What to do when you literally don’t have enough time in the day to finish everything you need to do in a day’s work. I am not necessarily speaking of just time management, but business growth where you cannot possibly do every job anymore. Like most entrepreneurs, we have to do more than our fair share. Especially if you are a one man or one woman show starting out. You are the CEO, janitor and everything in between. Do you hire help? Do you hire contract labor? Do you purchase technology? Probably all the above. Let’s look at the upside and downside of all three.

• Hiring an Employee– This is most entrepreneurs go to response when things begin to get overwhelming. Is this the best decision? Maybe. The upside an employee works when and how you need them to, assuming hiring a good employee. You have total control. The downside of hiring an employee is you have to pay them, even if there is a work slowdown. If you continue to send them home because of unstable work, you will lose your good employee.

• Hiring a Contractor— This can be a good decision if you have a way to split pay from jobs. Think of this as an override on business your independent contractor completes. You can charge up your hourly fee or split a commission. Either way you’re not out money until revenue is coming in to your business. The downside, you have no control over hours, days or if the contractor shows up. Independent contractors are just that, independent, and you could be one of many employers they work with on jobs. Your contractor can make you and your business look good or bad.

• Using Technology— We live in a great period in time where this is now an option. Software, websites, IVR phone systems and electronic communications can really help the entrepreneur with some lesser mundane tasks. There is everything from autoresponders, scheduling calendars, virtual assistances to online contractors. Technology is practically endless in evolution to helping small business owners.

The idea is to breakdown your daily tasks into three categories.

• $10 an hour work—This is work you can pay someone $10 per hour to complete. Answering phones, setting appointments, balancing books and paying bills. This can be a major time suck to a growing entrepreneur. Outsource these things as soon as possible.

• $100 an hour work—This is time spent marketing, advertising, posting social media, etc. These tasks should be outsourced to skilled labor either in house employee or contactor as soon as the business can sustain this expense.

• $1,000 an hour work—This is the work the entrepreneur should be doing. Building relationships, networking, building credibility, and closing deals. This is where the real money is made to pay those $10 an hour and $100 an hour people to grow your business.

“Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle”. –Napoleon Hill

Image by Stuart Miles at www.freedigitalphotos.net

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Tim Wilhoit is owner/principal of Your Friend 4 Life Insurance Agency in Nashville, TN. He is a family man, father of 3, grandfather of 1, entrepreneur, insurance agent, life insurance broker, employee benefit specialist, salesman, sales trainer, recruiter, public speaker, blogger, author and team leader with over 29 years of experience in sales and marketing in the insurance and beverage industries.