This is the second of a two-part excerpt from Me, Myself & Inc.: A Synergized World, An Energized Business, Living Your Ultimate Life by Sherré DeMao.

In looking at how your business is costing you, don't just look at the money that is being spent. What about the money that is not being made? One of the biggest pitfalls that startup entrepreneurs fall into is not hiring when they should, so their time is spent on necessary but non-income-generating activities. I have lost count of the number of times I have heard, "I should have hired her or him about a year or two ago." Typically an entrepreneur will wait until a critical point or a near breaking point of stress to hire that first employee or that first manager. What is more important to notice, however, is the realization of two other resources--time and people--that were not being effectively leveraged. By hiring someone, the entrepreneur is able to better utilize time to generate more income--three resources working together vs. one not working.

People are not just to be viewed as individuals you bring into your company on your payroll. People can also mean other companies and their people going to work for you . . . payroll, cleaning, bookkeeping, answering service, delivery, accounting, legal, marketing, training, IT support--and the list goes on. What tasks are you still doing in your business that you shouldn't be doing? What are your employees doing that is keeping them from income-generating activities?

Another aspect of an entrepreneur's time to consider relates to where she spends her time outside of the business under the guise of creating more business. The research my firm conducted in 2004 showed that high-growth entrepreneurs were strategically involved in two or three organizations on boards or committees. Want to guess how many organizations the stagnant or no-growth entrepreneurs were involved in? Whenever I ask this of a group I am speaking to, their answer is unanimously "zero." But this is actually not the case. Our research indicated that the no-growth business owners were involved in five or more organizations. They were literally volunteering their profits away. Clearly this was not a strategic use of their time.

Because being involved in the right organizations in the right way is a valuable strategy for your business, let me help you make better choices. In any organization, whether it is civic, charitable, professional or trade, there are actually four levels of involvement: member, participant, involved and strategically involved. The first level is membership. As a member you may pay dues or decide to join in the group's purpose. You will likely receive information, regular communications and some ancillary benefits. But if you are doing nothing else, then you are merely a member. The second level is being a participant. You receive communications and decide to attend functions or events that the group hosts. You meet and greet and most likely pass out several business cards in the process. But the reality is, this is still a very superficial involvement where acquaintances are made vs. relationships being built. The best way to build relationships is to get involved.

The third level is being involved, but not necessarily in the most optimal way. Too many business owners don't take control of their involvements, but rather let their involvements take control of them. Here's the likely scenario: You become a member, start to participate in the organization and then are approached and asked to be on a certain committee or the board. You say yes, and it may be only later that you wonder what you got yourself into.

Here's what high-growth entrepreneurs do. They know exactly how they are going to be involved in an organization even before they pay their membership dues or decide to join the cause. This is the fourth and most desired level, which is being strategically involved. They have researched the opportunities in the organization where they can make a noticeable difference. They take control and get involved where they can best serve and where it will best serve their company in a win-win scenario. How do they gauge this? By considering these three things:

1. The group will put them in direct interaction with their ideal target customer.
2. The group will put them in direct interaction with those who would refer business to them.
3. The group offers valuable access to resources or services that will help their business operationally.

High-growth entrepreneurs with employees also understand the value of getting employees strategically involved in the right organizations, resulting in spreading the wealth of the people resource for greater exposure of the company as a whole, vs. being viewed as the only one that counts in the company.

As you can see, better use of people and better choices can capture a great deal of time for the entrepreneur and assure that the time is well-spent. Time as an asset is undervalued, even though everyone wishes he or she had more.

Let's take a look at the other resource--technology.

How can technology make your business better, serve your customers more effectively or make operations run more smoothly? After our entire office became networked, I realized the miracle of synchronizing and working with offline files. No more transferring back and forth on disks or flash drives. When I leave with my laptop, the files I work on away from the office automatically sync in the way I will be working with them. When I return, they automatically sync again. Remote access is the next step and has become a norm for many businesses. Our virtual society allows us to connect in a multitude of ways to conduct business wherever we are.

Most of this chapter has been dedicated to the business side of leveraging your resources. But you can use the same thinking to more effectively leverage the same four resources in your personal life as well. The same cleaning service that cleans your office may also clean your home at a discounted rate because you are already a customer. Families with vacation homes trade with others who have vacation homes in other locations--beach vs. mountains vs. golf resort vs. a lake home.

These places also can make great company retreat meeting spaces. See how opening up your mind to everything in life and work can help you become ingenious in your solutions?

Home Sweet Business
The owner of a commercial videography company was sitting in his office as he talked with a marketing consultant about his goals for his company. As a certified scuba diver and a pilot, he had developed a niche in his business to handle unique video assignments from land, sea or air. He had been in business for more than two decades and he was looking toward semi-retirement and better leveraging his resources as a result. He wanted to shift his energies to working more from home.

He already had a sophisticated editing suite built into his home, which he was using more and more instead of using the one at his high-end office space. The owner also wanted to step up his marketing efforts to specific niche opportunities. As options were explored further, he was asked why he needed his expensive office space and how often clients actually came to the space vs. him going to them. The shocking reality was that he was paying for an address that was draining his profits and not serving him from an image or a location standpoint. Once his lease, utilities and ancillary expenses were considered, thousands of dollars were literally not reaping the value associated with them.

With a dedicated editing suite already in place at home, easy modifications made the space a tax deduction as a home-based business. The swank office location was eliminated, which not only gave financial resources for the niche marketing, but also gave the owner peace of mind in using all of his resources wisely.

Sherré DeMao is founder and chief marketeer of SLD Unlimited Marketing /PR, Inc., an award-winning marketing consulting, branding and strategy firm now in its 25th year. She is also the author of Me, Myself & Inc.: A Synergized World, An Energized Business, Living Your Ultimate Life.