The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Entrepreneurship => Topic started by: lifejoy on March 21, 2019, 08:42:01 AM
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Especially when just starting out. Especially if you’re a mustachian ;)
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I wouldn't play with electrical or plumbing. Depends on your comfort and experience but generally apart from those two I'd say youtube it and see how you feel.
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I DIY if I am confident that A) I won't hurt myself and B) I can complete the project in a weekend. Of course, I tend to be a bit over-confident in regards to my DIY prowess, so a project is deemed successful if A) I don't seriously hurt myself and B) the project is completed within three months.
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I have started trying... if I can fix it, great. If not, it is probably not any more broken than before. I don't do plumbing and am cautious with electrical.
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If I can do the job at the same level or better at a reduced cost on my primary residence. Anything that is expensed or capitalized in rentals or flips gets a time/benefit analysis.
But I normally try everything first, because how do you really know if I can do it?
Things I pay for:
Hvac installs and diagnostics
Drywall
Roofing (I hate it sooo much)
Anything that requires a metal brake (don’t own one)
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I guess I should have specified that I’m looking at this question through a business lens: accounting, social media, etc. When does it make sense to pay a professional?
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Can the professional do it better?
Can you do something better with your time? Of course, everyone has a different definition of better.
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“Do I want to do this or would spending money hurt less?”
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I started doing stuff myself because I didn't have money to pay professionals to do them for me. Then when I wasn't confident in remodeling my bathroom, I hired a professional and realized that I was better than him. Then I decided that if anyone was going to be making $60/hr, it was going to be me.
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I guess I should have specified that I’m looking at this question through a business lens: accounting, social media, etc. When does it make sense to pay a professional?
Ahh, then my answer changes. With the business, I have to be revenue generating. If I’m not bringing in money, then the business doesn’t operate. So, even though I could spend more time learning something and doing it to save a few bucks, I might be taking hours away from a potential sale that could earn 10’s of thousands. Not worth it to spend time learning the ropes of SEO or doing taxes.
When we started, we bootstrapped everything, but once I got a few customers, we started outsourcing pieces.
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If I think my hourly rate is likely to be significantly higher than the professional's hourly rate, then I usually call in the professional. There's no point me spending 3 hours to do something that the professional can do in 1/2 an hour, particularly if the professional's hourly rate is lower than mine.
I own a business and investment properties so almost anything I pay for can be deducted either legitimately or otherwise.
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So far I have only oursourced the design of my logo and the items it's used on. I'm glad I did it because my business card, website and letterhead all look very professional and I get a lot of positive comments about them. They really represent my business and my personality. I'd only met with the designer for about half an hour. If I had DIY'ed, I would never in a million years have thought of this design.
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I some cases, you need proof that something is done professionally. In Norway this is the case when you want to install a new fuse in your electricity case. In that case we hire a professional and make sure we get the proof paper.
In some cases, we just don't have the tools and don't know where to start. For DH this has been the case with car repairs. He just doesn't always know where the fault is. Therefore we have often hired service. In recent year, DH has been studying some youtube videos. Sometimes they tell you that it isn't so difficult, in that case he has done it himself. But sometimes they warn you that it isn't simple in a car with ABS and 4x4 and better to leave it at a professional.
For the rest of the stuff: painting and renovating, it is a matter of finding the correct instruction sheets that tell you have to do it well. And then do it well. Yes, it will take you longer time, but it is your spare time that doesn't cost you anything (if you don't have a side job).
When we renovated the kitchen, we prepared the whole room. We took out the old kitchen, replace the floor and some of the walls, wallpapering. DH was uncertain about the thickness of the electricity wires required for induction. Therefore he hired a professional for that. But when we ordered the kitchen, the shop had a good offer for installing the kitchen by a professional in one day. That was so tempting that we decided to accept that. We had spent a lot of time on the preparation. We loved saving some time on the installation of the new kitchen. Since we already had been cooking in the downstairs washing room, we we really longing for a working kitchen. The professionals only installed the cupboards. We did the finishing ourselves, like installation of the dishwasher and making a backside behind the counter top.
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It really depends on your business. Also, you probably want to change your thread title to specify that it's about your business.
In my business, my website really isn't all that important right now, so I just made it myself. However, my taxes are complicated so I have an accountant to handle that.
I really don't know that there's a metric for when to outsource and when not to. I just go by how critical the element is to my success and evaluating the costs vs risks of me fucking it up.
Like pp said, a logo doesn't cost much in the long run, but can be critical for looking professional. I'm operating without a logo at the moment, but will absolutely outsource that if necessary.
What kind of things are you looking at outsourcing? That might help you get more specific advice because with the very limited info you've shared, I'm afraid the answer is "it depends".
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It really depends on your business. Also, you probably want to change your thread title to specify that it's about your business.
In my business, my website really isn't all that important right now, so I just made it myself. However, my taxes are complicated so I have an accountant to handle that.
I really don't know that there's a metric for when to outsource and when not to. I just go by how critical the element is to my success and evaluating the costs vs risks of me fucking it up.
Like pp said, a logo doesn't cost much in the long run, but can be critical for looking professional. I'm operating without a logo at the moment, but will absolutely outsource that if necessary.
What kind of things are you looking at outsourcing? That might help you get more specific advice because with the very limited info you've shared, I'm afraid the answer is "it depends".
Right now I’m thinking I want to meet with an accountant for my initial set up, but it’s hard to think about paying an accountant when so much of my life is DIY.
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Right now I’m thinking I want to meet with an accountant for my initial set up, but it’s hard to think about paying an accountant when so much of my life is DIY.
Initial set up of what? Chart of accounts? Business incorporation?
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I chat with my accountant about all sorts of business stuff and I've never been charged for anything other than him actually doing my taxes.
I also chat with my lawyer, the bookkeeper at my office, owners of similar businesses, a financial advisor who works mostly with small business owners, my insurance broker, suppliers, consultants, website experts, real estate people, etc, etc, etc
There's a difference between DIY and refusing to engage the expertise of an enormous number of supporting industries around you.
When I started my side hustle, I called my accountant and said "Charles, what the hell do I need to do?" and he laughed, talked me through how I was over complicating things, and offered to go over QuickBooks with me if I needed any help.
When I launched my website, i kept it pretty basic until we had a meeting at work with the website developer for my day job. We've always gotten along so I offered to buy him a drink if he would hang back and give me some advice on my side hustle site. For the cost of 2 glasses of wine, I got a TON of professional advice. I've also referred him a half dozen clients, and so turn the networking wheels.
Not only is there a world of professionals who are more than willing to help you, they are a critical part of your professional network, which is key as a business owner. Having a network that's rich with goodwill connections is incredibly valuable.
Don't be afraid to ask for help. It's actually the best way to DIY. It's like DIY but with a safety net of allied professionals to back you up when needed.
DIY doesn't just mean reading up on the internet how to do things without any help. I literally don't think I've done a single thing in my business without at least talking to someone who knows better.
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I chat with my accountant about all sorts of business stuff and I've never been charged for anything other than him actually doing my taxes.
I also chat with my lawyer, the bookkeeper at my office, owners of similar businesses, a financial advisor who works mostly with small business owners, my insurance broker, suppliers, consultants, website experts, real estate people, etc, etc, etc
There's a difference between DIY and refusing to engage the expertise of an enormous number of supporting industries around you.
When I started my side hustle, I called my accountant and said "Charles, what the hell do I need to do?" and he laughed, talked me through how I was over complicating things, and offered to go over QuickBooks with me if I needed any help.
When I launched my website, i kept it pretty basic until we had a meeting at work with the website developer for my day job. We've always gotten along so I offered to buy him a drink if he would hang back and give me some advice on my side hustle site. For the cost of 2 glasses of wine, I got a TON of professional advice. I've also referred him a half dozen clients, and so turn the networking wheels.
Not only is there a world of professionals who are more than willing to help you, they are a critical part of your professional network, which is key as a business owner. Having a network that's rich with goodwill connections is incredibly valuable.
Don't be afraid to ask for help. It's actually the best way to DIY. It's like DIY but with a safety net of allied professionals to back you up when needed.
DIY doesn't just mean reading up on the internet how to do things without any help. I literally don't think I've done a single thing in my business without at least talking to someone who knows better.
This.
I'm a professional handyman/fix-it guy, and honestly, I love it when I can give my friends and customers guidance on something and see them accomplish it themselves. I sometimes do this unsolicited with confused looking people in Lowe's. If it turns out you can't do it yourself, I got you covered, but if you *can*, I'm excited for you.
A professional who would refuse to share value with folks without first seeing some cash in their pocket has things backwards, imo. Although I thought this was how the world worked for the longest time. Since then, I've learned differently. The world runs on value delivered-- if I go around delivering value to people, that value comes back around to me as people recognize what I provide; if I want that value to return to me in the form of "money", I just need to be positioned so people know that. So I've learned to care more about delivering the greatest value, and focus less about making sure there is a check written.
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^ pardon me while I copy this and post it in another thread
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As a tax professional, I completely agree. If someone is interested on starting a business, invite me for a coffee and I'll talk to you about the basics. I love helping small business owners out - the reason why I prefer to work with this group of people is because they are all so passionate about their field. And I'm like them, but my passion is personal and small business finance and tax planning. If someone calls to hire me after having a good chat with them, that's just the icing on the cake.
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^ pardon me while I copy this and post it in another thread
Well, if I'd known I was going to be quoted, I'd have tried harder to have pretty prose, lol!
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^ pardon me while I copy this and post it in another thread
Well, if I'd known I was going to be quoted, I'd have tried harder to have pretty prose, lol!
N'ah, it's perfect as it is.
I'm using it as an example of how networking isn't schmoozing, it's being able to demonstrate your value by being useful to people.
...but I don't know how to tag people here...
Help?
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^ pardon me while I copy this and post it in another thread
Well, if I'd known I was going to be quoted, I'd have tried harder to have pretty prose, lol!
N'ah, it's perfect as it is.
I'm using it as an example of how networking isn't schmoozing, it's being able to demonstrate your value by being useful to people.
...but I don't know how to tag people here...
Help?
the tag function works by using @[username]. Or you can hit "reply", and then copy/paste the quote coding into your post in the other thread (this way will link directly back to the post here).
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^ pardon me while I copy this and post it in another thread
Well, if I'd known I was going to be quoted, I'd have tried harder to have pretty prose, lol!
N'ah, it's perfect as it is.
I'm using it as an example of how networking isn't schmoozing, it's being able to demonstrate your value by being useful to people.
...but I don't know how to tag people here...
Help?
the tag function works by using @[username]. Or you can hit "reply", and then copy/paste the quote coding into your post in the other thread (this way will link directly back to the post here).
Hmm...nope. Didn't work.
@[APowers].
Nope.
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^ pardon me while I copy this and post it in another thread
Well, if I'd known I was going to be quoted, I'd have tried harder to have pretty prose, lol!
N'ah, it's perfect as it is.
I'm using it as an example of how networking isn't schmoozing, it's being able to demonstrate your value by being useful to people.
...but I don't know how to tag people here...
Help?
the tag function works by using @[username]. Or you can hit "reply", and then copy/paste the quote coding into your post in the other thread (this way will link directly back to the post here).
Hmm...nope. Didn't work.
@[APowers].
Nope.
Sorry. Remove the brackets; it should work then.
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A professional who would refuse to share value with folks without first seeing some cash in their pocket has things backwards, imo. Although I thought this was how the world worked for the longest time. Since then, I've learned differently. The world runs on value delivered-- if I go around delivering value to people, that value comes back around to me as people recognize what I provide; if I want that value to return to me in the form of "money", I just need to be positioned so people know that. So I've learned to care more about delivering the greatest value, and focus less about making sure there is a check written.
^ +1
The plumber we often call for bigger jobs gets the call for this very reason. She is constantly posting "how to's" on her company facebook page for basic plumbing tasks eg. cleaning a drain clog, replacing o'ring in tap set. (Tammy Buchanan, Small Jobs Plumbing, Halifax, NS for any locals interested :) )
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Great insight here.
I've been busy following this advice! I had a free consult with an accountant, learned a lot. I keep asking everyone who is an expert in XYZ about how to do XYZ, and they share their wisdom and I go try it out. Or I ask them for referrals to the people they use for XYZ, and I talk to those folks. I try stuff out, then I get new questions, and back to the whole process all over again.
I am REALLY loving learning so much :)
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I also ask other people doing the same or similar things. And now that I've been around a while I help with the same thing for more junior members.
So I'll show them how to use canva to make posters or Instagram, show them how to navigate WordPress and refer them to my local printer for quotes. I also share what hasn't worked for me with in or outsourcing.
I think that I will need an accountant check in again soon
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When I don't have Sufficient Knowledge on that. Just assign the whole work to someone is not good option. firstly, I grab some knowledges on that then I decide what exactly i need. In this way i save some money.