Pay somebody else or do it yourself?

[funkydorydawn]

What do you do yourself which another person could do? and vice versa?

We are paying our fab saleswoman (the Badger lol) on commission sales

DP has spent all day sticking on labels and bagging products.


What about you?

dawn
xx

[Arianna]

Hi Dawn,

Well I could pay someone to do all our admin work - answering phones, filing, responding to e-mails, but I don't - I do it myself. I might hire a part-time secretary/staff member when/if we ever manage to get an office. But for now I do all the grunt work - from top to bottom. LOL

Arianna

[trogette]

I don't make enough yet to pay anyone for my stuff, and dh is too zealous about clients' privacy to employ anyone to do his stuff :rolleyes:

[tracey2756]

I paid people over Christmas to help me pack but TBH after I had explained how everything got packed, I could have done it myself in that time

I would love to pay someone to do my book and Accounts, but I used to work in accounts and that was my job, it seems a bit silly

[stokey]

a bit of a change of subject but still sort of the same thing


would you rather your bloke do DIY in the house or pay to get 'men in' ?

[trogette]

if it got done i wouldn't mind either way, lol.

[Daffs]

I wouldn't care Stokey, as long as the job was done! Nothing more aggrevating than waiting for someone to do something. I thought this about our garden last weekend but ending up going and doing it myself 20061008

To answer the original question - admin, answering phones, emails, invoicing, chasing things up, that sort of thing I hate.

[funkydorydawn]

Given the choice I'd pay a bloke to do it - my DP is very handy but it takes him an age to get stuff done, I have to keep the kids out of the way and he ALWAYS leaves a bit unfinished 20061008

dawn
xx

[sadierhianne]

Hmmm i'd never pay anyone ever again to come and do anything but that's a long story.

Someone mentioned getting someone to do labels - how much do you pay someone for doing stuff like that?

I am making my own labels - only because i need to use minimum ink and i have so many products that need an individual label it would cost far too much and raise the prices of my products. Problem being, i detest chopping them all up and was thinking about asking one of the local mums who i know would like some casual part time work but i don't know what i should be paying her - i don't want to insult her but it ain't exactly rocket science and it doesn't take very long but then again i do labels as i need them, i'd print of thousands if i was getting someone to do them.

So would i pay per sheet of labels or per hour and what's the rates of pay? She wouldn't be employed as such just cash in hand 'cause i think that i'd be looking at maybe two hours work a month, maybe less, hopefully more in future.

Thanks

Anne

[obscure]

Hi Anne

What kind of labels are you thinking of? Preprinted one for returns or printed with each of your customer names on as the orders come in?

For the former try Wendy at www.creativeprinting.co.uk - she has excellent prices on label printing.

if you were to pay someone I guess you'd be looking at around £5 an hour? I don't really know though its been a long time since I did temping admin kind of work LOL

:) Sadie

[sadierhianne]

Thank you sadie - beautiful name - so much so i gave it to one of my kids!

I package my own base ingredients so each package has a label - because my ethical conduct requires minimal everything i simply print off a reduced ink background onto a sheet of A4 sticky paper, then i reprint the label over that, it's all divided so it's just a matter of chopping down the segments - i hate doing it, it requires concentration and accuracy - because i have so many different base ingredients with different attributes i have loads and loads of different labels to produce. It'[s not just the base ingredients that need labels either, quite a few other products are packed in the same bags and require a similar label. I do all the address labels myself, they are individual and easy.

Even when i am making megga millions ;-) because i know that i am using minimal ink ( for ecological purposes ) and the labels are made using minimal energy ( apart from my own ) it makes them far more friendly, they look the part on my packaging and are just as i like them, so i doubt that i will ever get a printer to do them - would be a million times easier for me but then that's part of what my business stands for, not ease or convenience but making sure that everything is as environmentally friendly as possible - right down to the method of postage, the packaging etc. I spend hours and hours making sure that everything is just so because i don't want to be just another company selling natural products, i have to have good ethics to support my products. There are quite a few other online stores with similar ethics and i want mine to be up there with them.

Actually when i am making megga millions i will be able to afford to have someone come in and make the labels ;-) MIght have found a company that makes the right sized labels and some software to make it easier by then - but for now.....

Just hate chopping labels - i will offer £5 an hour then and hope that she can chop fast;-)

will take a look at the site though because good companies are always good to know - thank you!

Anne

[Sarah]

I pay my daughter to go to the post office for me everyday. Well I say pay - it's more like I give her money when she asks for it :hysterica

[sadierhianne]

If i asked my son to go to the post office he'd get half way, lob the stuff over someones wall and come back and ask for the money - i gave him a job when i first took all my stock, i'd sacked him before he'd even started!

No he's not that bad but he has tourettes so his confidence isn't all that good, he'd be really good at helping me out if he thought he could - had thought about asking him to do the labels but he has about as much self control as my 3 year old so there's be no chance of getting a straight line out of him ;-) he has the concentration span of a 3 year old too so getting him to work for me really isn't an option which, is a shame - i just cough up the dosh instead.

Anne xx