💸 The Hidden Cost of Doing It All

Apr 4

Why I'm Hiring Even Before I Hit 6-Figures

And how you can reclaim your time, energy, and income by doing less — smarter.

Spoiler: Doing your own bookkeeping, inbox management, and appointment scheduling isn’t saving you money — it might actually be the thing holding your business back.

As a small business owner, especially one early in the game, it’s so tempting (and sometimes necessary) to do it all. I get it. My business, Little Light Solutions, is making around $5k/month right now. That’s not nothing, but it also means every dollar feels precious. Every tool, subscription, and hire gets scrutinized.

But here’s the thing: I'm starting to see the real cost of doing everything myself.

Let’s do the math...

If your time is worth $300/hr (which, for many consultants, strategists, and service providers — it is), and you’re spending:

4 hours a week on bookkeeping
3 hours a week sending invoices or chasing payments
2 hours a week booking calls, organizing files, or inbox triage

That’s 9 hours/week — or $2,700 in opportunity cost per week — spent doing $20/hr tasks.

And these aren’t just hours. They’re your most strategic, creative, visionary hours being spent on admin instead of growth, client care, or building your next big offer.

**✨ What You Can Outsource Now (Even If You’re Still Growing)**

You don’t need to be hitting $10k months to start getting support. In fact, outsourcing just a few tasks can create space for you to scale more sustainably — and with way less stress.

Here are a few powerful places to start:

📇 Client & Contact Management
Staying on top of relationships is key to your long-term growth — especially if most of your clients come through word-of-mouth (like mine do).
You can outsource:

Booking 1:1 follow-up calls after networking events
Organizing business cards and contact info
Managing a simple CRM or spreadsheet to track connections and follow-ups
This helps you maintain momentum and build real community, not just a contact list.

📱 Social Media Support
You can create the core content and have someone else:

Turn it into short-form posts
Schedule it across LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, etc.
Help plan and execute a consistent content strategy

That’s what I’m doing right now — I’ve already written most of my long-form content, and I’m bringing someone in to get it out there strategically and consistently.

🎨 Presentation & Visual Design
Running workshops? Hosting trainings? Speaking at events?
You don’t need to spend hours in Canva. Hire someone to:

Take your outline and create a slide deck
Plug your branded assets into presentation templates
Format PDFs or guides from your content

Even if you're a creative person, this kind of design support frees up your brain for the stuff that only you can do.

💡 The ROI of Letting Go

Hiring help might feel like an expense — but in most cases, it’s the first step toward growing your income, your impact, and your peace of mind.

Let’s break it down with a few real-world examples:

🧠 Your Time Has Value
I charge between $125–$200/hour for the work I do with clients. Even though I don’t bill hourly, understanding the value of my time helps me decide how to spend it.
So if I outsource admin or design tasks for $30–$50/hour, I actually save money and gain capacity. That frees me up to serve more clients, build better offers, and nurture the relationships that grow my business long-term.But even if you’re not charging that much per hour — outsourcing can still generate ROI.

📈 Example: A Service-Based Business
A solo business owner could only handle 20 clients a year — because all their time was spent juggling systems, scheduling, and client communication.
With the right Fractional COO support, they streamlined onboarding, implemented automations, and outsourced tasks — and they were able to nearly double their client load in under a year..
💰 Example: A Nonprofit Leader
In 2024, a nonprofit leader was stuck in survival mode — constantly applying for small grants, managing events, and trying to do it all on their own.
In 2025, they outsourced to a Fractional COO (👋), added grant writing support, and brought on an admin assistant.
In the first three months of 2025, they raised enough to fund their entire previous annual budget and are on track to triple their fundraising efforts for 2025. The only thing that changed? They had the right people in the right seats.

The truth is this:

🚨 The investment usually has to come before the increased income.

If you wait until you're underwater — overwhelmed, overbooked, and overstretched — you're more likely to hire fast, hire reactively, and miss the strategic opportunities that come with planning ahead.

But when you invest wisely, with support that’s values-aligned and growth-focused, the payoff isn’t just in revenue. It’s in:

Higher quality work
Less burnout
More confidence
Greater capacity
And a business or foundation that actually supports your life

👇 So what can you do right now?

Here are a few actionable ways to stop doing it all — and start building sustainable support:

✅ Look into subsidized hiring
You don’t have to do it all — and you don’t have to spend a fortune to bring in support.

🎓 University Internship Programs
For example, UW–Madison offers internships where they’ll pay half the salary of the student you hire. Many colleges have similar programs funded through state or federal initiatives. It’s a great way to bring on enthusiastic, early-career support while helping someone build experience.
💼 Local Workforce Development Boards
These programs can help cover wages — sometimes up to 100% — when hiring veterans, young adults, or individuals re-entering the workforce. Many also provide support with job training or onboarding. Reach out to your local job center to explore what's available in your area.
🌍 Ethical International Virtual Assistants
Hiring globally can be a win-win when done right. Platforms like OnlineJobs.ph connect you with highly skilled VAs from around the world. If you go this route, commit to paying a fair local wage, building a respectful working relationship, and offering clarity and consistency. Ethical outsourcing isn’t about getting cheap labor — it’s about creating shared value across communities.

✅ Hire a contractor
You don’t need a full-time employee. There are incredible freelancers and VAs who specialize in:

Social media
Bookkeeping
Inbox and scheduling
Design and content formatting

💡 And if you’re looking for a higher-level, strategic partner to help you manage growth, streamline operations, or prepare for expansion—👉 Hiring a Fractional COO (like me!) gives you access to C-suite level expertise without the cost of a full-time salary and benefits.

You get tailored systems, focused project leadership, and long-term strategy — all in a way that fits your business’s current stage and budget.

Websites like Upwork, We Are Rosie, and Belay are great places to start for freelance support. And if you’re ready to bring on someone to help manage the big picture, let’s talk about what Fractional COO support could look like for your business.

✅ Invest in better software
There’s a tool for almost everything — and often, the right one can save you hours every week.

🧾 Example: One of my publishing clients was spending weeks every quarter managing royalty payments… until we found a service that automated the process. Now? It’s done in hours.

Here are 5 smart software tools to explore — especially for things you might not have thought to outsource yet:

📝 Scribe
Create step-by-step guides from your screen activity — instantly. Great for building SOPs, training manuals, or documenting how-tos without having to explain it over and over again.
Best for: Small teams building processes on the fly.
💼 TeamSense
Text-based employee management — no apps, no logins. Employees get scheduling, call-out forms, and communication via text.
Best for: Businesses with frontline workers, like salons, wellness spaces, or restaurants.
🍴 MarketMan
Inventory and supplier management for food-based businesses. Helps restaurants, cafes, and food trucks track ingredients, reduce waste, and simplify ordering.
Best for: Food and beverage entrepreneurs who are drowning in receipts and spreadsheets.
📋 WizeHire
Job posting + candidate screening + onboarding all in one. It’s built for small business hiring without the corporate HR headaches.
Best for: Founders hiring their first (or next) employee without a full HR team.
🧠 Trainual
Think of it as a living employee handbook meets training platform. Store SOPs, workflows, videos, and more in one searchable hub.
Best for: Scaling businesses who want to train new hires consistently without starting from scratch every time.

These tools might not be household names, but they’re game-changers for business owners who want to work smarter — not harder.

✅ Start small, but start smart
You don’t need to hire a full-time team member or commit to a 40-hour/month retainer right out the gate. Even bringing someone on for just 5–10 hours/month can create massive relief and momentum.

It could look like:

A VA who handles your inbox 2x per week
A contractor who turns your long-form content into social posts
A designer who polishes your Canva templates for upcoming workshops
Someone to organize your client files and prep onboarding materials

The key is to choose one area that drains your time or energy, and bring in help that creates space for you to stay in your zone of genius.

This approach lets you:

Get comfortable with delegation
Build strong working relationships
Stay within budget while still expanding capacity
Test what kind of support actually makes the biggest difference

Scaling your business doesn’t have to start with a leap — a small, strategic step is often the smartest (and most sustainable) move you can make.

Final Thoughts

Hiring before it “feels safe” is scary. But so is staying stuck, overwhelmed, and on the brink of burnout.

You don’t have to do this alone.
And you shouldn’t have to.

If you’re not sure what to offload first, what systems or services could save you time, or how to hire the right person for the job — that’s exactly where I come in.

As a Fractional COO and seasoned hiring manager, I help small business owners like you: