You Can’t Pay the Mortgage with “People”

You Can’t Pay the Mortgage with “People”

People are astounded when I tell them I’ve never had any kind of staff at all. I do use outside firms for technical, printing, and accounting work. I don’t believe in “virtual assistants” because they don’t focus solely on me, they need to be managed, and they’re usually not helpful. (Save the letters, most of the time virtual assistants require more work than they’re worth.)

Most solo practices don’t need overhead, meaning they don’t need anyone on salary or even “permanent temps.” The needs for “staff” are often just an expensive ego need fulfilled, indicating you’re doing well enough to have “people.” I’ve found people making $150,000 annually paying for staff! That’s absurd. Personally, I know you can run upwards of a $5 million business without staff if you organize it correctly and minimize labor and deliverables.

And then there are the people who want me to do them a favor—although they couch it as doing me a favor—by interviewing me, and tell me by email that I should log on to their automated scheduling calendar. I guess their “favor” means they don’t have to pick up the phone and ask. I merely hit a button that says “delete.” But, maybe they can get their “people” to find guests who need a favor….