How Do You Put a Value on Your Time?

As a small business owner, does the following paragraph sound familiar to you?

"Other than doing the technical fix-its with my computer I do it all! I have found that this keeps me very limited in growing my business and taking on new clients. I wish I had someone to help but how can I justify hiring someone when I can do the work myself when I have the time?"

This is a very common issue for many small business owners. All the work, whether revenue generating or not, needs to be done to keep the business running smoothly.

We need to reconnect with our goals for our business and our vision for its future. We need to focus on why we started this business in the first place. Focusing includes deciding how much our time is worth.

But, how do you put a value on your time? How much is each hour of each day worth, especially when you are doing projects that are not generating revenue or increasing your customer base?

Is your time worth $25, $50, $100 per hour or more? When you get busy doing those tasks that dont directly generate revenue, consider how much it is costing you.

For example:
You charge $75 per hour for your services/time. You spend a total of 5 hours trying to catch up on your correspondence entering information into a database, typing and re-typing your letters and preparing them to be mailed.

$75/hr X 5 hours = $375.00 of your valuable time and profit

If it would cost you less to outsource, why not do it? Why not allow a professional to handle some of your tasks leaving you with more time to generate revenue?

$25/hr (sample cost to outsource) X 5 hours = $125.00

$375 - $125 = $250 + the $ of the contract you signed while a professional took care of the non-revenue generating tasks.

Although you are spending some of your hard earned money, you are gaining so much more. Outsourcing gives you professional assistance, which in turn saves you both time and money...the two things that most small business owners need more of.

About the author

Janice Byer is the owner of Canadian based Docu-Type Administrative Services, a professional Virtual Assistance and Website Design company that specializes in providing creative and accurate services to help other small business owners succeed, worldwide. They are the recipients of the Most Successful Start-Up 2000 Award and the Home-Based Business of the Year 2000 Award.

jbyer@docutype.net
http://www.docutype.net.