Time is not money, because it’s an auto-renewable resource. Money is scarce and hard to come by. Time is abundant and free.

It’s not uncommon to hear, “I make $50 an hour, so it’s cheaper for me to hire someone for $10 an hour to do that data entry.” It’s not true. The logic is flawed.

Every morning you wake up, you get 24 hours for free. Regardless of what you bill your time at — $50 in this case — your cost is $0.

If you’re hiring someone to do something you’re capable of, you need to compare the costs — $10 versus $0 in this case — and then temper that with what you’d otherwise produce with those hours.

If you hire someone to do something monotonous so that you can make an important sale, that adds value. If you hire someone to do something monotonous so that you can go for lunch, it’s a waste.

This is especially true and super important for small businesses that are just starting out. The capital is scarce and the to-do list is long.

The value of your time comes from what you produce, not from what you charge per hour.

Your time costs you nothing. Charge yourself accordingly.

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