"CHINESE PROVERB
To guess is cheap
To guess wrong – is expensive"
Many of us, in our business lives (and often in our own personal lives too) seem to think that it is easier just to assume that we know what we are doing! We march blindly into the 'lion's den' and then when the King of the Beasts comes roaring out and we are just about to be devoured. . . we look around us in absolute disbelief and "wonder what the hell happened!"
We blame everyone we can think of from the President of the country to the cleaning lady in our favorite coffee shop, but God forbid, that we should have a look at what we have done and take any kind of responsibility for our own actions!
Many of us for example will take Stock Exchange advise from our gardeners, our mechanics, our grocers - but God forbid we should actually pay "good" money for good advice from someone who works at the Stock Exchange and knows what the hell that they are doing! And then when we lose all the money, we blame the gardener, our mechanics, the grocer - and everyone inbetween. Everyone, except ourselves for making the stupid, expensive guess that these people would know more than the professionals!
Or - how about the business owner, who can add one plus one and get two and now that makes him/her a bookkeeper? Good grief people - think about what you are doing? Do you have the correct. . . take one step back, any knowledge about the tax laws and what you can claim for and what you can't? Do you know what you can legally claim, as a business expense? Do you know how to read a balance sheet, a trial balance, an Income & Expense statement? Do you know how to do a cash flow? Do you do your banking reconciliations - in fact do you you know what a reconciliation is? Do you do your books on a monthly basis? Perhaps I should re-phrase that, do you have the time and/or the inclination to do your books on a monthly basis (and I am not merely referring to raising your invoices). If the answer to any of these is no - then, in my opinion you have a problem!
Or - how about my personal favorite? We ask advice from everyone that will give us the time of day and when we hear the advice that sounds like what we would 'like to hear' then that is the advice that we take, because 'after all - sally the hairdresser knows everything that there is to know about VAT on imports - why wouldn't she?'
Get real people! If you don't know the answer to a question, go to the person who is qualified to answer it. Do the research
Are you getting the point yet!
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