant or just plain seek help instead of driving yourself nuts to try to do it all yourself. I’d love to hear what others are doing to keep their sanity and keeping their businesses on track. Enjoy the article!

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Having your own business has its benefits such as being the boss, setting your own hours, working from home or in an office of your choosing, picking the clients you want to work with . . . The list goes on. The upside (and the downside) is that it is all up to you. The decision of how and when you get things done is left up to you. If you are a strong Type A personality (like me), you want to do it all yourself. You want to make sure it is done right, on time and with as little hassle as possible.But the to do list has grown a mile long and things are getting missed. You are up at all hours of the day and night trying to meet deadlines. You no longer have time to have lunch with a friend or have dinner with the family. You are left wondering how you are going to get it all done.Most business owners wait until they are at the end of their rope before seeking help. I recommend you look for help before you begin wondering how it is going to get done.You need to hire help if . . .

• You can make more money by not tackling the task yourself. I can hire a company to fold 250 invoices, put them in envelopes and seal the envelopes for $125. It would take me four hours to do the task myself. I charge $65 an hour. It is clearly in my best financial interest (not to mention less stress) to hire the company to get the job done.
• The learning curve is long. You may not have the experience or technology to build a web site yourself. While there are wonderful free web sites out there, it takes time to learn how to build the site, optimize the site and hundreds of other details. You may enjoy the challenge and see it as saving money but your company will suffer because you aren’t using your expertise where it is needed.
• You hate to do the task and procrastinate about working on it. I hate grocery shopping. It takes so much time – going to the store, going around the store, standing in line, bringing it home, unloading the truck, putting everything away. Argh! I would avoid it until the cupboards were empty then I discovered online ordering and home delivery.
• You simple do not have enough time to get it done. There are many tasks that can be outsourced (such as data entry, setting appointments, running errands) or hired in (such as filing, answering the phone/emails, faxing documents, cleaning). It’s wonderful to have a clean office without having to vacuum and dust it myself.

Sit down with yourself and decide what you can hire someone else to do. Look at the time, energy and money you can save by having a task or two outsourced. Then take the next step and find the right person or company to help you out (I’ll talk about this next time). You will be more productive, much happier and your business will thank you for it.

Suzette Flemming is the President of Flemming Business Services, Inc. She has been providing accounting, bookkeeping, tax and incorporation services to businesses since 1994. She specializes in providing answers to the most pressing issues facing small and home-based businesses. Learn how to save money and increase your bottom line by subscribing to our free newsletter – Make the Most of Your Money – at www.FlemmingBusinessServices.com or give us a call with questions at (425) 432-5870.