As an entrepreneur or small business owner there is constantly a demand for three primary resources. The three resources are human capital (knowledge), financial capital (money), and time. Entrepreneurs have to find the balance on which to use in place of the other often a conflict can exists between spending time or spending money?
With many home based business operating on a small budget at some point you will have to decide if you should work directly on the issue yourself or pay to have it taken care of. The nature of the issue and your specific situation will determine this but I strongly suggest that if other people’s time and talent can be leveraged at a reasonable rate to go that route.
The majority of the tasks you will need to tackle can be taken care of by just about anyone, hire it out, don’t waist your time on simple tasks. In his book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
First Quadrant
This is where activities related to the daily grind are found.
Second Quadrant
This is where preparation and planning take place
Third Quadrant
This would include interruptions and distractions
Fourth Quadrant
Activities not directly related to your current situation.
Identify the tasks you take part in according to this matrix, and hire people to handle the matters found in the high urgency column. Other people can often be leveraged to handle these matters which in turn leave you free to spend more time planning and strategizing.
You are the captain of the ship. You are responsible for directing the ships course. A single individual can manage a row boat but many are required to manage an ocean liner. Entrepreneurs often start in a row boat but soon realize a larger vehicle will be required to get them where they want them to go but a larger vehicle demands many hands.
Your business is the manifestation of your vision; no one knows your vision better than you. Remember, many people can file papers, answer the phone, and do data entry often times faster than you can.
Leave a Reply