Wise Up Wednesday: Taking Advice!
Your Wise Up Wednesday today is about taking advice. Taking advice from time to time is a sign of strength, not a weakness, and here’s a quick quote that sort of sums up what this week’s WUW is all about; To profit from good advice requires more wisdom than to give it. Wilson Mizner American dramatist 1876-1933 So please take 2 minutes to read our guide and please share it with all your colleagues. Streetwise Guide To Taking Advice Firstly, here’s a quick question; If a complicated piece of machinery like the engine in your car needs fixing, do you get out the manuals and the tools and set about it yourself? Back in the day, when I was much younger and engines were much simpler, I have been known to change the odd set of points. Now, however, I wouldn’t have a clue how the complex mass of pipes and wires crammed under the bonnet of my car works, let alone how I could fix it if it went wrong. The point (if you’ll forgive the link), is that like all things in life, business gets more complicated by the day, and it is almost impossible to be an expert in every single field that affects your business. In addition to the traditional professions such as banking, accounting and law, there are now experts in health and safety, public relations, marketing, computers, e-commerce etc, etc, etc. Unless you are one of the really big players in Specialist Sub-Contracting, it is unlikely that you will have in-house expertise in each of the fields that affect your business. However, failing to take appropriate professional advice at the appropriate time can be disastrous. So Where Do You Start? Before you take professional advice, think very carefully about how you are going to choose who to take advice from. Here are a few things you might want to consider before engaging a particular firm or individual from whom to take advice:
- Credentials, qualifications and experience.
- Relevant experience. Have they had experience in your particular specialism?
- Who will actually be doing the work? Will it be the person you meet and strike up a relationship with or just one of their team?
- Can they provide names and addresses of clients who they are happy for you to contact? If they can’t, ask yourself why. If they can, make a few calls and check them out.
- Is the size of their organisation important to you? Can they handle the volume of business you are going to generate?
At StreetwiseSubbie.com we think we measure up pretty well, and tick all the above boxes. And by teaming up with no fewer than 17 Service Delivery Partners we have experts in advising Specialist Subcontractors across 21 areas of your business. Make It Cost Effective It’s important to take advice as soon as possible, even before whatever it is becomes a “problem”. Delay can be catastrophic. When the time comes to engage someone, ensure you make their appointment cost-effective. Professionals sell you their time and you should make the best use of it. I once had a client who brought me a carrier bag full of documents that looked like it had just been picked up off the floor after a burglary. As politely as possible I suggested that I was a very expensive filing clerk, and encouraged him to put the documents into some sort of order before paying me to me start looking at it. Prepare in advance for meetings or phone calls and decide exactly what you need to discuss and what you expect to achieve. Make sure you have all the relevant information to hand so that you don’t waste their time and your money whilst the information is found. Getting Free Advice Not all free advice is good advice. Your mate down the pub might not be the best person to ask, but we reckon our experts are. And they are already providing initial free advice to over a hundred Specialist Subcontractors who get that advice as just one of their Streetwisesubbie Membership benefits. And if you need to go beyond the free advice, discounted rates apply. There are three Membership levels Silver, Gold and Platinum, so there is one to suit you, and if you would like to give us a call on +44 (0)1773 712116 or email info@streetwisesubbie.com, we will be happy to explain the benefits. I hope you enjoyed my Wise Up Wednesday email and that it gave you some food for thought, and I sincerely hope to speak with you soon.
Best regards Barry
P.S. Please remember if you have a problem, take action sooner rather than later. If you’re not sure what to do or just want a second opinion, please give us a call on +44 (0)1773 712116, or email info@streetwisesubbie.com Helping Secure A better Future for Specialist Contractors – Streetwisesubbie.com Ltd Shanakiel 17 Ilkeston Road Heanor Derbyshire DE75 7DR. t: +44 (0)1773 712116 info@StreetwiseSubbie.com.
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