Nobody starts a successful business without a bit of help. Good business contacts are vital regardless of what industry you’re in. If your phonebook is empty you’ve got nobody to turn to when you’re struggling. It’s also important to recognize that you aren’t an expert in everything and there will be times when you need to hand the reigns over to somebody that’s more qualified than you are. At the very least, you should have these numbers in your phonebook.
Accountant
Even if you’re pretty good with numbers, that doesn’t make you an accountant. Keeping track of your finances and being aware when you’re in trouble is essential to survival and if you’re trying to deal with all of that yourself while running the rest of your business, you’re likely to miss things. A good accountant should be top of your favorites list and you should be calling them regularly to check up on things.
Good Tradesmen
Good tradesmen should be in everybody’s phone book but they’re especially important for business owners. Imagine if the power went out in the office, every second that it’s turned off for, you’re losing money. If you spend ages calling around trying to find a reliable commercial electrician, you’re going to hemorrhage money. You also don’t know if they’re going to do a good job or not. Find good tradesmen that you know you can rely on, and keep their numbers handy so you can fix any problems before they start costing you money.
Freelancer
A sudden spike in work is always good news, but it might leave you struggling to cope. If that lack of manpower stops you from giving good service, you won’t keep those customers. Having a couple of good freelancers on your books means that you can call people in as soon as you need them and keep on top of that workload before it gets out of hand.
A Business Mentor
You’re going to make a lot of mistakes on the way and even if it feels like it, you aren’t alone. Anybody that’s made it in the business world made all the same mistakes that you did before they got to where they are today. That’s why it’s so important that you seek the advice of more season business veterans. They can give you solid advice on all of the nuts and bolts of running a business like dealing with accounts, sorting out tricky customers, and driving sales. All that stuff is useful, but there’s one thing that’s more valuable. Running a business is a mental battle above all. There’s going to be highs but also some serious lows. Having somebody to give you advice and help you deal with that is more valuable than any other business advice and it’s the one thing that’ll keep you going for long enough to start making a profit.
If you don’t have these numbers in your phonebook you’ll find that there are some serious holes in your business. The biggest mistake that you can make when you’re running your own company is trying to do it all yourself and not accepting help.
