I’ve worked with all types of companies from retail to manufacturing and from one person start ups to companies with hundreds of employees and believe it or not, they all have the same problems.

Of course the size of the company or the industry does matter, but when you really look at the big picture they all have similar areas of pain.

So when a small business owner approaches me and says “I really wish I could get some outside help with (insert problem area here), but I can’t afford it”, I suggest they look at it a little differently.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Are you lacking in expertise in a specific area that is important to the success of the business?
• How much time are you spending on this area, only to produce sub-par results because you lack the expertise?
• Could you have spent that time on other things that you actually do well?

These are good questions, but the big question is: What are you worth an hour?

I didn’t ask what you’re paid an hour, rather what you’re time is worth. This is a very important question every business owner should ask themselves.

You come up with your worth by adding together your expertise, experience, wages, value to the company if you could no longer be there and your passion for the business. It’s not an exact science, but you get the idea.

For example if you are worth $150 per hour to your business and you’re spending 5 hours a week trying to do your bookkeeping, that means you’re spending $3000 a month on bookkeeping. Where you could probably hire a bookkeeper for a third of that.

The most successful business owners are the ones that know what they’re good at and what they are not.

So, what are you worth an hour?