Do What You Do Best

This week the old adage to focus on what you do best and hire someone to do everything else came home loud and clear.

I have a client who's business requires extensive bookkeeping and accounting functions. He used to have a full-time bookkeeper to support his real-estate and investment interests, but last year, he decided that was "too much, I could do some of it myself". 

Well, as you might guess, now it's tax season and his books are a mess. The truth is that he's not a detail person. He does not enjoy data entry on the computer, and he kept "putting it off until later. I always thought I'd catch up on the weekend, or next week."

Unfortunately, that never happened.

My client is extremely good at investing, and his passion, talents and interests are in the creative, entrepreneurial side of his business. Ironically, he is very good at reading financial statements to evaluate a possible investment. But as a bookkeeper, he needs to fire himself!

We all have our areas of expertise and passion. In our areas of strength, we are "geniuses". Outside those areas, however, we are doomed - doomed to frustration, exasperation, and sometimes outright failure.

Do what you love. Do what you do best. Emphasize your talents and give your customers the extras that only you can give them. But for goodness sake, hire someone else to do the things you can't do, won't do, or do badly. You can't afford to spend your life being inefficient, wearing yourself out, and spending the rest of the day being cranky.

Go with your strengths! You'll make more money, have more fun, and be much more successful! 

Copyright (c) 2003, all rights reserved. U.S. Library of Congress ISSN: 1529-059X From The Innovative Professional's (TIP's) Letter Sunday, February 23, 2003 Written & Published by Philip E. Humbert, PhD Contact him at: www.philiphumbert.com or email Coach@philiphumbert.com