Why the Rich don’t DIY
Why successful people avoid doing everything themselves: Stefan Neuss explains how specialisation and hiring experts set the wealthiest ten per cent apart.
What separates the wealthiest ten per cent of society from everyone else? According to Stefan Neuss, founder of WERA Capital Partners, one key difference has nothing to do with money at first sight. Successful people do not do things themselves that others can do better. They avoid "DIY", do it yourself.
Focus instead of doing everything
Wealthy people know their skills, their abilities and their limits, Neuss explains. They concentrate on getting better and better in their own field, because that is where they earn the most. With the money they earn, they hire specialists to solve every other problem, in business and in private life.
"The more you let other people fix things in your life, the more successful you will be," he says.
Doing it yourself often costs twice
The logic is simple. Anyone who tries a task without the right skills often fails. Then they have to pay an expert anyway, to fix the result. In the end they have paid twice, in time and in money. DIY, Neuss argues, is one of the main reasons people stay stuck at the same level.
The heart surgeon example
He uses a clear example. If you have a serious heart problem, you go to a heart specialist, not to your general practitioner. Most people follow this rule in medicine without thinking. Successful people apply the same principle to every area of life.
Specialisation as a strategy
The wealthier people become, Neuss observes, the more focused they get on what they do best and on where others are willing to pay them well. Everything else is delegated.
For business owners this raises a practical question: where in the company are tasks still being done by the wrong people? WERA Capital Partners helps owners identify these weak points in a 15-minute private consultation and find the right specialists.