Hire a Professional

This is directed to all of those folks who try to do everything in-house in order to save money.
Please pardon my sarcasm. However I think it is so funny how we, the folks in the business of plumbing and HVAC service and contracting, consistently repeat the mantra about hiring a professional to do a professional job. Yet I keep seeing things on the online forums asking questions like what equipment you need to edit videos for their website or to put on you tube!?! Really? Really!?! Do you have enough free time to start a video production business? Would you hire you to edit a video and pay your fee? It's just like saying; "What tools do you guys recommend to do home brain surgery?". If you want to create a professional looking video, and want it done right, hire a professional. I've seen some real train wrecks that were supposed to be a marketing or training video, but were made in-house. There are many great, low cost production companies out there, who will do it at a reasonable price. They are hurting for business and you can get a great deal now. I coach, speak and consult for a living in the area of my expertise, field service management. When my air conditioning stops working, I hire a professional, licensed contractor. When I need a video produced and edited, I hire a professional production company. When I need a direct mail campaign done, I pay a professional marketing and direct mail expert. Why do I hire professionals? Because my talents could be better used elsewhere, they will do a better job, and I am too expensive to do those things anyway.

I've had to get on several of my clients who try to do it all in house, print shop, direct mail, website development, customer satisfaction surveys, etc, one even printed and designed their own t-shirts (yes, they looked like it to). They do it simply because they cannot handle the idea of someone else making a profit off of something they believe they can do themselves.

I've even known one contracting business that spent over $80,000 when it was all done, trying to create their own service management software that never worked and had all kinds of problems, all of that, to try and save a few bucks. Believe me, you cannot compete with people who do it for a living everyday. Once you look at the internal costs and time spent trying to do something that you have minimal expertise in, you'll find you would have been better off hiring a professional.

Stop stressing yourself out trying to be everything and do everything. Yes, it does cost more to pay someone else, and it is okay for someone to make a profit off of you. Focus on what you do well, and do that.

Let's try to "Walk the Talk".