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Ask HN: How to deploy money effectively to save time and build a business?

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Ask HN: How to deploy money effectively to save time and build a business?

#1

Post by aga_ml »

Starting a company is a lot of work and requires focus on things that are most important for pushing the business forward. It can be easy to waste time on things that can be done as effectively by other people.

* What types of activities, both business and personal, have you found to be effective to pay others to do?

* How do you choose what tasks to do yourself and what to delegate?

* How do you navigate getting high quality help versus saving money?

* How do you find people you can trust?

* How much do you value your time (e.g. I'll spend $20 to save an hour of my time)?

A few examples:

On the business side:

* Taking slides and making them look professional, making a website, etc

* Finances, taxes

* Filtering through emails, and doing initial outreach to candidates

Personal:

* Cooking, cleaning, laundry

* Shopping

* Home repairs, car repair, etc

For instance on home repairs, I've found it hard to get reliable contractors. Inevitably something goes wrong and it still ends up being time consuming.

I'll also note that I grew up in a family with relatively little money so I grew up with a mindset to save as much as possible by doing things yourself. But as my time has become more valuable, I'm trying to be more efficient.

Another lens to view this through is that some of the most successful entrepreneurs are relentless about simplifying their lives (e.g. wearing the same, simple clothes). That is the most visible thing that happens, but I'm sure there are lots of other things that people have done that are less talked about.

Re: Ask HN: How to deploy money effectively to save time and build a business?

#2

Post by dylanhassinger »

delegating/outsourcing always comes with an overhead cost that is usually equal to the original amount of resources, although it may shift to different category of resources

but simplification and ruthless prioritization always pay off

Re: Ask HN: How to deploy money effectively to save time and build a business?

#3

Post by mym1990 »

Choosing which tasks you delegate to others is very dependent on how much trust you have in those around you, and also how much room for error there is in the task.

If it is something critical, or something that relates strongly to your vision of the business, then more often than not you can prioritize that higher. If it is not mission critical, somebody can learn from the task, and somebody is somewhat qualified to get to the end of the task, you can probably delegate it.

All of these things change as a company moves through different stages.

On the topic of personal delegation...you really have to know yourself. If you need electrical work done, and you don't know anything about electrical work...you probably want to pass on the DIY route and just get someone who knows what they are doing and are taking the risk. If you need to do some drywall...yeah you can probably knock that out, and even make some mistakes along the way. There is always this feeling of "I can do this cheaper and better" but often there is no follow through, and you're not giving the pros enough credit.

Re: Ask HN: How to deploy money effectively to save time and build a business?

#5

Post by iancmceachern »

Community. You need to build community.

Many of the things you list, I've found through making friends in my community. I really really trust my dentist, my mechanic, my doctor, my dog watcher, my vet, my barista, my local small business owners. I know them personally, they trust me and I trust them.

It takes time, but if you out effort in, you get 10x out.

Re: Ask HN: How to deploy money effectively to save time and build a business?

#6

Post by samspenc »

My thoughts and experience with this.

Business side: for stuff like graphics design, research and data entry, building simple websites or apps, video editing or creatives, I've had good luck finding talent on freelance sites.

Finance: this is something I would be leery about outsourcing, until you grow big enough. Even though, I would outsource this to a well qualified CPA / CFA or company specialized in this, not to a random freelancer online.

Food: you can purchase food at your local restaurant or even have it delivered through Doordash, Uber Eats etc. Yes, not quite as good as home-cooked food, but you are asking about tradeoffs to save time.

Shopping: similar to food, purchase online and have it delivered to your home.

Home / car repairs: this is a tough one. You can save a lot of money on DIY here, BUT it is fraught with peril, one wrong step could mean a lot more in costs than you could have saved with an expert. As of now, I'm just letting the experts handle this.

Re: Ask HN: How to deploy money effectively to save time and build a business?

#7

Post by noufalibrahim »

samspenc wrote: post #6

My thoughts and experience with this. Business side: for stuff like graphics design, research and data entry, building simple websites or apps, video editing or creatives, I've had good luck finding talent on freelance sites. Finance: this is something I would be leery about outsourcing, until you grow big enough. Even though, I would outsource this to a well qualified CPA / CFA or company specialized in this, not to…

I generally agree though this depends on which part of the world you're from. Some useful metrics for delegating/outsourcing

1. If it's a specialty that you don't have but is important, consider outsourcing (e.g. accounts, design etc.)

2. Like parent said, freelance is good for transactional stuff but for long term engagements, outsource to a company whose people you've met or know (Atleast via. a reliable referral).

3. Food (and exercise/health). If this gets hurt, the whole business gets hurt so it's worth spending time, energy and money here.

4. Shopping, laundry etc. - Batch these things. Do what you need once a week so that it's under control but doesn't take up too much time.

It's useful (though not fool proof) to calculate your opportunity cost when you do things yourself. If you're worth $50 an hour (consulting time etc.) and spend 2 hours to buy $25 worth groceries, it's something you need to look at outsourcing or delegating.

Re: Ask HN: How to deploy money effectively to save time and build a business?

#8

Post by dfex »

Background: I'm a solo operator with a consulting business

> * What types of activities, both business and personal, have you found to be effective to pay others to do?

When I started out, I undertook all tasks myself. Not just because I was being frugal (which I was), not just because I wanted control over every aspect of the business (I did) but also I was actually interested in getting exposure to areas that were outside my wheelhouse. Even the initial design/creative work for my logo, letterheads etc. (which was not my strength at all) - I just gave myself plenty of time and tried heaps of ideas until finally hitting on something I was happy with that didn't look too amateurish. As it turns out, I haven't had a single customer come to me via my website, have still not printed a single business card and have more work than I can handle.

I also didn't have much of a background in accounting (I took a business studies course 20 years ago when I was in high school), but resolved to learn this as well before engaging a professional to run annual audits and tax filings when things got more established. When it comes to finance, being connected to what is going on in your business is essential. Understanding the relationships between accounts receivable, salaries, general expenses and taxation is crucial to understanding where your business is really at, rather than just looking at your bank balance and assuming that everything is okay because it's still >$0.

> * How do you find people you can trust?

> * How do you navigate getting high quality help versus saving money?

I will always try to get the best/highest quality help I think I can afford, and will find these people through my existing networks, or by simply asking other professionals that I have previously engaged e.g.: Does your accountant recommend any good tax consultants? Does your taxation consultant have a nice website? This is a really simple way to expand your horizons if you don't already have a diverse network to draw from.

> * How much do you value your time (e.g. I'll spend $20 to save an hour of my time)?

This is sometimes not as smart as it seems; for me, I would frame each task more in terms of "Will completing this task teach me something that may be valuable in the future or shape the way the business operates?". And honestly, sometimes tackling a job that isn't anything like the work I do every day is nice for a change.

> Personal:

> * Cooking, cleaning, laundry

> * Shopping

> * Home repairs, car repair, etc

The answer to this is simple. Work business hours, then clock off and do your personal chores on your personal time. The #Grindhustle life might have been cool 10 years ago, but burnout is real and will end up costing you a lot more.

As for simplifying your life - the clothes schtick (Steve Jobs, Elizabeth Holmes, Barack Obama) is more about reducing the number of decisions you need to make in a day. I'm not sure it's a massive time saver, but yeah, I printed some t-shirts for my one-man work-from-home consulting gig that I put on as part of my "ritual" for going to work in the next room ;)

Re: Ask HN: How to deploy money effectively to save time and build a business?

#9

Post by dfex »

dylanhassinger wrote: post #2

delegating/outsourcing always comes with an overhead cost that is usually equal to the original amount of resources, although it may shift to different category of resources but simplification and ruthless prioritization always pay off

So much this.

Sometimes by the time you've documented or broken down the task in sufficient detail to hand off to a third party, then reviewed and revised the work several times, you realise you could have done it yourself in the same or less time. And if you've contracted the work out, any learnings will leave when the job is completed.

Taking this time and care with employees when delegating tasks is a much better equation and will help set the standard/quality of work you want to see moving forward.

Re: Ask HN: How to deploy money effectively to save time and build a business?

#10

Post by DANmode »

1. Does this actually need to be done right now? If yes,

2. Is it in my core competencies? If no,

3. Do I have access to someone whose core competency it is, do I trust them with this task enough to not postpone? (Sometimes this takes us back to #1.)

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