3 ways to figure out the value of your time as an entrepreneur
Entrepreneurs spend large amounts of time and energy doing research on the perfect product to manufacture that will rake in profits. Once the product is manufactured and ready to hit the market, entrepreneurs spend even more time consulting experts and doing their own research on how much to value their product at. However, in the midst of all this exploration, they fail to find the value of something just as important as the product they've manufactured – their time. Through this article, we've listed down three simple ways to help you figure out the value of your time.
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Assess your would-be salary
Start by roughly estimating how much your salary should be. In order to do this, take an inventory of your work. Depending upon your role as a manager and how many tasks you accomplish in a day's time, this might be complicated. To simplify things, take an estimate of what your salary would be if you performed the same amount of work with your last employer. You can make use of online tools to see how much people in positions similar to yours, with the same amount of experience as you, are getting paid. While at it, don't disregard the nature and size of your team and the geographic location of your company as they are important factors too. Once you've figured out your estimated salary, simply divide that salary by the amount of hours you work and you'll have a ballpark of your hourly rate.
Assess how much your employees are paid
It is important to evaluate how much you pay your employees. Of course, the amount of your responsibilities and experience will be greater than that of your staff members. Therefore, your time also should be valued slightly higher than your highest paid employee. However, it is a whole different matter if your business is facing cash-flow troubles or dealing with other financial variables as then you'll have to make a few adjustments to the value of your time.
Assess your competition
Once you've assessed your own salary and that of your employees, your next step should be to evaluate what consultants and entrepreneurs such as yourself in your surrounding neighborhood are charging for their services. If they have listed an hourly consulting fee on their website, see if it is anywhere close to your assessed hourly rate. If you can, socialise with them in out-of-office settings to get to know them better, especially the ones who are doing exceptionally well for themselves. If you can find out how they are making the best use of their 24 hours and six working days, you'll be able to map out a strategy to develop your business more efficiently.
Once you have fulfilled all the above steps, you'll have a reasonable idea of what your time is worth. Knowing the value of your time not only serves as an effective decision-making tool, but it's also a way to fairly price your own services.
