Leaving aside the risk of the job going horribly wrong (which actually can’t happen if you monitor properly, but that’s another story) is there a risk that the job will cost more because you delegated it? Let’s unpick that….
There are three options
1 – They are cheaper AND quicker
I’m thinking about when I get my PA (hi Claire!) to do my invoicing for me. She’s quicker at it than I am, and she’s cheaper per hour than me. It’s a total win-win no-brainer. She even does a better job than I do! And enjoys it more than I do (not difficult). it’s win-win-win-win!
2 – They are cheaper, but slower.
There are some things that I can do quicker than Claire, because I’ve been doing them for years. Of course, with time she’ll get faster and probably overtake me – another reason to delegate – but lets assume that I will ALWAYS be faster at some things, and let’s ignore quality and enjoyment, and just look at COST. Should I still delegate them?
a) Cheaper overall
If I’m slightly quicker but she is much cheaper – often the case actually – then it’s still cheaper overall for me to delegate that job. An easy decision.
b) More expensive overall
If I’m MUCH faster than her then my speed might outweigh the additional cost of me doing it. But then, does it….?? Ever??
Suppose I have a two hour job but it’ll take Claire 6 hours, and my hourly rate is £80 and hers is £30, so the cost of me doing it is £160 and the cost of her doing it is £180.
This means I have saved £20 by doing it myself.
Is it worth doing 2 hours of work to save £20?
I’m working for £10/hour!
And if you added up a number of jobs, say 6 hours worth, isn’t a day on the beach worth £60 to me?
![](https://www.chriscroft.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/IMG_8719-1024x768.jpg)
Or the opportunity cost – those extra hours could be used for thinking about new ideas, new courses, new products, researching new subjects, getting new customers, learning new technology, expanding into new countries, planning next year’s strategy…. – easily worth £20 or £60.
So when you start thinking about the real cost of you and the real saving of delegating, it’s always worth it.
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PS – I really struggled to make those figures add up to it being cheaper for me to do it. Is there anything in the world that takes Claire 6 hours that I can really do in 2 hours?? And I suspect that things that I THINK I can do in 2 hours really take me five or six! Have you ever noticed how long admin really takes?
And my hourly rate is definitely more than £80. So if I put my real hourly rate (currently £750 for a Zoom course) and my real rate of inefficiency (probably slower than Claire) then I am REALLY expensive compared to her. Of course, there are some things she can’t do, like running Zoom courses, so I must do those, but anything she CAN do she should do.
…even before you get to:
- Learning = reason to delegate
- She enjoys it more = reason to delegate
- She does it better quality = reason to delegate
- Becoming faster with time = reason to delegate
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