Solopreneurs... what part of your business do you dread?

[CallBettie]

For me it's sales! If you could outsource one piece of work what would it be?

[Freelancier]

I used to dread the accounting/business end of running a business... but then I had a business fail because my partners messed up the accounting/business end of it. And around the same time, I heard the phrase "that which we resist, persists" and realized that if I didn't want to make the same mistakes, I needed to attack the things I dread so that they don't bite me in the butt because of my own fears.

So... there's nothing I really dread or would outsource because I dread it. There are activities that I find that are money-losers for me, so those I outsource... like doing my taxes, which I pay far less to have a professional do it and I use those hours to earn more money instead. Also, mowing the lawn. Better to pay a pro $50 a week for his crew's half-hour than for me to spend 2 hours on it.

What I'm getting to is that if you dread something, you better get good enough at it or it'll come back to bite you. After you are good enough at it, you can then look to see if outsourcing it will be more profitable than just doing it yourself.

[Harold Mansfield]

On my blog it takes me a long time to write blog posts even though I only write about 30% of them. Unfortunately it cannot be outsourced because reviews, and TBT's have to be in my own words. Social Media used to add to that time, but I pretty much have that part streamlined now and schedule SM updates in advance.

As for my main business of web design and support, I spend A LOT of time with people who don't know how to use their own computers and devices. It's actually becoming a problem since that is not what I do, nor should I have to teach people how to do simple things like clear a cache, send email attachments, or set their email up on their own computers.

I'm pretty much over people who have been in business for years and still don't know the basics.

[Paul]

Couple good points. As Freelancier suggested,if you dread it, don't avoid it! It will cost you and sometimes dearly. Better to hit it head on than letting whatever it is go unattended. Like Harold, you should work to streamline and preplan. That makes your "dread" much more manageable. In any case don't dismiss the dreaded parts of your business, in fact you may even want to embrace those parts because that is sometimes where you can smoke the competition! They probably don't like those parts either.

[JustinSkinner]

Ah Freelancier nailed it on the head. Taxes. I hate messing around with them. I hired a good CPA and never looked back.

And mowing the lawn too

[Fulcrum]

Having to tell customers that their in house maintenance programs suck, they use incorrect settings and expect top line throughput, and that they need to spend $10K to replace bearings and realign their equipment.

[webdesignphx]

Accounting hands down!

[huggytree]

i really dont mind any of it....i see all of it as a game/challenge.......

i only hate dealing with poorly organized remodelers/builders because im anal and organized

[billbenson]

I as well think freelancer had a lot of good points. Except I only pay $35 to have my yard mowed.

I hate clerical work. That includes taxes, accounting, and order entry.

Unlike the OP, I enjoy sales. Even though I'm naturally a shy guy I decided sales is where the money is and I needed to come out of my comfort zone. Think about it. Asking a girl out on a date is sales. And the girl accepting the date and going on the date is also selling. Getting a job is sales. A lot of what you do in life is sales. That's one you can't really get away from. And to me, getting that big deal that makes me $40k or whatever is a real adrenalin rush. And again I'm the shy guy. But I've come out of that comfort zone so many times over my life that It's now natural for me.

[Wozcreative]

I have a difficult time "being in the zone" and then having someone call me or having to stop for a conference call that I rarely ever need to be on.