Outsource Services to Expand Your Business
As business owners we each have our own ideas about where our time and money are best spent. These ideas are typically based on a combination of experience and personal preferences. Too often, common sense is the least important component in our equation.
In my case, I’m willing to spend a certain amount of time on coaching programs, doing the homework, internalizing the lessons, etc., but financially, coaching isn’t a priority for me. I’m more inclined to invest in books, editors, software, and publishing-related activities.
For others, the thousands I might spend on products and services designed to get my words out to the world is a drop in the bucket compared to what they spend on coaching, mentorship programs, or staff. Yet the universal issue for us all is whether or not we’re putting our time, energy, and money in the right bucket.
Determining What to Outsource
I try to follow the formula I learned in Neurogym’s Winning the Game of Money program. Do what you love, outsource what you hate. As for what you tolerate, my personal position is to do those things until you can afford to delegate them as well.
Human nature guides us to shove the things we hate to the bottom of the pile until something happens 
forcing us to address them. Unfortunately, by then they’ve probably reached critical mass. When that happens, it will probably take us twice as long to bring things under control, leaving us impatient and irritable while we slog our way through the mess we, alone created. Yet we rarely learn from the experience. Instead, we repeat it over and over again, until it pisses us off enough to either automate the process or get someone to do it for us, or both.
Unfortunately, with a fledgling business, or even one that hasn’t achieved a steady and predictable flight pattern, it’s not always possible to farm out those onerous tasks. Even the prospect of once again being bitten in the butt by one of the jobs we hate doesn’t make us pay attention. Whether we need to manage our financial records, or update our website, or create regular content, or develop a marketing strategy the pain isn’t sufficient to make us to take a serious look at reallocating our resources. We often get stuck in a rut, believing our current allocations are the only ones possible given available resources and the goals we wish to achieve.
Sometimes, that rut is simply the result of insufficient information.
Correction Misconceptions
Typically, the missing information relates to the actual cost of services which would end those periodic bouts of frustration. Many people have now learned they can hire a VA to outsource many tasks which are time-consuming and tedious, for a nominal weekly or monthly fee. Sure, this doesn’t include some of the more sophisticated tasks, but most of us wouldn’t mind having more time to pursue our passion, knowing someone behind the scenes is ensuring our email is being managed and de-cluttered, or our projects are organized, or posts are being updated on Social Media, or our groups are being administered.
What is often missed due to misinformation is the business management side. A company with a bank account or two, a Paypal or Stripe account, and maybe one or two credit cards is fairly inexpensive to set up and maintain. Knowing where you stand every month is, in fact, a lot less costly in the long run than scrambling to put it all together when funds get tight or year-end is looming.
What? You’re Still Writing All Your Blogs and Social Media Posts?
Another area where perception misses the mark is regular content creation which, by the way can be a
good place to start that expert book. Opinions vary on the frequency of blog posts and Social Media articles. When all is said and done, posting regularly, if only once per week or month keeps you in front of people a lot more than posting whenever you get around to it. If you hired someone to write one long post per month, you could probably manage to scrabble together a couple of shorter ones yourself and still have time to work on a new course, or devote more time to clients, right? As you get busier (and your billing goes up) you already have the system in place to offload more of the writing. You have someone you’ve tried and trust who understands the message you want to convey.
Coaching Can be Affordable
I left my own perception problems for last. I grew accustomed to coaching packages costing thousands of dollars. The coaches with whom I’ve interfaced typically charge $3000 and up for courses and programs, much less one-on-one coaching. Even more, they willingly pay the same rates to each other for those services! Needless to say, I shied away from any kind of coaching or mentorship opportunities. I saw my money as better spent on things which would help get my books published.
Recently, my perceptions were changed by the #HeartfeltMovement and #HeartfeltEmpowerment. Led by Jessa Hargrove, 12 woman have come together to offer pay-what-you-can coaching in a variety of disciplines, many starting at only $30 a month! I’ve only been with the program for a couple of months, and can already see some progress. Sure, I have a long way to go to really ramp up my business, but I’m refocusing on those baby steps I talk so much about.
Before you Say No, Get All the Facts
At any rate, the point I’m trying to make is when we are unable to see the benefit of an expenditure whether it’s time, money, energy, or simply our attention, we often overlook possibilities which not only free up our time to pursue aspects of our business only we can handle, but miss out on opportunities to engage people who are more skilled and efficient at those tasks we’re inclined to put off. In so doing, we limit our own potential growth, sometimes immeasurably.
Sometimes, it takes a leap of faith like the one I took by engaging Linda Clay and her #HearfeltEmpowermentAcademy. But having her and the rest of the Village in my corner when I’m struggling with overwhelm or confusion, or a website that isn’t engaging the way I’d like it to, are well worth the nominal fee I pay every month. The tweaks, lessons, support, and encouragement will take me to the level where I can and will pay for more focused and personal support in many areas of my life. They’ll help me tear down the self-imposed blocks to my progress which have kept me from building the thriving business I know is churning away inside me, ready to come into its own if I could just get out of my own way.
Are You Ready to Outsource?
What’s holding you back from reaching your full potential? If it’s the high cost of coaching, I encourage you to contact Linda Clay in her #HeartfeltEmpowermentVillage to learn more about the #HeartfeltMovement and the services they offer. Are you hung up on how expensive you believe it would be to get help with your back office work or accounting? Please visit my Virtual Business Consulting Page. Is writing the bane of your existence but you think you can’t afford to hire a writer to help your readers and clients see how amazing you are at what you do? Check out my Writing Services Page.
Do you want to talk about the options available to your unique situation (and you are all unique)? Book a free, no obligation call here. Schedule Appointment
I look forward to helping you reach your goals as the #HeartfeltMovement is helping me reach mine.
About the Author
Sheri Conaway is a writer, blogger, Virtual Assistant and advocate for cats. Sheri believes in the Laws 
of Attraction, but only if you are a participant rather than just an observer. She specializes in creating content that helps entrepreneurs touch the souls of their readers and clients so they can increase their impact and their income. If you’d like to have her write for you, please visit her Hire Me page for more information. You can also find her on Facebook Sheri Levenstein-Conaway Author.
Be sure to watch this space for news of the upcoming release of “Forgotten Victims: Healing and Forgiving After Suicide”.
