First, Ask a Professional
A few tips on how to avoid costly pitfalls for your small business and gain professional connections at the same time.
When you shift from employee to employer aka business owner, you face a transition from an ideal picture of you to the real you in real-world circumstances.
You’ll find that you:
- overburdened with all the marketing, sales, finance & accounting and development matters,
- can’t delegate and do all the jobs on your own,
- can’t or hard to win new clients because of the first 2 points.
So, the question is:
How to get things moving but keep your mind centered?
Business books and Forbes authors in various terms are telling you the one basic rule for growing — engage with other people.
OK, but, in reality it usually leads to the rise of the Dunning-Kruger effect when you think you know what to do, how to do it and when.
In the utopia, you have just got to figure out what you can delegate and hire the right people for those tasks. And leave to yourself your most vital roles and tasks. Then delegate these roles too and keep only encouraging one for yourself.
But you lose a lot when just hire a professional and don’t even know what they really can do for you.
For example, you assume that you need a Social Media Manager, but without understanding the full scope of their role, you might not leverage their skills effectively.
You might think they only post updates, but a good professional can help with content strategy, engagement, and even customer service. If you aren't aware of what they can truly bring to the table, you risk missing out on the full value they could provide to your business.
I see countless job offers on freelance platforms, where pointed on graphic design skills for a front-end developer. Or which asking UX designers to make illustrations. Or looking for a sales manager when there is no product or service wrapped up.
We have all the possible options to communicate nowadays. All the professionals are open to discussions.
So, why not to ask what they are able to do for you?
Most of the consultations are about how much the project will cost. But the cost estimation itself isn’t the only thing that matters when you actually are not sure who and how will do the job.
Before hiring “a Web Back-end developer with UX design skills” just find an independent IT or web developer and ask him — what you could do for a project like mine? What technologies can be used here in my project?
And you will get transparent answers in most cases. You can even hear something like, “Your project can be built using WordPress without any custom coding”.
Before committing to a marketing campaign on Meta for 10k, ask somebody with a title “Digital Marketing Specialist”, who focuses on online campaigns, audience targeting, or performance optimization. Ask to determine: “Is Meta the right platform for my business?” Or seek advice to make sure your campaign matches your business goals at all.
And, before ordering a production of extra-spunky-whatever on an overseas factory, spending all the wealth gained from a granny, it’s better to consult an International Trade Lawyer or/and Product Development Consultant first, I’m sure.
Ask someone who is familiar with your tasks before starting something costly.
Not sure about NDA? Kindly ask to sign it before starting the consultation. Or avoid direct opening of sensitive information, obviously.
You choose Whom to Ask
Years and areas of expertise, region, speaking languages, reviews, a website, and make use of your intuition, of course.
Note that I'm not talking about a business mentor or advisor who helps with a business idea or vision. At this stage, we are referring to someone with relevant experience to your ongoing technical questions.
It can be a freelancer or Pro, or a small business owner from your local Facebook community who has the same background.
😎 Keep in mind that you will encounter situations where someone tries to sell you services that you think you do not need. That’s why, try to get even more consultations from different sources.
Asking right Questions
You have an experience and own hypothesis on how things work, but it's better to know how people do their job. Ask somebody, talk to a professional first. Here are some examples.
- Which common mistakes do you see businesses in my industry make, and how can I avoid them in your opinion?
- What specific results or outcomes should I expect from working with someone in your role?
- What tools or technologies would you recommend streamlining operations or enhancing performance?
- Do I need to add any other experts or roles to complement yours?
- What should I do first to get the best or fastest results?
How much does it Cost?
It is true that an hour of consultation from a vetted individual can cost up to $120. However, the vast economy will be seen further.
The consultation can even be free if you just connect and chat with the right person on LinkedIn.
Where to Ask?
Write your “silly” question on Quora or Reddit. Get paid consultations, not only on Fiverr or Upwork. Use private messages on Behance, Hubstaff. Connect with any chosen team on Clutch or GoodFirms. Ask questions on posts or comments on Medium or Indie Hackers.
Literally, tens of thousands of professionals are ready to share their knowledge with you. (Even if you are struggling with social anxiety, you will get the desired results with text messaging).
Remember, asking a professional at any step of any type of business keeps you on track in the long run, saves you money, and mental health too, yeah.
And one day, you will see a list of reliable own-vetted contacts of professionals who will be available for you or can recommend your service or product to someone else. Because they remembered you as their direct contact, too. Don’t underestimate how many, word-of-mouth matters.
And all this interaction with professionals will lead to further development in any way.
So, the simplest conclusion today is to stay as curious as a 5-year-old. They ask because they want to know how the world is settled down.
😎 And of course, if you would like to know how your business website's conversion rates can be improved with a user-friendly design, I’m here to provide an insight.
Cheers to you!
