Solo doesn't have to mean alone
Even if you're an independent professional who doesn't have any employees, being solo doesn't necessarily mean that you have to work completely alone.
I provide Web design services to my clients, but the more complex programming duties are usually carried out by a trusted programmer who is also an independent pro. This enables me to offer a fuller, more diverse service than I could on my own.
But there are times when you really should seek outside assistance. Last year, when my trading year ended, I decided that I'd try to save money by doing my own accounts. After all, I don't have any employees and very few business overheads, so how hard could it be? I completed my tax form and calculated that I had only claimed around $1,000.00 as allowable expenses. Surely I should be saving more, I thought. It occured to me that it would take a professional's inside knowledge to achieve a real saving, so I sent all of my paperwork to my accountant - receipts, invoices, bills, etc. When he returned everything to me a few weeks later, I discovered that he had saved me nearly $9,000.00.
The difference between his expenses calculations and my own is much more than his fee, and this also taught me a valuable lesson: I know how to win clients and I know how to design Web sites for them, but that doesn't make me a competent accountant.
So my advice is to concentrate on what you do best and leave tasks outside your expertise to specialists.
I provide Web design services to my clients, but the more complex programming duties are usually carried out by a trusted programmer who is also an independent pro. This enables me to offer a fuller, more diverse service than I could on my own.
But there are times when you really should seek outside assistance. Last year, when my trading year ended, I decided that I'd try to save money by doing my own accounts. After all, I don't have any employees and very few business overheads, so how hard could it be? I completed my tax form and calculated that I had only claimed around $1,000.00 as allowable expenses. Surely I should be saving more, I thought. It occured to me that it would take a professional's inside knowledge to achieve a real saving, so I sent all of my paperwork to my accountant - receipts, invoices, bills, etc. When he returned everything to me a few weeks later, I discovered that he had saved me nearly $9,000.00.
The difference between his expenses calculations and my own is much more than his fee, and this also taught me a valuable lesson: I know how to win clients and I know how to design Web sites for them, but that doesn't make me a competent accountant.
So my advice is to concentrate on what you do best and leave tasks outside your expertise to specialists.
posted by Nigel Gordijk at
2:19 PM
1 Comments:
Good points, Nigel.
Many moons ago, when I was in art school, one of my teachers said, in passing, “Never do for yourself what somebody else can do better.” Sage advise that’s stuck with for more years than I care to remember.
There’s often a temptation to try to do everything ourselves. In most cases, we end up being a jack of all trades, but a master of none. We do a disservice to both our clients and ourselves. Our clients can end up with an inferior end product. We end up eating away a lot of unbillable time struggling to get things done that we’re uncomfortable doing.
As you wrote, a better idea is to stick with those tasks where we shine and subcontract out the rest or put our client in touch with those service providers from our team of associates. The client gets a better job and we sleep better at night.
All the best,
Neil
Inside The Marketing Mind
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