Your Expertise Doesn't Run a Business - 2 Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting a Business
Here's why I (naively) thought I had the perfect background to run a business:
I spoke the "language of business" - I even have an accounting degree.
I'm a certified accounting expert - I have my CPA license.
I'm a financial reporting expert - I worked in public accounting as a financial statement auditor. My clients reported their financial statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission. My job was to check the financial statements and say they were good.
When I started Basis 365 Accounting, I thought these would help me master my business. These things helped, but I realized they're only a small part of running a business.
My expertise—in accounting—doesn't help run a business. Whatever it is, your expertise won't help you run a business.
I wished I knew my expertise is a different skill set than running a business
When I say "run" a business, I'm talking about everything else that I'm not an expert in. The thing that I'm an expert in is my craft (my deliverable). Running a business involves understanding and knowing a little about:
Compliance matters (tax, human resources, legal)
Operational matters (systems, process, procedures, technology)
Sales and Marketing (sales funnels, negotiation, getting eyes on your product/service)
Psychology (dealing with clients, vendors, employees).
If you're an operations expert, great! Cross that off the list and put accounting and financial reporting on the list. I left it off the list above because this is my list.
My expertise is the present inside the box. I still need to know how to construct the box. Thinking that I was the present and the box was a mistake.
I wish I knew that I don't have to be an expert in everything
My business partner and I struggled to do everything when we started. Part of it was out of necessity—we didn't have money to hire experts— and part of it was ego (I'll speak for myself here.)
"I'm smart enough to figure this out."
That's probably true with a few things, but not with everything, and not at a depth of knowledge or practical experience that I should be attempting it myself.
Takeaways
I need to keep this in mind:
My expertise in (fill in the blank) does not make me an expert in running *every aspect* of a business.
My expertise is better when it's focused.
For everything else, I need to have basic knowledge about it: "a mile wide and an inch deep."