Introduction

If this is your first business, you’re in for exciting times, stressful times, and a learning curve.

Regardless of what you will be doing as a business, there will be skills that you will need in order to stay on track. The trick is knowing which.

Following on from our 2nd part in the Getting Started series we’ll be looking at the core skills… what you need and what you don’t.

Which core skills do you need?

In my experience, small business owners are generally resourceful and driven, and because the business is their baby, they get involved in everything. This is a mistake that I fell into.

Some context

My business is selling machines and technical solutions to electronics factories; I’m a sales guy and an electronics technical guy… I’m not a bookkeeper or an administrator. I’m not a mechanical or electronics designer, nor am I a draughtsman. I’m not a software engineer, nor am I a materials scientist. All of these roles I can perform to different degrees and to a level that would satisfy the needs of my business, but they are not what my business is about and are not what I consider, with the benefit of hindsight, core skills.

I tried to do everything for about 18 months but soon realised that everything not involved in selling was a distraction, so I began to outsource, and it was probably, the best business decision I have made in the last 19 years.

If your new business is going to be an accountancy or bookkeeping provider clearly, you will not need to outsource your bookkeeping. Likewise, a web design business will not outsource its web-related stuff, and an IT business will plan, install and manage its own IT.

Of course, you will need to learn about the financials, insurance, business law etc. but not all at once.

If none of the above examples are what you are going to be doing, you will need these skills in your business and taking the time to learn, either on a course, YouTube, or trial and error, will be a distraction from your core business, so outsource it.

Outsourcing examples

Outsourcing means sub-contracting/subbing-out certain tasks in your business and is a great way to make the most of your time and money to get things done whilst you focus on your core business.

Let’s say that you are starting a hairdressing business, to use a popular example. You will need:

• • • business cards
    • hair product suppliers
    • consumables suppliers
    • email account
    • computer
    • social media and maybe a website
    • advertising
    • insurances
    • accounting
    • payroll (assuming LTD business and PAYE)

How much of the above is really about hairdressing? I’d suggest finding, setting up an account and buying from the hair products and consumables suppliers. Everything else is a distraction from your core business and, remember, this is going to be your baby… you will want the best you can get for it, right?

Let’s look at business cards

Aside from the skills, do you have the required software tools to create a logo? Something that will be your primary ambassador in all domains needs to be done well.

With my first logos, I spent several days trying to come up with a design whilst also learning about the program I was using AND the specifics that a printer needs to be able to print the cards and flyers for me (colour separations, resolution, colour formats, bleed areas, Pantone codes on coated and uncoated paper etc.). Absolutely nothing to do with selling electronics test equipment!

I now use many logos across different ventures and I never design them myself. I will look at something like Fiverr. To give another example. The logo for this website cost £43 and I had three different versions that I could choose from, as many reworks as I needed until I was happy, and all the correct files for online, printing, email etc. A cost that is less than one hour of my time!

Accounting and payroll

My accounting gets a little complicated as I export and import and work in multi-currency; however, my total accounting bill, including bookkeeping, accounting, stock-control, year-end submissions, PAYE, and VAT is less than £2,000 per year and all done by fully qualified people. In real terms that is £38 per week. Coming back to a hairdresser, that is around one haircut per week (maybe two depending on your area), but I am managing a lot more than you will need as you don’t import and export haircuts!

The concept is that you may be thinking that you are saving money by doing as much as you can yourself, but the truth is that it is false economics Outsourcing is a way to benefit from the core skills of other businesses at a minimum cost to your business.

Come up with a brief for your business appearance (description, target customers/service, colours [maybe]) and spend a few hours on it. Run it by some friends and family and then outsource it to a professional. As this is being done in parallel, you then have time for something else… more hairdressing appointments or family.

Do you need to advertise?

Staying with the concept of starting a hairdressing business. Most hairdressers do not have enough friends, family, and acquaintances to support a full-time business.

Some basic statistics

On average, men have a haircut once every five weeks, and a men’s hairdresser will see between 12 and 20 clients per day or 60 to 100 per week.

Given the time between haircuts, a hairdresser will need a regular and steady flow through their business of 500 different men for the average hairdressing appointment, which last 15 to 20 minutes. Clearly, there will be shorter and longer times, subject to the client and the service, but the average is a client-book that is consistently around 500 people!

For women, in 2017 the average in the UK was 6.2 weeks between appointments, with a hairdresser averaging 12 clients per day or 60 per week. This translates to 372 clients on your book, consistently.

The only way that these numbers can be achieved AND maintained is through advertising, but advertising is a skill in it’s own right, particularly modern adverting with social media. It’s very, very easy to lose a lot of money.

The trick is to utilise the core skills of a specialist business, in the same way that they would, probably, use a hairdresser instead of cutting their own hair!

I know of a local business that takes a modest monthly retainer (some ask for ridiculous money) and they will take care of all social media, including paid advertising for me. A hairdresser, as our example, would benefit from exposure on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc. but how many startups would think of using Pinterest? Using a specialist, in this case, could benefit our hairdresser greatly. It’s a core skill that is accessible through outsourcing.