Owning a small business can be a little like homeownership. Let’s say things are going really well for you and you are buying your first house with a big backyard after years of apartment or condo living.
Issue A – You need a lawnmower.
If you don’t acquire a lawnmower before the grass becomes too high, you risk violating a city ordinance and getting fined. You need to talk to someone who has owned lawnmowers and can tell you what you need to buy based on how big your yard is, whether you have an outdoor outlet for electricity for a corded model or whether a gas or battery operated model is better, whether you have a place to store the lawnmower, how difficult your yard is to mow…all considerations directly pertinent to your yard.
When you ask the lawnmower salesperson for advice, you may get a biased opinion based on commission or sales quotas. You need someone independent who will listen to your needs and help you evaluate which type of lawnmower is best for your yard. Buying a corded electric model because it is cheaper isn’t a good choice if you don’t have exterior outlets, by the way, as I can attest from experience.
Issue B – You want to landscape your yard.
If you try to do everything at once, you risk running out of money in your budget before you are done. If you don’t have a design and a plan, you risk buying the wrong materials or the wrong amount of materials, you risk not getting the appropriate permits approved, and you risk making mistakes that could have been avoided if the idea had been better thought out.
When you ask the garden center salespeople for advice, you risk getting piecemeal information from different people. The lumber salesperson may be able to tell you about decking materials that they sell, but they aren’t familiar with your yard and don’t know what else needs to be done before you install that deck, like leveling the ground or removing the grass or relocating shrubbery. You need someone to determine the steps needed to achieve the goal and design a plan that fits your budget and timeline.
This is pretty similar to what a lot of small and mid-size businesses go through when they take on something new. Like our homeowner, they are probably really excited by the new opportunity to expand their holdings and upgrade their environment. But they also need help to make the right decisions and create the right strategy to get the most out of their new backyard without blowing their budget or taking on some unforeseen risk that could be avoided.
That’s when you need to bring in help…before doing it yourself without the right knowledge or tools creates bigger problems. Maybe you can do it all yourself…but should you?
