It’s a fair question for business people, but what your time is worth becomes especially relevant when we spend our (paid) time working on something an expert could do in less time – and more effectively.
We’ve probably all experienced the tech glitch we thought we could fix. About 1½ hours later and it was still not working. The tech expert could probably fix it in 30 seconds.
As Kiwis with a No 8 wire can-do mentality, we’re generally keen to tackle problems ourselves. But as a business person, we have to think about the cost.
There’s no problem spending a few minutes fixing a technical problem when we’re confident we can do it.
However, unless you really have spare time, remember the clock is ticking. It’s simply bad business to try to do an expert’s job.
Think about how frustrating it is when you have expertise and a client tries to do your work themselves. You often have to tidy up the mess, which takes longer than it would have in the beginning.
So consider what your time is worth on an hourly rate, and work out how much time you’re spending on a tech problem. Then work out what an expert might charge. Chances are you’ll save not only your time but also the frustration that goes with it. If the problem is fixed quickly, you and your business can get back to work.
A handy app worth installing is Team Viewer (from teamviewer.com). Once it’s installed, it allows a tech to access your computer through a password you provide. They can then work on a problem remotely, from anywhere in the world.
Of course tech problems are not the only ones you should consider letting others deal with. Could you, for example, get someone else to do the banking? You can add answering the phone, scanning and similar types of jobs.
One successful business person famously said the first person to hire is the one who does all the jobs you shouldn’t.