I can't afford to see a Movie (Optimizing your Time)

I will never forget the time when a very successful friend of mine told me he could not afford to see a movie. At the time, he was making more than $.5M a year so I questioned him about this. He explained to a very young Ron Browning that it was not the cost of the movie, but the cost of him not spending the same amount of time working on his business. Since he was earning an average of $200/hr it would cost him $400 to see the movie. While I admit this is a bit extreme it gave me a better perspective on the way I spent my time. At the time I was still in Graduate School and had started my own financial services business. I realized that delivering documents to clients was costing me a lot more than just the savings of the courier. It was costing me the focus on my core business and driving revenue. Once I started paying a courier, I realized that I had a LOT more time and began to notice the difference almost immediately in my revenue. How does this apply to Funeral Homes? Well, I know many of you that work on your own websites, do your own print ads, and manage a lot of other similar tasks to "save money". You and I both know the end product is inferior to a professional product but the savings that you've estimated are totally inaccurate. Imagine if you would have paid a professional to do your print ad. It might have cost you $250. What you don't realize is the impact that a professional representation means to your audience. Also, a professional ad (or website) will have higher conversion rates because people are more likely to transact with what appears to be an established organization. How many hours have you spent doing print ads, website changes, or similar tasks in which you are not the most qualified to be doing them? Wonder why you don't get business from your ads or website? But you're saving money? Imagine if you'd hired a professional and used the time and energy you have to go out into the community and promote your Funeral Home. The same time management can be applied to embalming and other items.  Sure, you might save the fee for someone else to do it but the true cost is not having the most valuable member of the team doing what they do best, being the face of the organization in the community. Next time you're doing a task that you are not trained to do or have other resources that can do it for a fee (design, web development, etc.) ask yourself if you would have been able to generate as much or more money if you let a professional do the work. You'll have better results, a more professional image, and have put your time to significantly better use. Can you afford to go to a movie?