My book selling business has been, for almost 2 years now, a one man show.  Sure, there are those times where I would pay a friend or extended family member a few bucks here and there to help me out when I was in a bind but for the most part it’s all been me.  I’m pretty proud of that but at the same time it’s been a little lonely.  Who is the one renting the truck to drive 3 hours to pick up a lot of books?  Me.  Who is the one processing orders every day?  Me.  Who is the one spending nearly 30 hours/week outside of a 40 hour/week job adjusting prices, tweaking listing rules and being the visionary for things to come?  Me.

Having a family and being in all this me time sometimes can get to a guy.  Why can’t it be we time with my wife and I?  Being in my early thirties now, I have a 16 month old daughter named Ella and a beautiful wife, Miranda.  Luckily, thanks to my book selling business, Miranda is able to stay home with Ella but with being a full time mom comes lots of meal times, bath times, and just being able to keep up with Ella so her time is short.  However, with the perk of Miranda being able to stay at home comes the toll that working two jobs has on my time and general psyche.  Sounds like catch 22, doesn’t it?  Well, if we can’t spend much quality time together then why not try to work together on this business and make it a family business but what could I do to make my wife help me when she’s already tired and busy?  Of course!  Pay her!

As with many families, we have our fair share of arguments including scuffles about money.  I’m constantly questioning her on her purses, shoes and the 27,564th toy she bought Ella and she’s always complaining that she needs some spending money that I don’t question her purchases.  Ding!  The lightbulb comes on!  Why not “hire” her as an employee and do the things that I’m not able to do during the day such as make calls, scan in some books or any other misc task that would help out the business?  Genius!  Not only do I get help, we get to spend some time together because it’s a “we” instead of  a “me” processing books now plus she gets cash to do whatever she wants to with.  Why didn’t I think of this sooner?

Miranda hard at work

Are you running solo with your book business but have a family that needs you to be around?  Why not combine the two and give your spouse a little cash from the profits for helping?  It sure has made a huge difference in our relationship, increased the business profits and has eased the stress a little when it comes to money.  It’s a win-win situation!

I want to hear your story.  Are you the solopreneur that is taking this book-selling thing by the horns with no help?  Are you selling books as a family or possibly have a friend or relative helping out?  How about using cleaning books as your kid’s allowance chores?  I want to hear about it!  Make a comment below with your story about how your human resource department looks like.  By this time next week, I’ll read all of the comments and choose the one I most enjoy and will reward the winner with a copy of my information-packed eBook Used Books: Big Business – The Secrets to Selling Books Online for FREE!  Just by telling me and my readers your story you could get my $27 eBook absolutely FREE!