How admitting to what you don’t know can grow your business

How many business owners have you met who went into business because they were really good at something and were convinced that they could make a living from it? I’ve met a lot.

Of those, how many have struggled because they have needed new skills they didn’t think of when they set off on their journey? All of them, in my experience.

The biggest problem, in just about every case, is success.

Being good at what you do is one thing; persuading people to buy it is a completely different skill. Even when you’ve got a grasp of marketing and selling, you then have to get your head around financial stuff like invoicing, credit control, T&Cs and bookkeeping.

If you’re still coping at this point and continuing to grow your business, the pressure dial turns up when you can no longer do everything yourself and need to employ your first recruit. You now have to learn about contracts, pensions, NI and holiday entitlements. You need policies around sickness, holidays and so forth.

If your partner or best mate doesn’t want to work with you then you have to learn about recruitment and selection. Then you have to learn how to be a people manager, coach and counsellor. The more staff you need, the bigger this part of your role becomes.

None of this is what you set out to do. If you’re lucky, then your previous background and experience will help you out with some of it, but I’ve not met anyone fortunate enough to already know it all.

Making it worse is the fact that you are now the boss, and your staff think that you have the answer to everything.

What can you do? Does it show weakness if you admit that you don’t know?

Well, no it doesn’t. Quite the opposite in fact. The worst mistake a business owner can do is to think he/she can DIY all of this.

The real secret of success is to know who you can ask for help.

Build your network of contacts. Attend events. Talk to other business owners. Chances are, they’ve experienced exactly the same problems and will happily tell you how they overcame them.

Speak to specialists. Ask for advice. Get their help if necessary. Sure, some of this expertise may cost you some money but that is a considerably cheaper and much more efficient option than getting it wrong. Look upon it as an investment, not an avoidable cost.

The result of doing this? Well, you are able to focus your time on the things you know most about. You can concentrate on growing your business whilst letting someone else look after the bits you know least about, saving you being incredibly inefficient and doing a poorer job.

Plus, it is surprisingly empowering telling people that you don’t know but you know someone who does.

Sounds too simple? Well, business doesn’t have to be complicated.

Martyn Jones MIoD, Dip.IoD is an expert on simplifying Leadership and Governance, enabling entrepreneurs and small businesses to establish best practice and sustained growth without unnecessary complications.

He is the founder of Martyn Jones https://www.martynj.co.uk/, a portfolio Non-Executive Director and a Mentor to entrepreneurial business owners and CEOs.

Connect with Martyn and follow his posts at https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/martyn-jones-non-exec/