When Should I Hire an Online Business Manager?

When should I hire an Online Business Manager? We have all heard the phrase that time is money. And all business owners know that spending too much time on tasks that can be outsourced to an Online Business Manager can eventually take its toll on your bottom line. I recently heard a story of a high-level consultant who realized he had just spent half a day researching how to fix the printer in his office. Not the best use of his time, to say the least. 

There are simply some tasks in your day that are better delegated to another capable person.

So how do you know when it is time to take the leap and invest in someone to help your business grow? 

Tip #1

Figure your hourly wage. It’s a simple math equation. Divide your weekly salary by the number of hours that you work each week. That is your wage. I know, that’s a little over-simplified, but it will give you a ballpark figure. When you are looking at your list of things to accomplish for the day, ask yourself these questions. 

• How long will this project take me (therefore, how much is this costing my business)? 
• Can someone else do this project quicker than I can? 
• Can I pay someone to complete this project for less than my hourly wage? 
• What business-building actions could I complete in the amount of time I would get back if I delegated this project? 

If you are just starting out, it may be hard to justify paying someone to do a task or project, especially if it is one that you could easily do. But the problem starts when the list of things that you are doing that could be done by another are filling your day. Perhaps you should make a list of things you didn’t get done (that only you can do) that could have fueled growth in your business.

A Real-World Example

Let’s do a little more math and then start dreaming. Let’s just say that you are paying your OBM $70/hour for five hours a week. That’s $350 that you are investing in your business. If you are given those 5 hours a week (or more since an OBM may be able to complete the work a bit quicker than you) back to work on essentials for business growth, and your wage is $100/hour, it’s more than just a $150 difference. To measure the investment more accurately, you would have to add up the value of what you accomplished in those five hours this week. Did you make some client relationship calls? Maybe you secured a new client? Or perhaps you began building a new product? Were you able to design a webinar or an online course that will bring you new business for the coming months? 

You see this equation is not simple math. This new time you have gained that you can now spend on business-building tasks will be returned to you exponentially in revenue that you will see far into the future, so the $350 investment is a no-brainer!

Tip #2

Figure out where you are dropping the ball in your business. Do you lose possible clients because you can’t keep up in your communications with them? Does your calendar need an overhaul so that your schedule is open for meeting with new clients or building on your next idea? Have you misplaced the latest lead or have you lost that excellent referral’s contact information? Chaos is the thief of productivity. Effective communication and scheduling are crucial in growing a thriving business. A trusted OBM can set up and monitor some simple systems to give you hours back in your workweek.

Tip #3

Know what you need before you hire. I know people who have decided to hire an OBM to help their business, but they go in blindly. They do not know exactly what they want to outsource or where they need to spend their best time. This scenario is frustrating to both the business owner and the OBM. But there is an easy fix.

If you have ever tracked your nutrition, you know how eye-opening it can be. You think you are eating a fairly healthy diet, but until you see your intake in black and white, you have no idea how much you are consuming. Use this same tracking idea for your business, except this time, track your time. For one week (or maybe two) write down exactly how you are spending every minute of your workday. Don’t cheat. Just like you can’t leave off that handful of M&Ms you grabbed out of the candy bowl on your nutrition tracking, you can’t forget to track that “few minutes” you spent on that rabbit hole of a Google search. 

The Challenge

I challenge you to place each of your activities this week in one of 4 categories.

• Things I don’t know how to do. What tasks did you have to do a Google search or watch a YouTube video to accomplish?
• Things I don’t want to do. What tasks did you dislike doing? Where did you procrastinate?
• Things I don’t have time to do. What tasks got pushed to the bottom of the list?
• Things that only I can do. What tasks would it be impossible to hand off to another person?

Then jot down beside each task how long you spent on it. This will give you a true reading of how you are spending your time and if you would be better off handing some things off. 

At the end of the week, add up the time spent in the first three columns. This may be a starting point for the hours of work you could outsource in a given week. Then add up the time spent in the last column. Let’s say that adds up to 25 hours of the 40 hours you plan to work each week. What could you fill that extra 15 hours with that could catapult your business to the next level? Of course, this is not a fool-proof system, but it is a tool you can use to begin to think about changes in your business growth plan.

Should you hire an Online Business Manager? It can be a smart move for any business owner, but it’s even smarter to go into the hiring knowing exactly what you will do with the time you are given back. Time is money, but only when time is used productively and strategically. 

Next Steps

After completing the challenge above, get in touch with us for a quick chat. We can determine your needs and if there may be a good fit for a working relationship.