What To Do When You Don’t Know How To Do Something?

Everyone’s a beginner at one point or another, and when you’re used to being an expert in your field that can be hard to admit. I see this frequently in accountants who are starting their own businesses for the first time. They’re bright and talented and they expect to know how to manage a business from day one with absolutely no experience. Maybe it’s because they work so closely with business owners, maybe it’s because of their financial expertise. Either way, when it comes to business, everyone has to start at the beginning. 

So what do you do as a business owner when you find yourself in the position of not knowing how to do something? The short answer is: ask for help. But where can you find help when you’re the top person on the organizational chart? Here are a few thoughts.

Ask Your Team

You may be the boss, but if you’ve done it right, your team is made up of people who are smarter than you in their area of expertise. So don’t be too proud to ask your team for help. Who knows, they may know the answer or at the very least be able to help you find it.

Learn Constantly

You’re probably never going to come across a totally unique problem. Everything that you encounter has been encountered before, and better yet, someone has probably written about it. Be the kind of leader who is committed to learning and growing for the sake of your business and for the sake of your team. Read books, listen to podcasts, subscribe to magazines, and invest in continuing education. A learned leader is the best resource your accounting firm could have.

Partner With Respected Experts

I’ve heard it said that if you’re the smartest person in your community then you’re in the wrong community. Find the people in your town, or even online, who are doing what you do at a higher level than you’re doing it and absorb their knowledge. When you build a network of knowledgeable professionals around you, you’ll always have someone to turn to when things get hard.

As you build your accounting firm from the ground up you will inevitably run into problems that you don’t know how to solve. Let me release you from the pressure of thinking that you can make it through without running into this issue. It happens to all of us, and the best thing that you can do is surround yourself with the resources you need to find the answers. For more information about building an accounting business, contact me today.