Building a small business requires entrepreneurs to wear many hats. Numerous books have been written about all of these roles such as The E Myth. By wearing all of these hats, the belief is that the entrepreneur will reduce costs and increase the bottom line. At the end of the year, that hard working entrepreneur is very happy when he or she reads black and not red.

Yet, even if they read black should they be happy? Why, because they probably failed to embrace this tip.

Pay yourself first

Mistake: Wearing all the hats and not paying yourself what you are worth. Entrepreneurs wear many hats when they establish their business. As time progresses, they continue to wear these hats because money is tight and they believe that they can do things better. The end of the year approaches and the company made a profit. By paying yourself first, you will focus on what you do really well and delegate those other activities to others at a far lower rate.

After providing this proactive suggestion to my clients, I usually hear the following reactions just to name a few:

• I cant afford to pay myself.
• You dont understand the business that I am in.
• What a ridiculous suggestion. And you call yourself a business coach?

I then ask them a series of questions. (And yes, they are usually still around because they really want to be paid more.)

• How much were you making in your previous life?
• Do you want to make the same, more (please estimate) or less (please estimate)?
• How many hours are you working wearing all of these hats?

At this point, I ask them to do the math. Take your total hours and divide it into your desire income.

Are you happy with that hourly rate?

If not, then lets answer the next series of questions.

• Wearing what hat provides you with the greatest income?
• Wearing what hat provides you with the greatest sense of accomplishment?
• Are you wearing that hat as much as you should to grow your business to the next level?
• What would it take to be able to wear that hat more?

If you begin by paying yourself first and rewarding yourself for those efforts that dramatically grow your business results, you will find that you will have money to have other people wear those other necessary hats. When your efforts are spread among a variety of hats of different sizes, shapes and colors, your overall achievements are diluted.

Focus on what you do well and reward yourself for those accomplishments. As the old and true belief goes Success Breeds Success.

P.S. The previous tip Invest in Your People is available at Ezine articles.