There is such a thing as “too hands-on”

Are you like me, the kind of person who likes to do it all yourself….

Have you ever found yourself saying, thinking or feeling like you’d be better of just doing it yourself?

Or…

Have you ever felt like you are working your ever-luvin tail off and just can’t seem to make everything work out the way you want?

Well in this email I’m going to share a little story about an experience I had and give you a tip or two that will help you avoid this trap.

Here goes:

When you first start out in business you’ll be tempted to do it all yourself….or try to anyway.

It sort of makes logical sense.

After-all, if you’ve just started you’re probably not making much money yet.

So why not go conservative and work a little harder and longer until you are making some money before you pay anyone else to do the work…even if you’re not all that good at parts of it.

It seems to makes sense, doesn’t it?

Isn’t this what you hear from bombastic super-icons like Donald Trump?

Well trust me on this …don’t make this mistake.

That may work for a little while but not for very long….

In fact in today’s digital world you probably won’t make it much more than a week or two…

Here is a little story that might help…

My fourth real “business” was a cabinet shop.

I was a ripe and ready 21 year old entrepreneurial young buck.

I’d just determined that college wasn’t “doing it” for me and had quit school without really having much of a plan of any kind.

I’d always loved working with wood though, and I was pretty good at it. I’d made some money making stuff when I was younger and figured I could build a good little business with those skills.

I had also always had a real knack for seeing a money-making opportunity and putting all the right people together to make the most of it.

At this particular time the market for row-house renovations in Richmond, Virginia (where I lived at the time) was really heating up and demand for custom cabinetry that captured the 200 year old styling of those buildings was skyrocketing.

Back then there were no ‘Home Depots’ with ready-made cabinets. Besides the uniqueness of each building really demanded custom designs anyway.

So, having pretty much nothing more than a 20 year-old pickup truck, a box of tools I’d inherited from my grandfather, a good bit of know-how and an iron will, I went for it.

I did pretty much everything myself to start.

And this is where I made my first foolish mistake.

I called people I knew, put ads in the paper, contacted the agents handling these downtown properties, met with prospects, did some rough drawings, wrote my own contracts and secured some jobs.

I purchased and hauled the materials over to a little garage I’d rented in the area.

I cut and milled the parts by hand, assembled the cabinets and stained and finished them the old fashioned way….with a brush and rag.

I hauled them to the job site, installed them myself, collected the money and went on to start the next one.

My reputation for doing excellent work grew quickly and I had plenty of work. Too much in fact.

I was in business alright.

But by the time I added up all the hours I spent doing everything myself I was actually only making about $1.50 an hour.

Can you believe that?

There I was, in business for myself, with a reputation as one of the best in the area, with people literally lining up to have me take on their projects and taking home about a 1/3 of what was the minimum wage at the time.

My own business was the lowest-paying job I’d ever had.

And what’s worse is, I hated it!

Between doing the stuff I didn’t want to do, and struggling with stuff I was no good at doing, I never got to do the part that had inspired me to start the business to begin with.

I was miserable and it was plain to see that there was no way this venture was ever going to deliver what I intended.

So….

Having no idea how I was going to pay them and although completely outside my comfort zone, I went out and started hiring people.

In about 6 months I had drivers, shop helpers, a draftsman, a bookkeeper, a couple of other cabinet-makers, a painter/finisher, and an installer.

And believe it or not my business really started to take off. I had plenty of work and plenty of money coming in to keep growing the business.

But guess what?

I STILL didn’t get to do the work I had intended to do when I first started.

In fact, almost before I knew it, I was spending all my time managing the people I’d hired, watching over their shoulders, making sure they were doing the job to my satisfaction and was still not leveraging my strengths and doing what I wanted.

Nothing happened without my personal involvement or oversight.

BIG MISTAKE!

Thinking I was solving a problem by hiring all these people, I’d created an even bigger problem.

I was now running a pretty substantial business with lots of expenses and the pressure that comes with them and I hated just about every minute of it.

Yes I was making money. Pretty good money in fact.

But it was plain to see that if I was ever going to grow this business to deliver what I wanted I was going to have to hire someone else to manage the production side of the business.

It was the single most difficult transition I had ever experienced at the time.

I eventually did find the right guy but not without a lot of pain and struggle, and not without losing a ton a money unnecessarily.

I’m going to fill you in on what I learned while making those changes in another email but for now, here are the 3 lessons I want you to get from this much of the story:

1. Don’t try to do it all yourself. Hire the right people for the job and do it right away…

2. Make sure when you hire people that you are freeing yourself to do the work you love. Don’t make the mistake of hiring people to do the part of the business that you want to do. This leaves nothing but the part you don’t want to do for yourself….

3. Don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone and rely on the people you bring on board. They may not do things the way you would do them, but you have to let them get the job done their way.

I’ve been building businesses for nearly 40 years. I’ve experienced plenty of reward throughout, but I’ve experienced plenty of pain, suffering and failure too.

Some lessons I’ve learned the hard way, some the easy way.

Heck I was making $1.50 an hour running my own business. That was a hard learned lesson.

The bottom line is that I don’t want you to have to suffer from making the same mistakes I’ve made.

The story I just shared with you is just one of many of the things that are going to come up as you start growing your business. There are hundreds upon hundreds of other lessons like these you are going to learn.

You can learn them the hard way, risking thousands of dollars through your own trial and error.

Or the easy way, by investing less then you probably spend on coffee and soda in a week to learn everything you need to know from ThePerfectBizFinder Program.

The program distills 39 years of business building experience and wisdom into an easy to follow step by step system which creates the business that delivers the lifestyle and financial rewards you expect.

You’ll not only learn what you need to know, but you’ll have direct access to me and my entire success team to help you get it done.

Go here to learn more: The Perfect Biz Finder Program

I am standing for all that is possible for you in life and business.

Sincerely,

Steve

PS – When I hired that business manager, I learned another vitally important lesson. Keep your eye out for my next email and I’ll share it with you too…