What Would You do if You got $100K for Your Business?

Over the weekend my friend Dave asked me an interesting question regarding my business: What would you do if someone handed you a bunch of money today? The root of this question, to me, is this: what would I pay for that I currently do myself? The context of the conversation that lead up to that question follows suit. He also asked me if I’ll ever grow to hire someone, and who that would be. After talking through so solutions I came up with an an answer.

The Solo Entreprenur’s Problem

I’ve always viewed the solo entrepreneur’s problem as this: you either have time or money to spend and starting out, it’s usually more of the former. So we do things ourselves.

As we start to get more money, it’s hard to depart with that hard earned cash so we keep spending time. The system is working after all. The problem is that it’s not getting us to our full potential. A bike will get us from NY to LA. A plane with do it faster, more efficiently, and we won’t be burnt out by the end.

So many of us (myself included) first need to get over that mental block of, “I need to do it all.” You can do that by asking yourself, “What are the things for my business that only I can or should do?” Then you know what you can hire out for – either to a person or software.

Luckily, I’ve already put some thought into this.

Who Would I Hire?

I’ve identified 2 major areas where I could use help: things I do that most people could be trained to do, and things I’m bad at, or don’t have the right time to invest in. I’d hire one person from each of these areas.

First Hire: An Assistant

There’s a ton of little tasks that I could definitely outsource to another person. My morning routine (journal, schedule the day, read) is mine. I like to do those as a way to start my day. But things like sending emails, compiling my weekly newsletter, updating my social media automations, proofing blog posts, and much more can be done by someone else.

A big area for this is my podcast. After I send out the show for edit, I add the bumpers and that’s about the only other thing that I specifically need to do. But there’s also getting and reading the transcript, checking the audio to make sure it’s correct, compiling show notes, writing the description, creating promo images, and adding it to WordPress. I’d save hours a month by hiring this part out.

What Would I do Instead?

With this found time, I’d have the ability to produce more content – free and paid. My main goal as a course developer is to build trust in the people I want to sell too. If they don’t trust me, I can’t expect then to want to learn from me. That means I need to put out good content, consistently.

I have the plan. More time to execute would be incredible.

Second Hire: A Marketing & Affiliates Manager

Here’s the stuff I’m bad at. I’ve always taken a “field of dreams” approach to marketing. Building trust and forming the right message has always been a one-on-one thing for me, because most of my freelance clients have come from word of mouth, or repeat business.

I would hire a marketing manager to help me craft the right message for my courses and products, and advise me on the best ways to market myself to the right audience. I’d also have them be the primary contact to my affiliates, as I haven’t been great at communicating with them.

How Would This Help Me?

Well, just having a professional marketing to bounce ideas off of would be immensely helpful, but I’d also be paying them to make sure my marketing campaigns work. The idea is the money I’m spending on them would save me more, as I wouldn’t be wasting money on bad marketing efforts.

What About You?

Have you gone through this exercise? Would would you hire? Would would you do with a $100,000 investment? Let me know in the comments!