When I started out as a one man band I thought I could do everything myself from the technical stuff that we sell on to clients to the internal running of the business. As I decided to move into doing this full time a couple of years ago, rather than still doing a bit of lecturing to give a financial safety net, the first bit of help was to get a professional marketing plan. It's nearly 3 years ago now that I engaged the services of
i2i Business Solutions which led to the formation of
Tad Web Solutions Ltd and we've used the plan created then as a framework to get us where we are now. Obviously plans need amending in line with events and opportunities but it has been successful so far and I'm still very much in touch with David Laud who drafted that plan (thank you David).
That was the first lesson I had in the need to use the services of other people who, in my occasional moments of clarity, I recognise as better than me at a particular skill or knowledge area - not always easy when you are as (over) confident as me. The problem with all of this is that there are other "experts" out there who have rather erroneously had that particular epithet applied. I obviously won't mention any names but I have in the past dismissed "expert" help after a brief session when it became clear that they believe that repeating jargon and buzz words in their particular field without any underpinning knowledge makes them an expert.
Past experiences have demonstrated a few things.
Free support via business support packages, e.g. from councils, is not always worth the time you devote to it. We have had some very good support via Redcar & Cleveland Council's expert provider companies but we have also had some very bad advice from other "experts" - we now check out who may be providing the support before even considering taking it, even if it's free.
Cheapest is not best. Before engaging David of i2i we obtained several quotes and spoke to the potential providers. We went for the provider that was significantly more expensive than the others. Why? It wasn't based on price, though there may be a subconscious correlation of price and quality, but on our opinion of the providers after initial discussions. We know we made the right decision in that case.
Most importantly, and it's a lesson I don't always remember, you can buy in services that will save you money even though it appears that you are spending. It's cost effective to have things done properly and quickly by an expert and leaves you to concentrate on what you are good at which will generate income instead of spending a lot of time doing "stuff" that you don't do so well.
So where am I going with this? I have always done my own bookkeeping, though not formal accounts, and my quarterly VAT period ended on 30 Nov.
How much do I owe? No idea as my bookkeeping isn't up to date as we've been really busy.
How long would it take me to get it up to date? Several days.
Have I got time? No we've got a lot of work on, stuff I'm good at.
What's the answer? The brilliant Jo at
Ambrose Accounting to the rescue.
I've been ignoring the most important lesson above when it comes to my accounts and am now addressing it. I have no idea why it's taken me so long to come to this decision (that's a lie, tight Yorkshireman is the real reason).
So apologies to Jo, please sort out my mess!
