⚖️ Time Value of Work Calculator
Every 'free' task you do yourself is paid for in hours, and your hours have a price. If your working hour is worth $100 and a task takes 4 hours, doing it yourself costs $400 no matter who you are. Here is the DIY-versus-outsource math, settled in ten seconds.
Use your billing rate, or your true hourly rate from the Job Cost calculator.
True cost of doing it yourself
$400
You save per task by outsourcing
$250
Savings per year at this frequency
$12,000
Doing this task yourself costs $400 in your time; outsourcing costs $150. That is $250 saved every time, and at 4 times a month it is $12,000 a year, plus 192 hours back to spend on work only you can do. Hand it off.
Estimates for planning, not financial advice. Your real numbers will vary; that is exactly why you track them.
Does this resonate?
The highest-leverage hours are the ones spent with a guide
Figuring everything out alone is the most expensive DIY of all. Dee has walked this road and coaches founders through it directly.
Work with Dee →Good questions about this math
What number should I use for my hourly value?
The honest one: what an hour of your best work actually produces or bills. Freelancers use their billing rate. Employees can use their true hourly rate (salary divided by real hours). Business owners should use what an hour spent on sales or delivery earns, which is usually the highest number of the three.
Doesn't this assume I would spend the freed hours productively?
Fair challenge, and it is the real test. The math only pays off if the reclaimed hours go to higher-value work or genuine rest that keeps you effective. If outsourced hours become scrolling hours, the savings are theoretical. Decide what the freed time is FOR before you delegate.
What should a business owner outsource first?
Tasks that are low-value per hour, recurring, and easy to specify: bookkeeping, scheduling, basic design, cleaning, data entry. Keep anything where your judgment is the product. The pattern: delegate the $20-an-hour tasks so you can do the $200-an-hour ones.
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