Every business owner knows that paying for expert help might cost you more but it is an investment that you will need to make to free up your time, elevate your level of insight and move forward.
Experts have the golden ticket because they add significant value to the companies they serve. However, in this age of entrepreneurship, or some might call it necessity, (and the two are very closely aligned), many people fall back on DIY rather than paying for expert help.
People build their own websites, design their own logos and write their own copy, and then it all becomes rather like sticking a picture on a fridge. Friends and family, when asked for an opinion, will naturally applaud the DIY enthusiast’s efforts.
Unfortunately, DIY efforts carry with them a downside which I have seen play out more times than I care to mention. DIY efforts often cause people to quit on their dreams. Why? People quit because their DIY website didn’t yield the results they had hoped for and the story of their business doesn’t reach their audience in the right way if it reaches them at all.
We can all dig holes in a field and plant seeds but we need some form of expertise in agronomy to ensure that what we planted gives a great yield.
So, what does an expert know that a DIY enthusiast doesn’t?
An expert will understand seasons.
When you are building a business it goes through seasons of growth. Patience is vital and the advice and assistance of experts that have been through the process over the years helps. Farmers know the seasons better than anyone else.
Each season requires different behaviours. For a business, the startup season needs a “lean” process and methodology BUT it still requires expert investment.
The no.1 reason people tend not to invest in expert help at the startup stage is a lack of belief. Investors show their belief in your business when they are prepared to have ‘skin in the game’. I should also add that if you are working with a company that wants your business to take all of the risks, they are showing a lack of belief in what they are doing.
We recommend The Purpose Playbook with its key pillar of Belief, the first pillar we delve into. The truth is that a lack of belief will result in a lack of planning and that is what damages purposeful pursuit the most. A dream without a plan is just a vain imagination.
Experts will know what works.
Conversely, experts also know what doesn’t work. Experience helps them understand the lie of the land. What they have learnt can help you to avoid a painful learning curve by leaning into their knowledge of their own and other people’s experiences. They have invested their time to find out what will work.
A DIY website, for example, can be easily spotted by an expert eye just on the messaging alone. Or imagine that you are trying to attract a senior buyer from a large retail chain and your website isn’t working on mobile. An excuse of ‘I never looked’ won’t cut it here.
Technical builds aside, what about your story? Are you telling your own story effectively through your website copy to engage your reader? Are you looking to the future and reflecting that in your content? Are you including information for your site visitor about how you are helping to promote the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals through your business’s activities? If you aren’t you could be putting yourself on the back foot when looking to engage larger corporations.
You see, that DIY spirit will certainly help you to start the business in the first place but it might not take you far enough to stay the course. You may well be exceptional at what you do but that doesn’t mean that you won’t need to call in other experts!
Experts know people beyond them.
Sales and networking go together. Top people will know top people.
More than anything else, networking is vital to the success of any business, and one conversation can save your life. Many of us are happier behind a desk sending emails and texts rather than talking to strangers and feeling uncomfortable. If you are not prepared to be uncomfortable then stay where you are.
Entrepreneurship is hard. At times you will feel lonely, misjudged, hurt, lied about, exhausted, fearful, worried, anxious, lost, frustrated, depressed, angry and bemused. Now if that doesn’t put you off then you are already halfway there!
All that said, entrepreneurship is rewarding. You WILL find your tribe. Real experts can elevate you because they understand all the negative experiences and they can help you to leverage them.
Engaging brand experts
Imagine you are invited to a meeting where your best type of potential clients live. Do you go to the meeting in dirty clothes or get ready in 1 minute and leave the house? No way. You prepare.
That is exactly what having a great brand does for your business. It allows you to show up looking your best and your website communicates how you do your best.
The best way to get your LinkedIn, brand and website in great shape is to get help from an expert. Our job at Cre8ion has always been about helping people gain the necessary confidence through clarity of purpose and then backing that up with world-class communication.
Have a chat with our experts today:
For us as a company, telling your story is everything, and we have worked with hundreds of startups and scaleups, helping them to tell theirs. We pride ourselves on being the kind of experts that you can trust!
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