Scarcity and Time Management

I didn't really have a proper article planned out for today, so it seemed like a good time to talk about time management. As a small business owner, you have to wear a lot of hats on a regular basis. In addition to whatever your actual company function is (IT consultant, plumber, electrician, artist, or whatever), you may also have to act as your company's accountant, bookkeeper, lawyer, tech support, receptionist, marketer, ad executive, web designer, research assistant, and so forth. That's just if you're a single employee company! If you have actual employees working for you, then you may also have to act as HR, trainer, manager, payroll, and conflict resolution as well, on top of your normal (paying) work.

As a self employed family man with a working wife, the list gets even longer - I'm also a chef, personal shopper, house cleaner, and chauffeur. It's a daunting list of daily tasks all cutting into your work time, potentially preventing you from doing actual paying work. This problem is not, of course, unique to me - all dual income families experience this to some extent or another, and most self employed people have to deal with administrative tasks outside of their company's normal business. Scarcity of time and good time management skills are essential to running your own business, but constantly juggling all of those other hats can actually be pretty stressful. Over time, I expect that most small business owners start to feel worn out by the ongoing struggle.

This need to wear so many hats and handle so many different tasks is actually one of the major reasons I started Whistler IT Solutions in the first place. Computers and websites are not areas that most small business owners know a lot about or have time for, so it makes sense to hire a professional to handle things like building your website, routine computer maintenance or software updates, network backups, virus protection, and other related IT tasks rather than trying to struggle through it yourself. Some of the people I've worked with are intimidated by computers (and that's fine), but some are just overworked and know they need help taking care of technical things because it's much cheaper in the long run to have a professional get the work done quickly as opposed to taking too many hours away from your own work to do it yourself. Just like hiring an accountant for complicated financial matters, or a lawyer for complex legal matters, sometimes it just makes sense to outsource some of your work so you can focus on what you're good at (and what actually makes you money!).

At the end of the day, it's important to remember that you don't HAVE to do everything by yourself. We all have a lot on our plates, but if we share the load, in the end we'll all get a more done. And that's good for everyone.