Let’s talk about cost.
From the entrepreneurs and business owners I speak with, cost is one of obstacles around hiring a PA or an admin person. Despite understanding they need someone to whom they can delegate many of their less important tasks, the issue of expense is still a barrier for most people.
I find a simple way to explain is by comparing cost vs “true cost”.
Cost is straightforward. It’s the amount that leaves your business bank account each month in exchange for the service. The cost of doing your admin tasks is zero. That’s what makes it so appealing.
So let’s address the important question of the true cost of doing low-value admin and other tasks.
Why pay £35 an hour for someone to take over a bunch of tasks I can do myself, and for nothing?
Before I continue, I need to confess that I used to feel the same when I started out in business.
It’s understandable if you make your decision based on your need to keep overheads low. When you’re a business owner, it’s natural to want to try and keep costs low and outgoings at a minimum.
Having someone deal with minor admin tasks, do research or follow up with people when you can just fire off an email yourself in a few seconds seems so frivolous.
Like I said, this was what I felt. I was saving money. It was only when my mindset changed, did I truly appreciate how shortsighted I was.
Judged by saving costs, not making the decision to hire a trained admin person to do the tasks you don’t want to makes complete sense. But when you judge it again a different metric: the cost of lost opportunities then it is madness.
You see, when you are spending the majority of your time doing tasks which someone is paid £35 an hour to do, you’re not spending time doing those tasks which are worth £100, £1000 or even £10,000.
When you spend an hour each day trawling through your emails to find and respond to customer queries, that’s an hour not spending building your business.
When you spend an hour each day messing about with spreadsheets and trying to find addresses or contact numbers online, that’s an hour you’re not promoting your business.
And when you spend an hour each day answering the phone and being interrupted by whatever comes your way, that’s an hour taken away from you getting closer to your dreams.
Money we can have plenty of, but time is the most precious resource in the world.
If we spend time doing minor things which take us away from time doing what makes the business grow, you will never grow your business.
Thinking about lost opportunities changes the question of whether doing your books or answering your phone all day is a good idea or not.
(By the way, the answer is: it’s NOT).
Think of it this way. When you get to the end of your working week, how do you judge it as successful? Does it feel like you’ve managed to put out the fires and keep everyone happy?
Or are you genuinely pleased with the amount of time you spent focused on activities which help your business leap forward? Tasks like meeting high-value prospects, building lucrative commercial partnerships, keeping key clients happy and keeping your company on track to meet its goals this year?
Once you understand the true cost of not delegating those activities which take you away from the £100, £1000 and £10,000 an hour tasks, you’ll quickly see £35 an hour as an investment rather than overhead.
Want to get started focusing on those high-value activities as soon as possible? We can help. Call me on 0161 820 6080 or email me at emma@mi-pa.co.uk.
Or visit our services page to discover in more detail the diverse range of services we offer like-minded entrepreneurs and businesses right here
