Do You Think You’re An Expert?

October 11, 2007

Do you think you need to be an expert to succeed in business? The truth is, you’ll learn far more about running a business by doing it than by absorbing every single business text book ever written.

Besides, if you’re going to dedicate yourself to becoming an expert on every single aspect of business, you’ll have no time left to grow your business.

And you may have heard that you should surround yourself by experts if you want to be truly successful. But, if you’re like most new business owners, how on earth are you going to be able to afford all these experts?

The truth is, you don’t need to in the beginning. You don’t need full time experts on marketing, accounts, law, sales, management, or anything else for that matter. You just need to be able to get access to their advice.

Don’t worry if you don’t know all these experts - that doesn’t matter, here’s a few shortcuts:

1) Books - Plenty of experts have written books. And they’re the cheapest, quickest way to learn whatever you need to know on any business related subject.

2) Biographies - Ok they’re still books, but biographies and autobiographies on famous entrepreneurs will teach you a lot about how they got to where they are.

3) Forums and blogs - I’ll be honest - a whole heap of stuff you’ll read on forums and blogs is utter tripe. But, if you’re savvy, you’ll soon realise which ones are reliable and which you should ignore altogether. They shouldn’t be ruled out totally - but don’t waste too much time on forums, or you’ll have no time to grow your business.

Just choose a handful of forums and blogs with care, become part of the community and you’ll forge relationships with all kinds of smart and wonderful people. For example, when I told Ian Denny of Phoenix from the Ashes that I sucked at copywriting, he not only recommended the best book he’d read on the subject. He also wrote me a fantastic sales letter. It was great, it works and we’ve used it to get quite a bit of new business already.

4) Talking to people - Get yourself out and about - visit networking groups, join a golf club or a health club. You’ll find that you meet useful and helpful experts in all kinds of places.

5) Don’t be shy - write to people, phone them, or email them and ask for advice. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know them. And so what if some of them ignore you, or tell you to bugger off. The truth is, the more famous one of these experts is, the less likely they are to have tons of people approaching them for advice. And people are people at the end of the day - most of them will be flattered. I’ve received lots of expert help and advice this way.

6) Join PRNewswire. I’ve been a member for years. It’s free to join and you can ask questions of any experts including small businesses, colleges and universities and authors. And you can also have articles on your subjects of interests delivered direct to your inbox.

Posted by cathlawson | Filed Under Planning, Running a Business

Comments

11 Responses to “Do You Think You’re An Expert?”

Ian on October 11th, 2007 1:35 pm

Cath,

It is true, you can start out and be prepared to make mistakes. I did. In fact a huge one!

But the experience has really helped. I agree with seeking mentors. And taking the short-cut by reading books instead of “having a go” and taking longer and making bigger mistakes than if you’d read a book.

Mentors are out there. And often it can be two-ways. So if you’re good at something, help others. Not only will you get a warm glow, but often people will share their advice and expertise in return. And it can really help you far more than a paid-for expert.

And you are right, no fledgling business can afford the experts in every area. So get good at as much as you can.

But equally, I’d recommend not spreading yourself too thinly. Often it can be useful to engage someone who offers that service, but instead ask them to train you instead.

But wherever possible, don’t do stuff you’re naturally not good at or hate. If you can find an expert or employ one that generates more than they cost, then that’s sometimes preferable.

You also need to create time to spend “ON” the business rather than “IN” the business. So taking on too much can be counter-productive.
Opal Tribble on October 11th, 2007 5:34 pm

I had a lot of mentors. I knew a lot going into my business but I needed help with the business aspect of things. I learned a lot. I’ve constantly challenged myself to go above and beyond what has been needed of me in my profession in doing so it really has paid off through customer trust, referrals, etc.,
cathlawson on October 11th, 2007 7:08 pm

Ian - you are so right about working on not in your business. When I was with Rainbow - we were bogged down with paperwork. It had become stupidly complicated. And I think the main reason was that they were too greedy to keep their prototype. They sold it pretty early on.

We have a good system now - we learned by their mistakes! We keep it as simple as possible, and no paper besides the contract, but we’re going to get those electronic pens (is that the right name?) so we can get the customer to sign the contract on the screen.
Catherine Lawson on October 11th, 2007 10:31 pm

Opal - you are v smart when it comes to your business. And it shows up in your websites. And you seem to have even greater knowledge of your products than Anita Roddick did. You must have a real passion for them to study as much in depth as you do.

If you haven’t checked it out yet - you can find Opal’s blog here and also access her other wonderful sites:
http://www.veganmomma.com
Ian on October 11th, 2007 10:59 pm

Cath,

You may not need the pens! Talk to me! If plumbers and IT engineers have anything in common, then we’re getting ours to sign on their mobile phone.

You will get a completely free deal because you’re such a star. And the guy who’s writing the software has already done it in a previous life and it worked there too.

Just need one thing - a pint if it works (oh sorry I lied, and a testimonial for the (joint?) website)).

Ian
Catherine Lawson on October 12th, 2007 6:42 am

Thanks Ian - will email you. That sounds brilliant if they could use mobiles to sign. Would we be able to get customers to sign on them also?

It would be a lot less hassle than the pens. I would worry that they’d lose the pens.
Ian on October 12th, 2007 8:54 am

Yes - the range of Microsoft phones you get have touch screens and a stylus. So you get the client to sign the job on the phone and it’s electronically captured and digitally signed.

Handy for assigning job and evidencing completion.
Asako on October 15th, 2007 12:50 am

Hello Catherine,

I agree that we can not be an expert of everything. And we can not have all experts around us either.

And what I learned in the past is being expert is sometimes not helpful, particularly in this fast changing world. Experts tend to lose their ability to adjust to the new things. For example, in my ex-employer, marketing experts were struggling to learn about online branding, R&D experts were struggling to leverage sources from Asia, and IT experts were struggling to switch from Lotus Note to Outlook!!

It is a constant learning process for everyone. And I agree in the end you learn the most by doing things. What we can learn from others may apply or may not apply to our cases.

That’s what I am starting find as a challenge with my site. I really want a place for people to find more practical tips, but I do not know the whole world, and most things do not apply to all cases. Fundamentally, business forum is a difficult thing to operate, as every business and every company requires different tips. (It has been a great way for me to keep learning, on the other end, so I will for sure continue…)

In the end, what is common is about the leadership, attitude and mindset to learn and execute.

So definitely, we do not need to follow and become the typical definition of what the word “expert” means, in order to succeed.
Link Love and Guess Post on Warrior Blog : Warrior Blog dot Net on October 15th, 2007 1:37 am

[...] Do You Think You Are an Expert? [...]
Barbara on October 15th, 2007 10:04 pm

Hi Catherine,

I think the word “expert” is overrated. You can be an expert for a short period of time, however, in this ever changing world, expertise on most every subject, becomes obsolete in a very short time, unless you are constantly furthering your education or experience.

Then there’s the old saying? Jack of all trades, but the master of none”.

Knowing too little can be dangerous, and, not being semi-educated in all aspects of a business can get you in trouble.

Make time to work in and on your business, but, also make time to take a break away from it all (even if it’s just a few hours). Sometimes we “can’t see the forest, for the trees”. A break away from it all, can give us a new perspective, plus renewed energy.

Mentors are great, as is brainstorming.

Not only in life, but in business, we learn everyday, so in essence, we too, are gaining expertise in all aspects of our lives. That’s education, and something, no one can take away from us.
cathlawson on October 16th, 2007 12:37 pm

Asako - that was really well put and so true. Many so called experts are just now willing to change and learn new things.

You are doing a fantastic job with the site, and I know your information will appeal to and help a lot of people.

Thank you for the link Sean.

Barbara - that is so true. It would be difficult to keep up - even in just one field - especially technology.

And you are right about not knowing enough. I didn’t know enough about my accounts at one time, and it caused me so much trouble.