One of the biggest traits of an entrepreneur is our gungho, do-it-yourself attitude. This is usually borne from necessity, due to lack of funds. When you’ve just started a business, there is often little choice but to bootstrap it.

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Personally, I’m a fan of the bootstrap business. However, it’s easy to fall into the trap of continuing to do everything yourself, even after you’ve secured a steady revenue and cashflow.

As an entrepreneur, it is crucial to realise that your time is money.

Your most valuable asset is time, and you should be spending it on activities that involve generating revenue, improving operations and growing the business as a whole. We should be networking, pitching, developing business partnerships – not filing documents, struggling to design brochures or a website, or getting the WiFi working.

When you take on tasks that are beyond your expertise, these are the 3 signs that usually show up:

1. Results and quality of work are poor. There’s nothing more frustrating than sinking in a ton of time, and ending up with something that doesn’t work or isn’t professional enough. These poor results could end up affecting your business negatively.
2. It’s delaying your business growth. Figuring out how to do the task takes time. All the trial and errors that happen along the way take up time. Setting aside the time to do the task takes…time. If this is a crucial task that affects the execution of your business plans, e.g. a marketing campaign, cut to the chase and get a professional to take care of the problem. Remember, such delays are an opportunity cost to your business.
   
   
3. Your health is paying the price. Time isn’t our most valuable asset after all. It’s our physical and mental well-being. If an activity is beyond your expertise and ability, stop losing sleep and stressing out over it. You’re pouring your well-being into a task that the right vendor could probably do much better in less time.

So the bottom line is: Stick to the stuff you’re really good at; outsource everything else if a vendor can help you achieve the best results with a reasonable investment.