A client mentioned recently that there was a huge gap between doing something yourself and paying someone else to do it.
Small business owners and staff often wear many hats. It often seems less expensive to do it yourself. In some cases it may actually be cheaper to do it yourself. But, in many cases it seems cheaper because you are not adding in all the costs. The one cost most people leave out is the cost of a lost opportunity.
Ask yourself how much money your company could have brought in if you had been spending your time selling or producing whatever it is you do? The opportunity cost is the time and materials it takes to bring in the opportunity. In a small business often if you are not out selling or working then you're not bringing in any opportunities. Also, if you are not out marketing and advertising your business then you won't be finding many new opportunities. So if you're not doing something that makes you money then you are actually losing money just standing still. You might be asking, 'so ... why am I still reading this?'. Well, I'll tell you.
I occasionally hear from potential clients that want to design their own website or manage their own website. This is feasible for some who have the knowledge and skill. But, none of them actually have the time based on a calculation of opportunity cost. So the biggest favor you can do yourself when hiring a website designer or manager is to first understand your opportunity cost. That way when you get a price from someone who designs and manages websites for a living you will have a better understanding of the actual value of their proposal.
Soon we will talk about how you can minimize the cost of your new website project.
