Outsourcing is a taboo word. Bootstrapping culture is deeply ingrained in me. This goes all the way back to my childhood. There was no such thing as hiring folks to do something in our household. I think people in my generation with grandparents that lived through the Great Depression fueled this. Do with less. The self-sufficiency economy. Even holding on to virtually useless items for long periods for “just in case” is part of this culture. Now don’t get me wrong, wastefulness is never a good thing. Nor is excessive consumerism typically a good thing.
This manner of bootstrapping or self-sufficiency served to teach me many valuable lessons. As an adult, I have skills that proved useful throughout my life. But just because I can do something doesn’t mean I should. This is a critical discovery for me. Perhaps outsourcing isn’t such a bad thing. Learning the value of my own time is a lesson that took me far too long to learn. I haven’t mowed the grass in my yard in over three years. No, that doesn’t mean it’s that overgrown. I’ve just decided that my time is more valuable spent in other pursuits than to spend it mowing the lawn.
Unburdening ourselves
I calculated my current salary and even that doesn’t really allow me to gain better value by doing lawn work. That doesn’t even consider the value of my time in entrepreneurial pursuits. My construction skills have saved me in the tens of thousands of dollars over time by doing my own home maintenance, improvements, and repairs. So, I do find value in not outsourcing some things. It’s just that I cannot say with conviction that its more valuable for me to save a buck just so I can say I did.
Everyone will have a different figure for the value of their time. But that figure can really open your eyes. It creates a useful metric by which you can consider if it’s worth your time or if you should outsource. This is even something that stay-at-home parents struggle with. If the cost of childcare outweighs the income, then perhaps the decision is not to outsource childcare. However, that example oversimplifies and discounts other things that weigh on the childcare decision. Suffice to say, it should be part of your decision-making process.
Outsourcing to make money
The adage goes ‘you have to spend money to make money’. I believe that frequently, it’s misunderstood to mean you cannot create something of your own without putting great sums of money into it. While that may be partially true in some instances, it is certainly not true in all cases. The thing is, we sometimes must do the analysis and determine what we can do and what we should outsource to a service. Spending money to ensure we have all the best and greatest things before beginning is definitely not the best strategy,
Stigma against outsourcing
There are many learned behaviors from our childhood that we carry into adulthood. My tendency to hold onto things that provide little to no value just in case I need them is pervasive. I have many items of which I’ve never used, yet I keep them around because to throw them out seems wasteful. Same thing goes with the mindset of paying someone else to do work for us by outsourcing is lazy. And believing that spending money to hire a service is extravagant. That is a very simple mindset and it erodes our valuable time that we could better spend on greater pursuits.
DIY culture creates the belief that we will all find value in saving money by refraining from hiring a professional. Sure, the absolute figures will reflect that since we do not pay the professional for their services. However, there are two problems with this model. The first is the more obvious that we should weigh the value of our own time versus the cost of hiring that professional. The other, less obvious one, is that hiring the professional will prevent a suboptimal outcome.
This is because the professional does this for a living. They do it frequently and continually to become more skilled. The result may be of a high enough quality that paying for their service for that reason alone may be worth it. This description leans a little more toward those household projects. However, it applies to relatively anything.
Creating more value than cost
It is becoming more obvious to me that this is vital to entrepreneurship as well. Sometimes we are the subject matter expert. Other times, we are not and outsourcing makes the most sense. The other factor is the cost benefit analysis. To understand if our time working on other parts of the project can provide more value. As I am beginning to understand, this cost benefit analysis is critical to the success in life and in entrepreneurship. Working on small tasks and learning can feel rewarding. However, we must ensure we do not become stuck in the details and lose sight of the best value of our time.
What I’m doing
As my time becomes increasingly more valuable to me, I continue evaluating what is better to outsource. I’ve calculated what I believe is the value of my time. It not only begins with my current salary; it also incorporates what I believe the value of my other projects are as well. By analyzing and determining what this figure is, I can more easily do a validated cost benefit analysis to determine what to outsource. This is critical as I continue working toward my goals. If I’m suboptimally spending my time, it takes me longer to arrive at my goals.
Lawn work is one thing. I could spend hours mowing, trimming hedges, etcetera. House cleaning is another I’m considering. Outsourcing these tasks is a cost-effective method for gaining back my time to spend on more beneficial things. The other added benefit is that it supports the greater economy by providing work in other areas while we focus on the things that only we can do. No need to spend time doing the things others can do. We only get one life, so I’m choosing to live it well.
Read my story here.