DIY... in business?

When working in small organizations, I always had one dream – someone that would take care of all the administrative work for me. Employees documentation, hiring process, financial management, drives organization, scanning and archive… everything. And I ended up creating a company that does just that. Process-U provides in one package the supporting functions any small business would dream of.

What is my next ambition now? To open the eyes of entrepreneurs for the concept of “do it yourself” (DIY) can be empowering and cost-effective in many situations, it doesn’t always work for starting or running a scalable business.

Here is why.

• Lack of Expertise: Starting and running a business requires a wide range of skills, from finance and marketing to operations and human resources. Nobody has enough expertise in all these areas, and attempting to handle them yourself can lead to costly mistakes.
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• Limited Resources: DIY often assumes you have the time, money, and resources to invest in learning and doing everything yourself. It might be cheaper to “cut a check for speed” and get someone to do it for you than to invest all the hours you need to learn and do it (your time is also money!).
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• Time Constraints: Building and growing a business is time-consuming. If you try to do everything yourself, you may find that you don’t have enough time to focus on what truly matters, such as strategic planning and business development. Result? Work on evenings and weekends, and with time…
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• … risk of Burnout: and what good does it do to the business if you end up in bed or so stressed you cannot have a meeting without losing it?
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• Quality and Consistency: DIY efforts might not always produce the same level of quality or consistency as hiring professionals. Sometimes, you will do it right, and other times not – and you might not be able to tell the difference. Are you really willing to risk your profits based on “I hope I got it right”?
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• Scaling Challenges: As your business grows, the demands on your time and expertise will increase. What may have been manageable in the early stages may become overwhelming as your business expands. Also, the solution you implemented originally might have worked pretty well, but for small numbers. Turning it into something scalable later might be very disruptive and resource-consuming. It is better to do it right from the beginning with the right help.
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• Legal and Regulatory Compliance: Ignorance of legal and regulatory requirements can lead to serious issues and large fees. Sometimes, you just miss an opportunity and spend more than needed. Other times, you are not compliant and get a penalty for that – and you didn’t even mean to be tricky or anything!
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• Focus on Core Competencies: DIY can divert your attention from your core competencies and the unique value proposition of your business. It’s often more efficient to focus on what you do best and outsource or delegate other tasks.

Of course, you can DIY some things. You and your team have your abilities.

But the apparent “cheapness” of going for this option should not make you forget all the opportunities you are missing by not taking outside help.

Outside help would allow you to:

• Make sure the processes are set up to grow smoothly.
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• Guarantee that essential support activities will be carried out in time and quality.
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• Allow you and your team to focus on the core activities of the business instead of getting stuck on the administrative.
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• Give you back your evenings and weekends. You might love your job, but you also have a life!

Do you have a friend or family member who has gone missing since they started their business? Then you will understand what I am talking about…