The Problem with DIY

I suppose I ought to be careful with this one. DIY, or do-it-yourself, is practically the American Way. Want to write a book? Go for it. Want to finish your basement? It takes some time, but it improves the value of the home. Want to take up a sport? Find another weekender who shares your interest and dive right in. A million sites tell you how to do anything you want to do from completing home projects to earning extra money and encompass nearly everything you can think of.

Learning is good. Figuring out the best way to do something can be a brain-teaser or even a service to offer to others. But while doing something yourself can be good, doing everything yourself is the best way to invite errors into your endeavors. 

Remember very few people walk into court and choose to represent themselves. The law is one of those things the average person doesn't want to mess with. It makes me wonder why so many people want to do their taxes themselves. Sure, it costs a bit of money to find a good accountant - but once you get beyond the 1040 form, isn't it worth it to know taxes are all filed correctly? You can write a will yourself, but do you know it's legal? Do you know the changes that need to be made through time to keep everything current? 

The thing about doing it yourself is that you can do anything and everything you choose to do - but doing it well might take practice. The people who get the practice are experts in their fields. Often when you put the DIY against the expert you can easily see the differences. Maybe you don't notice all the little differences between your work and the expert's - but someone can, and many others do. 

It's one reason self-publishing can get a bad rap. Anyone can do it and throw out whatever book they decide to write, edit and/or polish (and sometimes not on the last two). It gives the rest of the writers who go through the trouble to make a professional product a bad rap. 

Think about those small businesses where the owner tries to do everything himself (or herself). Do they try to do everything until they can afford an accountant, a lawyer, or a plumber? How long do they last, compared to the other businesses who hire needed professional services for the areas where the owner lacks expertise?  How's the bottom line? 

Before you do your next project yourself, make a list of your strengths. Each different part of the project may be fun, need a specific skill set, or require previous knowledge. The pieces that you don't have or are unable to spend time to become the expert needed are the pieces you should hire to be completed. 

Doing it yourself is becoming an expert in that niche or screwing it up. The latter option costs even more to fix it than doing it right in the first place. Everyone has a story about something they knew could have been done better - don't let that be you.