EPISODE 78
Thank you for tuning in to episode 78!
Today’s solo show is short and sweet and dedicated to one of the most valuable things that I have learned in business. It’s the good old struggle of time vs. money. It seems that no matter which way you slice it, you’ll always have to decide between the two.
Right now, you’re probably one or the other.
You spend time, save money, or you save time, spend money. Let me explain how my little label maker changed my life! Okay, I know that sounds a bit dramatic, but honestly, it was an eye-opener!
I think saving money and spending more time on a task go hand in hand with being a new business owner. We spend more time trying to figure things out by doing almost everything ourselves, and in return, we save money. Maybe we decide that we want to learn a new task, but we don’t want to buy a course. Or maybe there’s a way to automate a process, but we don’t want to purchase a subscription or membership to a platform. The biggest obstacle that I see is when a few years into a business venture, the small business owner is still doing everything to avoid spending money. I know it can be hard to decide when the time is right to automate a task or pass it along to a new hire, but the bottom line will ultimately be affected if you don’t. When I started selling my jewelry, I did every single thing myself. It felt fiscally responsible to take on every task, so I did. One of the most significant changes that I made to free up my time was to invest in a label printer. I know, I know, not a huge investment, but I truly felt like I didn’t want to spend any money on things that I could do myself. The truth is that I was taking far too long printing and cutting out every single label, and then I still had to tape the label to the package. It may seem like it’s not a big task, but when you’re dealing with 60 plus daily orders, the time that it takes to do all of that is overwhelming. Remember to consider and, more importantly, to value your time. I made back my investment in no time, especially when I factored in how long every order took with my previous method. The truth is that there will be a tipping point where it makes more sense to buy that proverbial label maker than it does for you to do every single task. I consider my label maker purchase my most significant purchase, not only because it freed up my time but also because it taught me a great lesson. I learned quickly that there were other tasks in my business that could be automated or delegated to someone else. Little by little, as my business has grown, I’ve continued to add to the list of things that I no longer do on my own. Making the shift to save more of my time has opened up the door for me to pursue other things.
There are so many time-saving tools available to each and every business owner, and the best part is that the market is booming with options.
A while back in episode 58, I interviewed an accountant that focuses on Etsy shop owners. Brendan can not only help with your accounting needs, but he also has programs available for the DIYer out there. In this scenario, you have the option to be slightly or very involved with your taxes. If you go at it alone and you might find that it takes a lot of time and knowledge that you might not possess. Not only that, but you tend to miss some valuable write-offs that can make a big difference in your business. Having the opportunity to hire an expert or purchase his program is a massive benefit of doing business in this day and age.
In one of my most recent episodes, I interviewed the creator of Hello Woofy. Arjun developed this platform to help the small business owner create content and share it out into the world in a similar way to big brands. With tools like this one and like another one of my favorites, Rise-Up Creatives, you have the opportunity to create and schedule out content quickly and effectively. By paying a small monthly fee, you’re able to shave time from your social media content creation bucket. It makes so much sense to take these small steps into automation and give yourself that time back to pursue other things or to focus on growth
So although you may start out as the small business owner that saves money and would rather spend time learning how to do everything, I urge you to look at ways to transition into the business owner that spends money and saves time. I promise you that little by little, the time that you save will amount to a ton of growth. Believe me, I love to learn. I loooove skillshare and just about any tutorial on youtube, but I definitely see the value in taking shortcuts, even if that means paying for them. So although I will still take a class on how to do something new, it is mainly for pleasure and not to learn how to do my taxes! I’ve also found that by doing this, I’m a lot more interested in my business. I’m no longer tied down to the tasks that required my time and not my creativity. So your call to action is to find one task that you’re willing to pass along and make sure to tell me what that was and how that changed your daily routine.
After 78 episodes, I just wanted to thank every one of you for tuning in, sharing, and rating this podcast. Being able to share these stories with you each week is a real gift. I’m amazed at the creativity out there in the world, and I know I haven’t EVEN scratched the surface! There’s no better time to be a small business owner than today. There are so many resources, coaches, classes, tutorials, etc., that are, in essence, the shortcut that you need to achieve success. If there’s a particular business or service that you would like to learn more about, be sure to email me. I’d looove to hear from you! I’ll see you next time!
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