What we will cover:
Growing Your Business? Stop Fixing the Printer.
When you first start to grow a small business, you do everything.
You answer the phone.
You send the invoices.
You chase payments.
You fix the printer.
And in the early days, that makes sense. Cash is tight. You’re wearing all the hats. You’re building something from scratch.
But here’s the truth no one talks about enough:
What helps you survive at the start can quietly hold you back when you’re trying to scale.
The £150 Per Hour Printer Problem
Let’s say your time is worth £150 per hour.
That’s not ego, that’s what your expertise generates for your business.
Now imagine you spend 45 minutes trying to fix a temperamental printer.
That’s £112.50 of your productive time gone.
And for what?
A job that an IT support specialist might have fixed in 10 minutes, and at a much lower hourly rate than yours.
We often fall into the trap of thinking:
“I’ll just do it myself, it’ll save money.”
But does it?
In the short term, maybe you avoided a £40 call-out fee.
In reality, you may have just lost £112.50 worth of revenue-generating time.
That’s not saving money. That’s expensive multitasking.
Scaling Means Protecting Your Time
When you scale a business, your role changes.
You are no longer:
- The printer fixer
- The website updater
- The social media poster
- The spreadsheet formatter
You are:
- The strategist
- The decision-maker
- The relationship builder
- The revenue generator
Your highest value is thinking, planning, and leading, not troubleshooting Wi-Fi.
Good Expenses vs Bad Expenses
Not all spending is wasteful. In fact, some spending is what allows you to grow.
❌ Bad Expenses
- Tools you don’t use
- Subscriptions you forgot about
- Vanity software that doesn’t improve efficiency
- Buying equipment to “save money” when you rarely use it
✅ Good Expenses
- A bookkeeper who keeps your numbers accurate
- An IT specialist who prevents downtime
- A VA who handles admin
- A marketing expert who brings in consistent leads
- Professional advisors who help you make better decisions
A good expense either:
- Saves you time
- Makes you money
- Reduces risk
- Improves efficiency
If it does one (or more) of those, it’s probably not a cost, it’s an investment.
The Short-Term Trap
Trying to save money by doing everything yourself feels responsible.
But scaling requires a mindset shift.
The question changes from:
“How much does this cost?”
To:
“What is my time best spent doing?”
Because every minute spent on low-value tasks is a minute not spent growing the business.
And growth requires focus.
Outsourcing Also Strengthens the Small Business Economy
There’s another important piece here.
When you outsource to:
- A local IT provider
- A freelance designer
- A marketing consultant
- An accountant
- A bookkeeper
You’re not just freeing up your time.
You’re helping another small business thrive.
You’re creating:
- Collaboration
- Referrals
- Stronger local networks
- A healthier business community
Small businesses grow best when they support each other.
Outsourcing isn’t weakness.
It’s smart delegation.
It’s ecosystem thinking.
The Real Question
If your time is worth £150 per hour…
Should you really be fixing the printer?
Scaling isn’t about doing more.
It’s about doing less of the wrong things.
And sometimes the most powerful growth strategy is simply deciding:
“This isn’t my job anymore.”
If you’re feeling stretched, overwhelmed, or stuck doing everything yourself, it might not be a capacity problem.
It might be a delegation problem.
