Are you an overwhelmed, new business owner? Don’t worry, you don’t have to do it all on your own! In today’s episode, I’m sharing how outsourcing some of your work can actually give you the space to grow your business! Listen in to hear the three action steps you should take today in order to not have to do it all on your own!
The Shoot It Straight Podcast is brought to you by Sabrina Gebhardt, photographer and educator. Join us each week as we discuss what it’s like to be a female creative entrepreneur while balancing entrepreneurship and motherhood. If you’re trying to find balance in this exciting place you’re in, yet willing to talk about the hard stuff too, Shoot It Straight Podcast is here to share practical and tangible takeaways to help you shoot is straight.
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This episode is brought to you by my email newsletter Lifestyle Lessons. This is my Monday morning email inspiration. It’s short, sweet and left intended to help you encourage as you go into your week. If this sounds like something you’re interested in, you can get on that list.
Doing It All as a Business Owner
If you’re a business owner stuck doing all of the tasks in your business, I have news for you. You don’t have to do it all. Understandably, entrepreneurs try and do everything themselves in the beginning, in an effort to keep expenses as low as possible. What if you looked at it this way: the longer that you try and wear all the hats and do all the things, the slower your business is going to grow.
It doesn’t matter what part of your business you look at, you cannot possibly be good at every single little thing that needs to be done in a successful business. Instead of looking at it from the lens of how little money can I spend so that my profits are kept as high as possible, what if you looked at it through the lens of what tasks can I offload, outsource, or just take off my plate to free up more space to do the thing that I’m good at. That in turn, makes you more money.
Your time is getting sucked away by all these other tasks in your business. Tasks that you may not even be good or proficient in.
Outsourcing & Offloading Tasks in Your Business
There’s a mantra that money comes and goes; money is infinite. The same isn’t said about time. You can always make more money, but you can’t make more time. Instead of prioritizing how should I save money, what if instead, we prioritized how can I save time.
The thought is that if you can hire people to outsource things, or do things for you, or teach you to do things faster, that you will have more time to create and make more money.
Spending Money to Make Money
No matter how new your business is, you do not have to wear all the hats, you do not have to do everything yourself. You do not have to keep expenses at a bare minimum. It’s okay to invest in your business, even if it’s new.
Three Action Steps to Not Doing It All
1. Identify the biggest struggles in your business.
There are typically two factors to consider in your struggles, time and money. Consider the following:
- What struggle is directly effecting how much money you’re making
- What struggle is eating up the most time
Pick one of these struggles to tackle first, then keep a running list as they come to mind. These are all things you can slowly outsource in your business.
2. Research options to take the struggle off your plate.
Take the time to research the expenses it would take to remove things off your plate. You may have these notions in your mind that hold you back from outsourcing, looking at the cost analysis and realizing it’s worth it.
3. Commit to offloading one of your struggles this week.
While you don’t need to go through the full process of offloading, simply committing to do it is a first step. It will take time and it will feel weird, but once you have them on board, it will change so much for you.
Get Inspiration Every Monday Morning!
If you’re feeling inspired to hand off some of your tasks so you’re not stuck doing it all in your business, make sure you’re subscribed to Lifestyle Lessons, my weekly inspirational newsletter!
Review the Show Notes:
Doing It All as a Business Owner (0:47)
Outsourcing & Offloading Tasks in Your Business (2:02)
Money is Infinite, Time is Not (5:02)
My Own Journey (7:54)
Three Action Steps to Not Doing It All (11:54)
Review the Transcript:
Today, we are going to debunk a myth that you have to do it all when you’re first starting out in business. Welcome to the shoot it straight podcast. I’m your host, Sabrina Gephardt. Here I will share an honest take on what it’s like to be a female creative entrepreneur. while balancing business, motherhood and life, myself along with my guests will get vulnerable, their honest conversations and relatable stories because we’re willing to go there. If you’re trying to find balance in this exciting place you’re in yet willing to talk about the hard stuff to the shoot it straight podcast is here to share practical and tangible takeaways to help you shoot it straight.
So, in the beginning, you have this creative passion, and we love it. And then we decide that we want to start business and start making money on this thing, right? Normally, what happens next is that we try to do all the things ourselves. After all, there’s this myth again, that when you’re starting a business, you have to wear all the hats, do all the things, learn all the things and carry the burden alone.
Today, we’re going to debunk that myth, deciding to become an entrepreneur is hard. Sure, we are good at creating the thing that we love. And we’re not wrong in thinking that it could make us some money, or maybe even turn into this incredibly huge and profitable empire. But why do we try and do everything ourselves? Generally, people try and do everything themselves in the beginning, in an effort to keep expenses as low as possible. After all, we just opened our doors, and we may or may not be making any money. And that’s totally a normal thought. But what if you looked at it this way, the longer that you try and wear all the hats and do all the things, the slower your business is going to grow. After all, you’re doing things that you’re really not good at. Right, you’re good at creating the thing. You’re not good at every single facet of your business.
Maybe you’re trying to DIY your website with YouTube videos, and hours in the computer every night. Or maybe you’re trying to still hone your skills and perfect your marketing. Maybe with a blog post and newsletters and free YouTube videos, you’re trying to piece together every little thing that you don’t know. It doesn’t matter what part of your business you look at, you are the creator, you cannot possibly be good at every single little thing that needs to be done, or should be done in a successful business. So trying to do all these things and figuring out all these things ourselves, it does not mean that you are added automatically.
The website designer, the attorney, the copywriter, the marketing specialists, the product photographer, the branding expert and the accountant, but you’re trying to do all those things. Instead of looking at it from the lens of how little money can I spend so that my profits are kept as high as possible? What if you looked at it through the lens of what tasks can I offload, outsource or just take off my plate to free up more space to do the thing that I’m good at, which in turn, makes me more money.
I get it your business is new, maybe you’ve only had a few sales, or maybe you haven’t had any yet. And the thought of spending any money to have tasks taken off your plate is terrifying. There’s nothing in the bank, I get it. We have all been there. But here’s the thing, your time, what precious little you have of it is getting sucked away by all these other tasks in your business. And you’re not even good or proficient at them.
What if you spent money letting a professional do these things for you, or hiring someone to educate you to do them faster. If they could free up an insane amount of time, and most likely get the job done better. You would have more time to create which gives you more things to sell, which increases your profit line faster. So when you’re first starting out, it’s definitely a scary thought. But this is not a chicken before the egg situation. This is for sure. Taking a leap of faith and investing in something while trusting the process that you will make more money. You are trusting that it is going to come back to you and it’s going to come back to you faster.
So I don’t want to get too woowoo on you and go all deep into manifesting. But a statement that comes to mind in those circles quite often is this money comes and goes, money is infinite. And if you think about it, that’s a true statement. The beauty of being a creative entrepreneur is that you can always make more money, but you cannot make more time. We have 24 hours in every single day. And that’s it. That time needs to be spent as wisely as possible. You want to have time for yourself to rest, and eat healthy and move your body. You want to have time for your family and your friends and your loved ones. You want to have time to travel and do fun things. And you obviously have to have time for your business. So if money is infinite, always growing always more. But time is finite.
Shouldn’t we look at our business to do list through the lens of how can I save time? Instead of prioritizing? How should I save money? The thought is that if you can hire people to outsource things, or do things for you, or teach you to do things faster, that you will have more time to create and make more money. On the flip side, choosing to do everything yourself and save a little bit of money, it limits the amount that you create, which limits the amount of money that’s coming in.
Do you see what I’m getting at unlocking the door that allows more money to come in as opposed to locking the door and limiting the amount of money that can come in. So I am not encouraging you to go out and get a massive business loan to pay for all the people right off the bat, I do want to give you some actionable steps that really do make sense. And I will do that in a minute. But what I want you to consider is to hand off something, consider what it could look like to trust your business. And the process that spending some money is going to make you a better business person and a better creator. No matter how new your business is, you do not have to wear all the hats, you do not have to do everything yourself. You do not have to keep expenses at a bare minimum.
It’s okay to invest in your business, even if it’s new. In fact, I would go so far to say that investing in your business will actually help you grow faster. Let me say that again. For everyone in the back, investing in your business will help it grow faster. Period. End of story. Full stop.
So let me tell you a story. When I think back to the first few years of my business, I knew I needed help. But I was also stuck in the mentality of having to do at all, just like we said, that is what being an entrepreneur is right. At least that’s what I thought it was my idea to come up with this business, to learn how to do the thing to make my website to create my marketing plan to do all the booking to run all the numbers. I just assumed that I had to do it all. And that that is what being an entrepreneur looked like. Plus, if I’m being honest, I’m a little bit of a control freak to whether or not I care to admit it. I always think that my way is the best way and trust me, it’s not. Sidenote, if you struggle with this, too, one of the best ways to move past this is to start to release things.
The more you release, the less controlling you become. And the more you realize that other people can actually do things better and faster than you. Anyways, so back in the beginning, I was trying to do it all myself and spoiler alert, it was not going well. I mean, it was being held together, okay. But it felt like a house of cards that it really could fall at any moment. I had started my business way before I was ready. Another conversation for another day. And therefore I was still technically learning to shoot images consistently and in different lighting situations. I was still learning, editing, all the while I was booking clients and trying to grow my business while staying organized and being a full time stay at home mom to two kids under three. I was doing okay, ish.
Luckily, I’m an organized person by nature and so I was getting to nerd out on spreadsheets. And I can’t even imagine how bad things would have been if I was not organized. Okay, I would have been dropping even more things left and right. Anyways, things were okay. Technically it was a system that was pieced together and I wasn’t thriving. But I was getting by. But I knew in my gut that I couldn’t manage things much longer by myself. I knew I was walking on a tightrope. I knew I was teetering on the edge of burnout and desperately needed someone or something to help. For me at the time, my biggest need was help with email and the booking process. It was such a time suck, I was getting so many inquiries that I was drowning, and I was not using any kind of CRM to organize or automate anything.
Finally, I decided I couldn’t wait any longer. And I decided it was time to hire an assistant. I drafted a job description and personality traits that I was looking for. And I figured out a pay structure and what training this person would look like. And then I posted about it online. And honestly, just the act of posting that job opening was so freeing. That was a moment of release. That was the moment that I said, Okay, universe, I don’t have to do it all, I’m going to get help. That was the moment that changed everything. So I found a great local girl who met all of my needs. And she started within a couple of weeks. And for the next few years, she worked for me, she got me set up on a CRM, she took over my email inbox, she took over client issues and booking and she took so much off my plate. But more than that, hiring an assistant confirmed that I didn’t have to do at all, and that I was worthy and deserved to have help in my business. She wasn’t a full time employee.
She didn’t have benefits or huge salary. She didn’t have a glamorous office space, but she was exactly what I needed. And that was help. So I’ve got three action steps for you today. Number one, I want you to identify the biggest struggle in your business. If you have a lot of struggles, write them all down. But think about these two.
First one, what struggle is directly affecting how much money you are making. Or number two, what struggle is eating up the most time, tackle one of those first, and then keep a running list. As things come to mind. These are all things that you can slowly outsource and take off your plate, one after the other. But I want you to start with either what is directly affecting how much money you make, or what is eating up the most of your time. Your second action step, research options to take the struggle off your plate, allow yourself time to look up costs and expenses involved in taking one of these problems away. So many times the thought of offloading something we feel like we have to do is really we get stuck in the research part.
We have these fake notions in our mind of oh my gosh, it’s going to be so expensive, or oh my gosh, I could never find somebody to do that. Or oh my gosh, that doesn’t even exist, when really, if we just spent some time allowing ourselves to go down the rabbit hole of research. Once we know all of the details of what it would look like to get help in this certain area. It’s easy to look at the cost analysis and say, heck yes, this is the perfect solution. And it is absolutely worth it.
Third action step is to commit to offloading one of your struggles this week. You don’t have to go through all the interviews. You don’t have to hire somebody but start taking steps toward this process this week. Commit to it to yourself, tell yourself, I have realized that my biggest struggle is email management, or accounting, or my website or whatever it is, and then commit to finding help and getting it off your plate. Yes, it’s going to cost you money. Yes, it’s going to feel weird at first to have somebody else working alongside you in your business. And yes, there’s probably going to be a learning curve with bringing someone new onboard, but it’s also going to move things along much faster. Releasing your grip of control is the hardest part.
Once you actually release it and commit to paying for the solution, you will immediately feel so much lighter. That’s all for today’s episode. I hope that you are inspired and encouraged. I hope that you are willing to commit to taking one of your struggles off of your plate and investing in your business, no matter how young it is, and I’m wondering, have you subscribed to lifestyle lessons yet? This is my Monday morning email inspiration. It’s short, sweet and left intended to help you encourage as you go into your week. If this sounds like something you’re interested in, you can get on that list. The link is in the show notes. I would love to have you there and see you on Monday. Otherwise, we’ll see you next week.
Thanks so much for listening to the shoot it straight podcast. You can find all the full show notes and details from today’s episode at Sabrina gebhart.com backslash podcast. Come find me and connect over on the gram at Sabrina Gebhart photography. If you’re loving the podcast, I’d be honored if you hit that subscribe button and leave me a review. Until next time, my friends shoot it straight..
