The internal debate of every entrepreneur…”Do I spend the money to outsource this when I can do it myself?”.
The common conundrum of wearing too many hats when growing a business is precarious position that requires careful analysis, one I would argue you should not evaluate alone. Our ego always wants us to believe that we can do it better, faster, cheaper if we just do it ourselves. We rarely are capable of doing an objective cost benefit analysis when it comes to our own business and time.
The best professional you can hire when you’re unsure of where to invest your money versus where to invest your time is a professional coach or consultant. Preferably one that specializes in your industry. Also ask your coach to give you a detailed run down of their financial expertise. In my experience, there are a large number of self proclaimed coaches that don’t have the ability to understand or read financial statements. Your finances are the foundation of your business, strong bookkeeping and even stronger financial advising is critical to success. The ability to understand key performance indicators and financial analytics is the difference between your business making good decisions quickly and making bad decisions when it’s already too late to course correct.
Nearly every small business owner I see is coming to me for a bookkeeping issue. They’ve been “doing it themselves” and now realize they can’t keep up with it. I have never seen a situation where a client saved money by serving this function on their own for too long. It results in significantly increased costs to get the financial statements where they need to be by the time they meet with a professional. The piece often missing from the cost benefit analysis of this particular position is the loss of the business owner’s ability to make informed strategic decisions. Not keeping up to date with the numbers in your business means you’re essentially flying blind and by the time you realize you’ve made a bad decision it’s often too late.
There are some hats that are worth passing off to those who wear them best. We as business owners have to accept when we cannot in fact “do it all”. Wearing too many hats ourselves can be one of the costliest mistakes we make.
Contact us at www.epiphanygroupinc.com for more information on financial coaching packages.
Christine Gervais
Christine Gervais is a licensed CPA, using her skills to help businesses grow and achieve their fullest potential. Christine has a Master’s degree in accounting from Southern New Hampshire University in addition to holding her CPA license for over a decade. Notably, Christine is a nationally recognized speaker providing education to other CPAs on how to best serve clients as well as instruction on a wide variety of topics for business owners on how to maximize success. Christine prides herself on the value she can bring to clients with her extensive tax knowledge and provides strategic, forward-thinking financial strategies to help clients grow. When not behind her desk, you can find Christine spending quality time with her daughter and stepson or tending to the family’s excessively loved farm animals.
