Are You Worth $15/per Hour? Getting Maximum Value For Your Time By Todd Rammler

One of the things I see quite frequently with small business
owners --particularly those that have experienced slow but
steady growth -- is over-involvement in non-value adding
activities -- or at least non-value MAXIMIZING activities.

Case in point: I worked with a client where the owner was
continuously rushed, working 80+ hours a week, not getting half
of what he'd like to get done, aggravating his family because of
the amount of hours he was working. While this is true of many
business owners, this was an extreme case.

Virtually every time I talked to him, he'd tell me how busy he
was, how there was so much going on, how he couldn't get caught
up. This had been the case since we were first introduced.

When I was working on-site with this client, I'd see what the
owner did all day. It was like being in a pinball machine.
Constant interruptions, constant distractions, always jumping
from one fire to the next. Never any time to work calmly through
an agenda or a schedule, let alone any time to sit and think
strategically about the business.

I'm not going to suggest that fire-fighting can be totally
eliminated. But there are different sized fires. If a customer
calls with an emergency, maybe it warrants your involvement as
the owner. However, if an employee's printer stops working, and
you, the owner, happen to be a computer engineer, fixing this or
similarly mundane problems around the office is not the best use
of your time.

I can hear a few of you saying, "Yeah, but I need my employees
to be productive." True. But it costs the company more if you're
not productive (fixing printers) than if the employee is not
productive.

Another owner I know insists on doing payroll himself. I told
him, "You know you could hire a clerical person for $15 an hour
and get that off your plate. Along with 29 other things that you
insist on doing, just because you did them when your company was
much smaller. Is your time only worth $15/hour??? Because that's
effectively what you're paying yourself."

Same issue at another company. Two partners hire our firm to
help straighten out their manufacturing cost data and get their
reports out faster every month. Turns out one of the issues
slowing down the process is that one partner likes to do some of
the job cost updates himself. The problem is, he has no time,
because he needs to be out on the floor, or in front of
customers. So the reporting process grinds to a halt until he
has time to get his spreadsheets updated.

I told him the same thing: hire a clerical person to get all
this updated daily, and not only would the information be ready
faster, it would contain fewer errors.

But he likes to do it himself.

As a business owner, it's important to step back and be honest
about where you can add the MOST value to the company. If what
you're spending time on could be done by a clerical person -- or
anyone who would free up your time for higher value adding
activities -- you should hire that person and spend your time
doing things that maximize your value to the business. Things
like marketing, sales, product development, management, growth
-- whatever. Not fixing printers, doing payroll, and updating
spreadsheets.

As you go through your workday today, ask yourself: " Am I
MAXIMIZING the value of my time right now?"

About the Author: Todd Rammler is President of Michigan CFO
Associates, a professional firm providing outsourced Chief
Financial Officer services to small-business owners. Todd is a
Certified Management Accountant (CMA) and co-author of the book
30 Day Total Business Makeover. http://www.michiganCFO.com

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