“Is this bad?” she asked, poking her finger into the hole in the wall.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure how to answer.
Friends of ours were in the middle of a bathroom renovation…
….And they were using the old-fashioned “do-it-yourself” method.
They didn’t trust builders and were confident that they could supplement their own DIY knowledge with advice from the Internet…
…Whilst saving thousands.
So far, they had successfully removed most of the hardware and backsplash.
There was just one problem: A thin stream of water was coming through a hole in the wall, and a puddle accumulating all over the floor.
My wife and I just happened to pop by at this moment of crisis, but we really couldn’t help.
I couldn’t tell where the water was coming from and I certainly had no idea to fix it.
The only thing I knew for sure was that it was time to call in a professional.
This same “If you want something done right, do it yourself” mentality is something I see often from business owners… and it’s not always the best approach.
In fact, when it comes to your finances, it could be a business killer.
You see, every company will reach the point where they need to upgrade and professionalise their financial management.
And when that happens, you’ll face a choice:
Should you handle everything in-house – expanding your team of accountants and bookkeepers, and hiring your own finance director to build specialised financial systems?
Or is this something you can outsource, just like you might outsource parts or all of your marketing or your HR function?
As the Outsourced Finance Department, this is a conversation I have with business owners again and again.
And the main dilemma I hear is: “Can we really trust this sensitive task to outsiders? Aren’t we better off handling this ourselves?”
Some company owners feel they will not have complete control over their finances, if the team handling their cash is not sitting right there in their offices.
And I get it – outsourcing can be a leap of faith…
But hiring your own team, “do-it-yourself” style is an even bigger leap of faith!
I see business owners hire the wrong finance people all the time, simply because they don’t know what a good candidate really looks like. They might not even understand what they job they’re hiring for really entails…
…And once they’ve hired their in-house team, they can’t tell whether they’re doing a good job, either.
It can take months to uncover the fact that your new finance director was using spreadsheets that were totally illegible to the rest of the staff….
…Or was actually under-qualified for the job…
….Or that the new bookkeeper wasn’t reconciling your accounts.
Usually you don’t realise there’s a problem until something has gone horribly wrong. And by then it’s very late in the game.
The problem is, it’s tough to judge all this if you’ve never run a finance department directly yourself.
Having grown a business doesn’t give you the expertise it takes.
I mean, my friends thought they knew what it took to renovate a bathroom, because they’d done some DIY in the past….
But because they weren’t professional plumbers or decorators, they couldn’t take their vision for the new bathroom and make it a reality.
So if you think that the best way to keep control of your finances is to keep that department in-house, know that it’s an illusion.
The REAL and ONLY way to get more control over your finances is for you to have them managed professionally and smoothly…
…So you get all the financial information you need to make the very best decisions about your company’s direction and future.
That’s what our team gives you.
We have experience running the finance department for dozens of companies, many of them very similar to yours.
And over the years, we have perfected every system and every process necessary to manage your finances smoothly…
…And to give you the financial information you NEED to grow.
There is no single in-house hire you can make, that will give you the same level of experience or expertise…
…Or who will come with the same tried-and-tested turnkey processes, ready to put them to work for your business immediately.
In the end, the successful management of your finances is all about putting your trust in the right team for the job.
Where they’re based is secondary.
Our experience and track record speak for themselves.
Get in touch today, by emailing me or calling on 01279 647447 to get moving in the right direction.
