Newsletter Articles

You get what you pay for…

If you aim for nothing in life, you will hit it everyday. Many people seem to think that success is just waiting for them around the corner. This is rarely the case. Many of us go through life with no goals and nothing to strive for. More significantly, many of us are using the wrong tools and methods in life.

A major problem stopping most of us achieving success is the fact that many of us try and find short cuts, get advice from the wrong people or just jump in without thinking.

As the famous saying goes, “if you pay peanuts you can only expect to get a monkey to do the job for you”. When it comes to professional services, here are some examples of what I’m talking about:

1. A once per year meeting with your suburban tax agent to complete tax returns as opposed to working closely with a skilled accountant throughout the course of the year for regular advice;

2. If you buy an off-the-shelf will kit you can’t expect the same thoroughness as a solicitor who specialises in estate planning;

3. Designing your own website may be cheaper than paying for a professional web-designer but it will probably result in a completely different image for your business and not necessarily maximise the efficiencies that a well-planned website can have.

When it comes to borrowing money, someone who does the ring-around to banks asking basic questions like “what is your interest rate” can’t expect to obtain the professional job that a highly skilled lending specialist would provide.

Don’t try to be the ‘Jack of all trades’. Taking a short-cut or doing things on-the-cheap often results in important components being overlooked, opportunities being missed, and / or mistakes being made that can cost you much more than initial perceived savings in the long run.

On the flip side, trying so hard to work out what might go wrong doesn’t allow anytime for things to go right. The preparation process may be the key to your success or failure. Sure, take your time to ensure your heading in the right direction and taking the right advice, but don’t take so long that you end up giving up before you’ve even started. Paralysis by analysis!

Try and fail… but don’t try to fail.