pesky financial / numers question

[Kenneth LaVoie]

I have been a real estate investor for just over two years. This question centers around “opportunity cost.†I own and work in a lawn care business, own and run a small web design business, as well as own several single family and multi-family apartment buildings. (43 units) When I’m actually earning income in the lawn care business, my gross hourly rate is $60-$70 per hour before expenses. (and expenses are pretty high in that business – fuel, equipment, insurance, etc.). In my web design it’s hard to say. I don’t make ANYTHING “running†it on a per hour basis, but when I’m doing a paid task, it’s $50-$100 per hour with VERY low overhead. Now, because I’m not trained in carpentry, handyman stuff, etc., I tend to be fairly inefficient. In addition, my cracker jack painter gets $20 per hour (and he’s good, and he’s FAST). My two handymen get $16 per hour. I have a “higher end†carpentry team that gets $25-$30 per man-hour. I want to make an intelligent decision on where to spend my time. Where I’m “stuck†is this: When I “avoid†paying my handyman $16 per hour, I’m “making†$16 per hour by “saving†$16 per hour. It’s very black and white. (let’s forget the fact that it will take me 1.5 hours to do whatever he does in an hour for a minute!). When I’m working in my lawn care business, earning $65 per man-hour … am I REALLY making $65 that for comparison purposes? Or do I want to find out my “after expense†hourly rate? I know the answer is simple but I’m just STUCK! Thanks to any of you wonderful numbers people out there who can bump me in the right direction.