I don’t do yard maintenance, or lawn mowing, weed pulling, painting, snow removal, home repairs, house cleaning…I also don’t do much photoshop workflow ( I outsource the grunt work photoshop out), bookkeeping, phone answering, order taking,…plus a whole lot more stuff…..
There are two main reasons why I don’t do yard maintenance, or, for that matter, any of the other items listed above.
Reason one: I HATE yard maintenance. I don’t care how much money I would save by doing it myself, why would I want to put myself through something I detest, in order to save a few bucks.
The pain and frustration would not make me a better person and is not worth it.
Reason two: I know that mowing the lawn isn’t conducive to growing my photography business.
And the truth is, I ain’t saving a dime.
It’s actually costing me money, since my time is far better spent doing things that bring in more money. Like marketing and shooting.
When you do the things that bring in the dough and build the business, then you are spending your time wisely.
Delegation is the key.
Delegation, in a sense, will allow you freedom for your photography business to grow and prosper. Delegation, in a sense, will help you become the person you were meant to be.
AAAaaaa, but you hate marketing, you say. But you love shooting.
Your choice.
You can do the things you love, and not make a whole lotta dough, and be fine with that. Or, you can learn to love it, because, there is no choice.
Business is business, and in order to grow it, you need to put on, like they say at the horse barn where my daughter used to ride, ‘your big girl panties’, and do the marketing thing.
When you’re in business, that’s simply the way it’s played. There is no other way.
You can’t have your cake and eat it too.
In essence, what I am going on about is to do with the highest form of time management.
If you are starting out, you may have to do a lot of the things that later you will get to delegate.
Just don’t get caught in a rut that you never climb out of.
I have no idea why anyone would want to to bookkeeping. Pushing a pencil and doing any form of accounting is the last thing on my list.
Lower than lawn maintenance. I used to spend a few hours, and a bottle of brandy, once a month and get my own books done on my own, way back in time. And I mowed the lawn back then too, plus shoveled the dam driveway. But no more.
Nay, nay, nay….
Sure, I know how the basics of accounting, as we all should learn. I like and understand money math, balance sheets, income statements and projections,
I just don’t wanna do ’em. Rather poke needles in my eye.
When you’re stuck doing these things because you are in early growth stages of your photography business, that’s fine, but you need to keep the end in mind.
Know where you are going, stay focused on the big picture until you get to delegate.
If you don’t you risk burnout and wasting time doing stuff that will cost you more in the long run.
Delegating isn’t about giving you more leisure time. It’s about allowing you to do the things that you not only prefer doing, but also the things that bring in business.
This is a hard pill for many to swallow. They lack vision and planning.
They think they have to do all those grunt jobs or else the place will fall apart without them.
Sometimes it makes them feel important. If your into it for your ego, then you will not grow. It’s that simple.
Delegation is often a scary new direction for many. But who said that staying in your comfort zone was synonymous with creative output. And I’m talking about profits when I say output.
Use your time wisely and strategically, always with the end in mind.
Your success depends on it.
Robert Provencher
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