Now before I get into this article, I am not saying theory does not work. There is enough proof that it does, but combine theory with experience, then you have the holy grail – in my opinion. I have seen many good teachers and trainers in so many different businesses who have not run businesses themselves and are great at what they do. I have also seen many who can teach it, but don’t live it in their own lives.
We learn from experience and any experience we will have had in our own journey of life adds value to our offering, whether it’s a good or bad experience. All I would say is that if you have bad experiences, don’t repeat them, as that would be insane.
When we are working with clients, our experiences add immense value to how we can help them. I love to know what people do for a living and how they help their clients, and how they got from where they were to where they currently are. I remember being at a networking event many years ago and other than the host who was there early, there was one other person and myself there at that time. After we had introduced ourselves, I asked him what he did for a living. He told me he was a business coach. I asked him how long he had been doing it, and he told me it was his first week. I asked him what he did last week and he said he was in IT. So you can imagine what was going through my mind. I know we have to start somewhere but there was no experience, and we do need to be careful if we are hiring someone without experience. Anyone we outsource to needs to add value to our business.
Lets assume you are going in for a major operation. How much more confident do you feel having a consultant or surgeon who has performed that operation countless times? Or you are starting driving lessons. It would be a bit scary having an instructor who had only read a book but never driven before. We all value working with someone in any area of our lives who has experience, and we feel so much more confident. Yet I see so many business owners make the strangest decisions when it comes to outsourcing for suppliers. They rarely – if ever – check the credentials of those they are outsourcing to, and yet they expect a professional and competent service at a good price. So many small business owners choose their outsourced suppliers from people they meet at networking events and assume just because they are there, they must be good at what they do. Not always the case. They may just talk a good talk.
Outsourcing is a must if you are looking to grow your business, but please check the credentials of those you outsource to. You need to be sure they have the experience to do the job you hired them to do. When you hire someone with experience they really do understand what you are going through as the chances are pretty high they will have experienced your challenge before. If you think hiring a professional is expensive, try hiring an amateur. It will cost you ten times as much.
At the end of the day, we are all looking for our “Knight in shining Armour” and not some imposter wrapped in tin foil – and there are countless imposters out there. So please choose carefully.
This article was first published on LinkedIn by Richard Knight on 10/05/2020