Does a certain pop princess' song about a three ring circus remind you of your life? Are you singing it now? If your life is that song, or if you are annoyed that I mentioned that song, sorry, but now you have to read on to the conclusion of this article series, if only to get that infernal song to pause. My HBDO formula awaits you with its magic. Magic, you scoff? Yes. The HBDO formula will magically reduce your stress, so read on.
What does HBDO stand for? Hire, Barter, Delegate, and Omit. Let me repeat it: Hire, Barter, Delegate, and Omit. (Now say it silently three times to yourself and you'll be on your way, hon!)
Let's focus on the Hire part. Numerous small business owners say, "I have no startup capital" or "I have no money to hire because the economy is in the toilet." Really, we have 99 excuses for why we can NOT hire employees. However, you need to develop a new perspective, one that will profit you and your business.
Think of it this way. Let's just say your time is worth $150 an hour. Divide that $150 by three for the hours you spent marketing, serving your masses, and developing your craft, etc. that you'll be doing to keep your business growing. In short, for every billable hour, you'll have two or more other hours of business work to boot. Therefore $50 is what you REALLY make each hour in your business.
Think about it. If you can pay someone else $10 or $15 an hour to do the daily tasks you don't like that they're better at, you're saving time and money. You're actually saving $35 to $40 because you now have time to do the things you are really good at and also love doing.
Actually, you'll end up with more savings becauue the person you hire will be faster than you at the tasks you don't like doing. They're going to do more in one hour for that $10 or $15 than you would do in three or four hours. (Imagine how much you'd be losing by spending three to four hours trying to do what you're not good at and what you despise! A scary prospect, isn't it?)
So as you can see, hiring is an essential step in growing your business, reducing your stress, and avoiding burnout. If you don't even have two pennies to rub together, try to barter with another business owner. Find someone with whom you can barter, but make sure you can trust them to hold up their end of the deal--and make sure both of you are equally excited about what is being exchanged.
Let's presume that you have a friend who is really good at sound mixing but not so good at website development. You are the opposite and need some work done on some CDs that you would like to sell on your (fabulous looking) website. You and your friend can help each other by exchanging hours of work. You can finally take down that ugly shade of puke green on their website (the rest of us thank you, by the way) and they can take all the Um's and Ah's out of your seminar recordings. It's a win-win for everyone.
Don't forget to create a written agreement to make things clear and easy in your barter. Delineate action steps and a set deadline. Just make sure it's a fair trade and that everybody want what the other has, or somebody may feel used.
The great thing about barter is that it's also an awesome method of marketing. Why? Because you are giving them a morsel of what you do and this can lead to them wanting more! Barter is your best briend with the really, really good kind of benefits. Not only are your needs actually being met, but you're creating your very own fan club who can rave about your offerings. You are killing two big birds with one super-strategic barter.
Most importantly, you are assembling a powerful team through barter and hiring. Plus you may later hire someone you barter with--yet another possibility! Remember, teams are not just for football. Outsource by hiring and bartering so your stress goes down and profits go up.
Your business will increase when you hire and barter. So, best of luck to you and don't forget your helpful acronym! Give me an "H"! Give me a "B"! Give me a "D" and an "O." GO TEAM GO!
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Dr. Barnsley Brown is a professional speaker and coach who loves helping busy professionals create balance and prosperity. Want to have 2+ more hours every day for who and what you love? Find out how with Dr. Brown's fun, FREE info-packed report, "How to Overcome Overwhelm in Seven Easy Steps" at http://spirited-solutions.com/freebies/reports/
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