I don’t get up on my roof anymore. I’m in my mid-40’s and all I see by attempting this nonsense is “bad juju (this is the technical term for stuff).” Here are my three reasons for not attempting this folly…

• I don’t want to fall off the roof. The consequences of this are pain and death; neither of which are high on my priority list.
• I don’t have a clue what I’m doing. I’m liable to damage the roof, the gutters, or some other piece of building material I don’t even know exists.
• I’ve got better things to do with my time. Specifically, help others and make money.

I hired a very capable contractor to come and clean my roof. His guy spent 5 ? hours on my roof making it look beautiful and charged me $495. For $495, I kept my health, I didn’t do damage to anything, and I made more than that in less than an hour.

This analogy works in your business, too. What would you replace for the roof in your business — bookkeeping, maintenance, risk management, technology, web design, financial planning, social media implementer, copy machine fixer, travel agent, or receptionist?

I recently talked with someone who told me that due the recession, he has had to take on more work himself in order to cut back on costs. This practice of “doing it yourself” is a fallacy. Had he subcontracted out the work, how much more revenue could he have generated? What ROI did he miss out on?

Let’s take a look at how my three reasons transition into your business:

• You don’t want to hurt yourself. You’re not an expert in accounting, insurance, web design, computers, money, or copy machines. And, even if you are, you’re probably the last person who should be doing it because you put it off until the end, right? By attempting to jump on this roof, you may inadvertently “fall off’ and damage yourself without even knowing it!
• You don’t know what you’re doing. What is the collateral damage that you’ve created because you were doing something you didn’t really know how to do? That’s a hidden cost waiting in the bushes ready to spring up and bite you on the backside.
• Time. Your time is money and that ROI can’t possibly measure up to what you could have done in your business. Your talents and strengths got you to this point. Take advantage of those talents to generate income rather than getting your hands dirty with printer ink.

I’m not advocating being reckless with your finances. Your expenses should be scrutinized and well placed. However, if paying for a subcontractor (bookkeeper, consultant, maintenance, copy reader, typist) can return your investment and then some because you’re freed up to do what you do well, isn’t that worth it? Small business owners get caught in the trap of being all things to all people, as well as being where the proverbial buck stops. This causes increased stress. Stress masks talent, so when you’re stressed, anxious, and sleep deprived, you can’t even do the job your good at well!

I’m a school board member for North Kitsap. In recent years, our shrinking budget has forced us to cut positions at the administrative offices; so multiple jobs have been merged giving individuals a bigger workload. The cry from the community calls out to us to trim from the top. One administrator spoke eloquently during a public comment session when he said, “I used to be able to spend my time looking for grants and other revenue sources for the district. I was always successful in finding lots of extra money. However, as we’ve reduced our staff and I’ve added several jobs to my current duties, I no longer have time to find those additional revenue sources. It’s a two-pronged loss. Less efficiency and increased stress.”

What a shame. In the world of school districts, our hands are tied by the state. Unfortunately, too many business owners have made this same mistake deliberately with their own businesses, thus sabotaging their own business continuation. Don’t make that same mistake. As my colleague and Hall of Fame speaking coach Patricia Fripp always reminds me, “You can’t be brilliant by yourself.”

Go be brilliant.