How much is an hour of your time worth? I ask clients this question when they insist on spending hours on areas of their business where they have no training or expertise. Certain business tasks related to the efficient running of your company can take the untrained person hours or even days to understand and set in motion. It is more cost and time efficient to hire the right professional especially when you add to the equation the fact that you are not earning money while you are trying to balance your books, put up a website or develop a marketing plan.

I recently took my own advice when a program crash meant an unplanned update to Microsoft's Office, Home & Business 2010. While I picked up the basic components I knew I wasn't using it to its fullest advantage. So I had a choice to spend hours finding answers to my questions on how to have it work best for my businesses or hire a consultant. I choose the latter, made a quick payment via PayPal, and then armed with a list of queries I had an online session with one of JN Software Consulting's experts.

Questions were answered and she made some suggestions that I hadn't thought of. Done in an hour, ready to move on to what I do best which is coaching!

The new bed and toys purchased, cats warned, crate has a clean blanket and forms have been filled out. We have started the process of adoption; now feeling ready to take another dog into our home and give Mia a much needed companion.

The first trip to the humane society revealed the expected cases of mistreated dogs & puppies purchased on a whim but it would also uncover some much loved family pets. They are the victim of societal changes; families who can no longer afford the food and vet bills, while others were surrendered because elderly owners couldn't take care of them or the owners had passed away.

It is good idea to add pets to your Will as well as making sure the estate executor and a few trusted persons know exactly what you would like done with furry family members. Chris & I have spoken to those who will be in charge of our pets and as an added incentive if they don't follow our wishes to the letter I will come back to haunt them.

Postscript

We are celebrating Small Business Week! October's articles are intended to help and inspire as you take your business forward. We didn't forget that life is not all about work so there are some humor & lifestyle articles as well as book reviews to relax with. If you haven't had it yet, don't forget to schedule your annual mammogram.