I’d like to share some ideas with you today, about your role in your business.
You often hear small business owners talking about how many hats they wear. They’re referring to the number of different roles they play within their business. Whilst every business owner wears a number of different hats, it’s important to know the difference between what we should do and what needs an expert.
Specialist and non specialist areas of business
It’s fine for us to run the business, deal with clients and customers and control the areas of our business, where we are an expert. It’s fine for us to make the major decisions and deal with suppliers etc. However, when it comes to specialist areas of the business, we need expert help if we want to achieve the right results.
Common examples of how to lose a fortune, by wearing the wrong hat.
- Yes, you probably could do your own accounts, but a qualified accountant will be able to lower your tax and spot problems, before they happen.
- Yes, you probably could handle your own HR, but if you end up in a dispute with an employee, you could end up losing thousands or being sued out of business.
- Yes, you probably could handle your own marketing, but you will soon reach a plateau, find it hard to grow, then hard to survive. A marketing professional will show you exactly what you need to do, to take your business to the next level and beyond.
- Yes, you probably could design your own website, but a professional web designer will make it look polished and professional… rather than the work of a keen amateur.
It’s hard for a business owner to fail, when they work hard, doing the right things correctly, based on expert advice.
Conversely, it’s almost impossible to succeed, no matter how hard we work, no matter how passionate we are, if we’re wearing too many hats.
In short: You need to give your business the resources it needs, if you want it to succeed. To expect it to succeed on a mixture of general advice and DIY tactics, is a very costly and usually fatal mistake.