Beginners: DIY or Outsource?

Hey Warm,

I just started my business too and I'm definitely picking up what you're laying down. It just seems like there isn't enough time to do everything myself (probably because there isn't). I just spent the whole day Sunday creating a new plan for my business. And now I will execute that plan and nothing but that plan. Here is how I'm taking things to solve the problem you seem to be having as well...

1)Choose one service that I want to be seen as an expert in.
2)Choose one town that I want to get to know everyone in.
3)Choose one strategy to sell my product/service to a client
4)Keep using that strategy until it works. If something is broken, don't throw the whole thing away...fix the part that is broken.
5)Make your first sale...and celebrate!!! Reward yourself...
6)Refine until it's perfect and you are certain you can produce outstanding results whenever you want.
7)Outsource this solution you created to someone (you know it works because you perfected it)
8)Repeat with a new marketing strategy
9)Repeat with a new industry
10)Repeat with a new service/product

I have been getting so overwhelmed with not only keeping up on industry news and learning 10 new IM skills, but trying to build a business and find things that work as well. Don't over-reach in the baby stages. Stay small and tight and grow. Nurture the habit of saving and each round will be infinitely easier than the previous one.

Good luck with your biz...
Roby

Well I did everything myself since I didn't have the start up budget to outsource and it has been so beneficial. Because I did things myself, I now have a new skill set that I can offer to others. I now get paid hourly just for people to consult me and let me help them out with what ever it is they need help with. It takes time, knowledge and a lot of work but it will really pay off in the long run. You could outsource but if you do, I suggest you don't stop there. Keep learning something and get really good at it till people will see you as a leader/expert.

For me was, still is

Outsource the works that eats up most of my time.
that includes
-Things I have troubles or little understanding to no understanding.
-Things that made me bored by the minute (the boredom massacre , if you don't enjoy what you're doing... you're killing those creative cells.)

If you want to get started and get some cash rolling, keep on selling the mobile website. Sell for less, do whatever it takes to get the order from the owner RIGHT NOW. Give him a discount, monthly payments or whatever it takes but get the order now. If you give him a basic mobile website for $300 it shouldn't take more than a minute for him to make the decision.

Give him the price, tell him you will build it then be back in a day or so to go over it with him. Then, ask for the check.

They make decisions larger than this every day. Don't let them make a big deal out of it. They need it, they know it so let them have it.

Go see 10 or 20 more if you need to. After you show them what they need and why there is no reason not to just assume the sale is made and go ahead making arrangements. Practice doing this with a tape recorder and a mirror so it comes off a lot smoother. After a while you will be able to sell 2 or 3 a day at higher prices.

Good luck,
DTaylor

Warmchords,

Welcome to the world of entrepreneurship and not having enough time during the day! LOL...

In terms of getting started, I recommend that you focus on 1 product/service to get your foot in the door. I think you are on the right track to offer mobile websites... it is a really hot market right now and plenty of business is available for the taking! I'd also recommend linking the mobile sites to a QR Code. It is a great selling point and the live demo of scanning a code in front of the business owner works wonders. If you specifically target businesses who are already running print ads and show the owner how having a QR Code in their ad can turn it from a "static print ad to an interactive piece of media" they almost sell themselves!

Learn everything you can about mobile websites and QR Codes and become an expert on those. Don't try to spread yourself too thin to begin with. It's better to be an expert at one thing than a jack of all trades, master of none.

Once you have built up a client base by selling mobile websites, branch out into other services. See what makes sense to your individual clients and sell it to them. Once you have proven yourself as an expert on one subject (i.e. QR Codes/Mobile Websites) the business owner will be much more inclined to listen to you on other subjects. While it is important to have knowledge on these other subjects, you mainly just need to know that you can perform the service (whether yourself or outsourced) and convey that to the business owner. They will perceive you as an expert even if you aren't 100% confident that you are. Use this perception to your advantage and upsell, upsell, upsell!!

I hope this helps and I wish you the best of luck moving forward. There are going to be ups and downs but the more you get out there the better you will get. Remember, building a business is a marathon, not a sprint!

-Ben

I do agree with a few posts above about doing what you're best at. However, you don't want to leave money on the table.

What I mean by that is DIY for what you know best and find an expert in each field to be your outsourcer. For example, you might find that your new customer for your mobile service can use SEO service or he wants SEO service. You can hire someone like me to do the SEO work while you do the mobile work. This way you'll make more money.

Warrior Ben is right. There are so many services that you could possibly offer to an offline client that you could run the risk of spending all your time bouncing back and forth between services and not enough action, and end up in information overload land, especially if you are trying to learn each strategy yourself.

Not only that but if you present too many choices to a client, you could mistakenly confuse them. And in sales on of the main things you learn is "a confused mind always says no"

Choose one strategy and stick to it, then expand out from there.

As for outsourcing, I personally feel that outsourcing is a great thing, (yes it requires new skills like learning how to manage people) but the great thing about it, is it allows you to focus on more important parts of your business rather than the technical aspects

If you truly want to know about building a true business I would recommend for you to read a book called "The E-myth" by Michael Gerber.

Shane_K