In the early days of running a business, we’re all in the same position.
There isn’t much money coming in and cash flow is unpredictable. We spend a great deal of time doing the work that our clients need us to do, because we can’t yet afford to pay someone else to do it – and still earn something for ourselves. Whatever it is that we do in our businesses, we also have to keep track of the finances, keep on top of the admin and keep doing the marketing, to make sure that new work keeps coming in.
At what stage do you start to invest in your business and bring in outside help?
If you look at successful businesses – regardless of their size – one thing you’ll notice is how they stick to what they’re good at and use experts to help them with everything else. It might be that they recruit a bookkeeper to manage the daily and monthly finances; or they may outsource their marketing to a business that specialises in it.
Often one of the first things to go is the admin – doing the paperwork is something that most business owners do not want to spend time on! After all, it’s not what they’re being paid to do.
Once you’ve sorted out the finance, the marketing and the admin, your business is probably at the stage where you need to start thinking further into the future than just next week or next month.
*Where are you going next year? *
*Do you know what 2015 and beyond looks like for your business? *
When you spend most of your time within your business, it can become difficult to see the best way forward, or the way around the next obstacle. This is when you need to bring in outside help. Find a business coach or consultant; spend time with other people who can look into your business with a fresh perspective.
Again, looking at successful businesses will show you that they are prepared to invest in getting the right help. Of course you can find all sorts of useful, free things on the internet, but those articles are not specific to your business. If you want to make a real success of your business, you need to get serious about how much you’re prepared to invest in its future and its success.