Should You DIY or Hire Out Your Business To-Do List

As a business owner there’s a thousand different hats to wear, and seeing clients is just a fraction of your responsibilities. From marketing to social media management, bookkeeping to laundry, even as a solo therapist there’s a lot to keep up with. And there’s always the option of DIYing things or hiring someone to take it off your shoulders. While there are plenty of things you can DIY in your business, that doesn’t mean you should. But how do you know what the right move is? What things to hire out and what to take care of yourself? I’m so glad you asked!

There’s a great quote I’ve heard for years and I honestly cannot find who to attribute it to, so let me know if you know and I’ve just missed it somehow, but it’s something to the effect of…
“You should know how to do everything in your business but you shouldn’t be doing everything in your business.”

So here’s the 5 questions I think you should ask when you’re deciding whether to start or keep doing something yourself or to hire it out…

#1 Do you hate this task?
Honestly, a lot things you’re never going to like doing in business. Now, if you’re willing to put on the big girl panties and just get it done regardless, great. DIY it if you want. But if you procrastinate or otherwise get in the way of getting the work done because you hate it so much, hire it out.

#2 Is it out of your scope?
And I don’t mean scope of practice, per se. I’m talking about is it out of your knowledge, experience, intelligence, and general know-how? Is it over your head? Can you not do it nearly as well as someone else? And this brings me to…

#3 Are you willing to invest the time to learn enough to do it really well?
And the really well part is the key. Don’t waste hundreds of hours of your time learning to do something mediocre when you can hire it out for $15 an hour or something to someone who can do it amazingly.

#4 How much time does it take you right now to do it yourself?
How much time and money would it take to train someone else to do this? And then how much time would it save over the next 6 months? A year? Longer? Compare that to what you’d pay over that time and oftentimes it’s well worth it to hire out. Numbers matter here just like in so many other areas. So run the numbers!

#5 Now, how much time do you waste doing that thing yourself?
I’m not saying that doing it is the waste of time, I’m talking about all the extra things you might do that put off actually getting it done or otherwise make it take a lot longer. So for example, I know a lot of people will go into Canva to create a single graphic, get inundated with all the templates and possibilities and photos to search through and elements to add in, and all that jazz, and before you know it, they’ve spent half an hour or an hour creating one or two graphics that would have taken an experienced creative VA 10 minutes tops. Whether it’s your own perfectionism or procrastination, whatever it is, a lot of business owners spend way more time trying to do something themselves in a meh way, than it would take a great hire to do excellently.

A great bookkeeper and accountant, a VA or social media manager, designer, a laundry service, whatever it may be, these people are worth their weight in gold to take the stress off you and allow you to do what you do best, while doing what they do best…probably way better than you. But if you’re the type who truly enjoys those aspects of the business, and you are willing and able to put in the time and effort to learn and implement them well, then by all means do so. There’s nothing inherently wrong with DIYing a lot of aspects of your business, but there needs to be a solid reason for why you choose to do so. So ask yourself these questions and figure out what really is best for you and your business.