Time is the most valuable asset we have. We only have 24 hours in each day. How you spend the 24 hours is up to you. Specialization is what allows you to get some of your time back.
Tom Brady
An economic book I read said that Tom Brady makes $25,000 per hour throwing a football. This was 5 years ago so he probably makes even more than that now. He is the greatest of all time at what he does. The book said it would not be a good use of his time to mow the lawn. This is a valuable lesson I think new businesspeople and entrepreneurs overlook. If you can make $25,000 in an hour and it costs $50 to mow the lawn, then it is much better to pay someone to mow your lawn while you focus on higher dollar per hour activities.
Everyone starting out kind of falls into this trap. It can be difficult to get out of. You think you can save money by doing it yourself, but really you are costing yourself money. You do not need to be Tom Brady either for this to apply. If you can spend that hour making $100 while someone mows the lawn for $50, then you are still coming out ahead.
Real Estate
While it is difficult to let go of your instinct to do it yourself when starting out, it is still a good idea to be cognizant of this dilemma and maybe plan to correct it at some point. The first home I purchased I renovated the entire house by myself. It took a lot of hours, and it was valuable to learn the kind of effort and money it took to further my real estate experience.
Fast forward to the multiple properties I own now, and I hire out for everything if I cannot quickly resolve the issue. I had a broken sink drain and once I realized I could not quickly replace it I called a plumber. It would have taken me an hour or more to go to Home Depot and buy the saw to cut it out and the time to replace it. It would have taken me several hours to complete the job to save a couple hundred bucks, but I would have had to buy a new saw and waste 3 hours so really, I was losing money. The plumber came and cut it out and installed the new one in 15 minutes. Surprisingly, when I asked him how much I owed him he said do not worry about it, I was late. So, I saved several hours and money.
Bigger Picture
As you level up in business your time will become more valuable and your dollar per hour activities will go up. You do not want to mow the lawn, clean, or fix the sink if you can spend that time making more money. This is what I learned from Tom Brady. The people that make more than Tom Brady per hour already know this. While most of us are not as his level, it would be a good idea to start thinking like that. What could you do that would make your time more valuable? The more you specialize in getting good at something the more money you will earn per hour. If you can close a deal or make a sale that nets you $10,000, why would you spend the afternoon trying to save a couple hundred dollars fixing something.
Conclusion
Anytime you are wondering if you should do it yourself or hire it out, think back to the Tom Brady example. Tom would not mow his own lawn because it does not make sense. It is not because he is too good to mow the lawn, it is because it is a waste of his time and money to do so.
Specialization is what makes our economy great and allows other people to have jobs. Tom makes a lot of money, and he can then pay a lot of people to provide him services. You too contribute to the overall economy when you get good at something and get paid more for your services and then pay other people to do the things that are not the highest and best use of your time.
