What is your area of expertise? What is it you love, love, love to do? What is it that everyone says you are great at doing? Whatever that is for you – stick to your craft! I guarantee you will be happier and make more money doing what only you can do the very best.
The first thing I did when I went into business was to hire a bookkeeper. A professional who knows what she is doing. AND she loves it! (Another important factor). There is no way I wanted to spend my precious time learning accounting and tax laws. I know what I’m good at and numbers is not my strength. I’m certain that my business would have failed early on if I tried to do my own bookkeeping.
I get calls all the time from entrepreneurs who have tried to build their own website. And guess what? It isn’t working! Often the conversation starts with, “Well first of all, I don’t have any money….” They don’t even need to say anymore because I know they are going to tell me about a do-it-yourself website and want me to fix it.
In my 14 years of doing websites I have never seen a do-it-yourself site that has been successful. If you happen to have a successful website that you built yourself – I want to hear your story!
When you hire an experienced professional – whether it is for bookkeeping, web design, painting, landscaping, SEO or anything else – you are tapping into their years of experience, insight and wisdom. This is priceless!
I was watching a cooking show and they had a professional football player trying to create a gourmet dish. The hosts were laughing and joking with him and the audience was entertained by his attempts. At one point he had enough of their ribbing and said, “I’m a big believer in sticking to your craft.” I’m sure if those chefs were out on the football field with him we would all be having some laughs too.
Now, I am not saying you should stop trying new things – please have fun and explore new opportunities. It’s a great sense of accomplishment to do something yourself. Who knows? You may find a whole new craft that you are really good at. You may have multiple talents and businesses that all do quite well and I say Bravo! However, when it comes to your primary business and livelihood – do what you do best and hire the rest. A wise business owner once told me, “Just because you CAN do everything yourself doesn’t mean you should.” I have heeded that advice. Also know that everyone is good at something and that doesn’t mean you have to be good at everything!
