When the slate of topics for 2022 blogs was decided last year, June’s topic was penciled in as the economy. At the time we didn’t anticipate spiraling inflation and supply demands and utter craziness…and yet here we are. The topic seems more germane than ever.

We exercise control over so little of what transpires, yet within our own realms, we do have a modicum of choice. How do we exercise that choice to maximize our personal/private business economies? This month we’ll look at five areas…let’s begin with inevitable tradeoffs, most notably time versus money.

We are often forced to choose between a universally limited commodity, like time, and a currently limited commodity, like money. Whether we are needing to maximize assets in our businesses or looking at a change of employment, intwined values of time and money affect decision making. Hint: Focus on expanding your skill set (value) to make your time worth more as well. This holds true in considering whether to accept a promotion or in selling coffee on a street corner.  

Not surprisingly, a recent study by  Visual Capitalist interviewed 22,000 internet users, and reported millennials valued time and experience over money. So did those in their 30’s. Current labor shortages are exacerbated by retiring seniors not being replaced by their younger counterparts, who just aren’t interested in those jobs. It’s more than that, true, but differing expectations factor into the situation.

What happens in your business when you must choose between hiring someone or working longer hours? As owners, we inevitably feel forced to sacrifice time to keep the bottom line in the black. But what if we could increase the shortage of funds to acquire more time? Follow me here. What if we could tweak our businesses to increase product prices or attract more buyers, allowing us to hire someone, thereby increasing our personal time?

Science Direct reports that when the product/commodity/service offers the additional element of being an experience, consumers will sacrifice their money in favor of the more expensive alternative. This requires a little creativity on our parts, but marketing our businesses or services as an experience changes the equation, doesn’t it? It can change the products we sell, the way we sell them and marketing campaigns…all of which can increase our profits. I know, it sounds like a roundabout way to be able to hire extra help, but it’s these circuitous routes to prosperity that make the difference. Forbes notes the value of these little things in business management.

It's still tricky. A primary way to determine when to hire an additional employee involves analysis of business bottlenecks. Here’s how I translated the abstract (since a number of pages featured higher math): the optimal time to hire additional help was before time constricted profits. As you build momentum in your business, hire before you flatten the curve by not being able to do it all yourself. Like renting a house with an option to buy, consider hiring someone part time with the promise of additional hours as profits continue to rise. Factor in perks over cash if you need to—like offering travel miles, splitting up season tickets at a sports venue, or time sharing a condo. Join other small business owners in the Chamber to offer selling perks at each other’s businesses.

As small business owners, we may enjoy less capital than a national brand, but we also have more options available to us. Let’s take advantage of those options and exercise more control over the whole time versus money conundrum. They’re both pretty valuable these days.