As an entrepreneur, you’ll always need more hours in the day and more days in the week. Since that’s not going to happen, you need a Plan B to free up your time and energy. Startups are scrappy, and entrepreneurs like, and most times have to run lean. I get it. My business is bootstrapped, so I spend every dollar as if it was my own, because, well, it is.

Sometimes, though, when you’re trying to save money by doing it all yourself, you don’t realize what it actually costs you. The financial costs are obvious, yes, but what about lost opportunities, personal and family time, sleep, and the overall impact on your health?

Finding resources to help you in the day to day of running your business can be time-consuming and can lead to a downward, unproductive spiral:

1. You think it’s taking too long to find specialized help so decide to do it yourself.
2. Then you realize you’re spending more time on administration needs and less time growing your business.
3. You wake up in a daze sick, tired, and behind the eight ball.

Remember, when you invest the time to find the right people to help you instead of doing that work yourself, life gets a lot easier.

That said I try to be frugal and self-sufficient like so many entrepreneurs do. I also know my strengths and weaknesses, and when to invest in help. My super-powers do not include bookkeeping, marketing, or managing my calendar. I run a services business, so my time is best spent making sure I have an amazing team, and that customers love working with us. Sure I can send an invoice, schedule a meeting, or organize a team lunch. But when I say yes to those things, it means saying no to finding my next hire or having coffee with a valued client. If you’re in the operational weeds right now, take a minute to consider what you’re saying no to.

When I started my business a year ago, one of the first pieces of advice I got was to find a bookkeeper. Every decision to get help is a tradeoff between time and money, so I set up Quickbooks myself and managed it for a few months. I was getting paid and paying bills. It wasn’t pretty, but it worked. Finally, after entering a mile high stack of receipts and failing to invoice a client, I resolved that I would never do my bookkeeping again. Before the quarter was over, I found Primarily Bookkeeping, the perfect solution for small and micro businesses. Local firms like Denali offer a suite of accounting and financial modeling services to tech startups and other growing businesses.

Maybe you’re still leading every function in the company, or maybe you’ve already got a few leaders on board. Either way, delegating and outsourcing work that falls outside of your strengths and areas of passion is a sure way to get time back, and keep your focus on what matters most. Doing what you’re best at will re-energize you if you’re feeling bogged down. It’s in your nature to spread yourself thin, so look for these signs that it’s time to hand something off:

• It used to be manageable, but now it’s taking up too much of your time.
• You dread it, avoid it, and procrastinate.
• It drains your energy. You can’t seem to focus.
• You’re a detailed person, but you keep making mistakes.
• You can bluff your way through, but as your business matures you need an expert.

As entrepreneurs, we’re lucky to be in a time and place where you can find top notch CFOs, CMOs, CIOs, etc. for hire. It’s up to you to identify what you need and let others do their day job so you can do yours.