Two Sides of the DIY Coin
What every entrepreneur should understand before they Do It Themselves
Side One: Efficient Use of Your Time
You’re the CEO. You must figure out the value of your time in general against the value of your time spent against a DIY project. Is it worth it?
While you are writing the patent and filing it yourself (I know of at least two entrepreneurs that did this, one in fashion, one in tech), six months could easily go by and your business is headless during that time because your energies are focused elsewhere. Can your company really survive without you running it for that length of time?
For more insight on this side of the coin see: http://blog.nyctechconnect.com/2013/08/13/why-am-i-doing-this/
Side Two: Good Communications Skills
“The only way to get something done right is to do it myself”. If that’s the way you think, then there’s a problem with the way you are communicating…you aren’t. Making yourself understood is crucial in business (and every other aspect of your life as well). Not only with employees and freelancers but with vendors and clients as well. You must be able to make yourself understood to grow your business and to operate it efficiently. You can’t do everything yourself (I’m sure you’ve seen org charts where every function is “YOU”) or you and your business won’t get very far.
For more insight on this side of the coin see: http://blog.gcsagents.com/2010/10/06/if-you-want-something-done-right-you-can-do-it-yourself-but-if-you-want-a-lot-of-things-done-right-communicate/
Sandra Holtzman teaches CEO 035: Licensing.
She is the author of Lies Startups Tell Themselves to Avoid Marketing.