This is a pain in the ass decision.
If i was buying houses and renting them, then it is best to hire a fix-it guy to do the repairs.
Although, i will do a better job, and then, i will know the house more fully.
But, if i am trying to grow my portfolio, then i have to go out there and find good deals on good houses.
Finding good deals on houses is a quite specialized field, and few people are good at it. (especially not those people you see on flip-house TV)
And fewer people know your criteria. (for me, replacing the roof, do it in a heartbeat, miss the subtlety of a cracked slab foundation... horror) and, i know i am not "normal"... so finding someone that could search for houses for me... well, lightening does strike twice... sometimes.
Anyway, i run into this problem a lot. Delegating is a pain in the ass, and often it takes less time to do it then to find someone to do it.
But, if you want to grow, if you want to get to a place where your business runs itself without you there 24/7, then you have to outsource everything
and do what you do best that makes you the most money / return on time.
That is a dilemma. Finding someone that can do it as well. I guess I try to focus on outsourcing the tasks I'm not strong on. It's a start I guess.
In the e-myth book (other comment) that guy says the entrepreneur should do what they are good at doing and what they enjoy doing.
And hire everything else out.
Still, lets say you can make $100/hour coding.
Do you build yourself the table that you want or do you go try to find a table that is acceptable and pre-built?
The other end of this equation is that you do have 24 hours each day. If you have time burning, and no houses to fix or fires to put out, well than, hobby time.
Yes, otherwise you fall victim to the e-myth (great book btw) and wind up trapped in your own business.
I really liked the e-myth (series of books)
Too bad he wrote them before e-commerce was even a thing.
Its name lost its meaning, but picked up a different meaning... that got people the wrong book, for the right reasons.
I like the way the author made up an illustrative story.
For good way to get the points and subtleties across