When something is wrong with our health, we see the correctly qualified person who is experienced and trained to diagnose, treat and follow up on our health and well-being. Specialists undergo a fundamental university training program, followed by extensive training in a particular area of medicine. For this reason, these are called specialists. They have chosen to specialise in one small part of our health.

When we have nasal or sinus issues, we don’t go to a gynaecologist we book in to see an ENT (Ear Nose & Throat) Specialist; just like we don’t take our mental health issues to an orthopaedic surgeon.

To begin practising as a medical doctor requires 6 years of undergraduate study and an internship where the newly trained doctor is exposed to a broad range of hospital care situations alongside a variety of specialists. During this year the Intern is required to work in a range of wards that specialise in different areas of health. It is only as a fully qualified doctor that someone can begin training and studying towards becoming a specialist. This may take as long as 5 years or more. The young specialist slowly develops the necessary skills as a surgical registrar, psychiatrist, facial or plastic surgeon, emergency specialist and so on.

The Professional Specialist

Specialists exist in most professions. They are specialists, not only for the study they have completed, or the on-the-job training they have done. Again, the tertiary study is only the starting point. From there we have criminal or civil lawyers, small business and corporate accountants or IT cyber-security specialists. From a broad base of study, these professionals have honed their skill set to focus on their own bull’s eye.

Small business owners are easily duped by the choice of professional service assistance for their business. Whether this is choosing a bookkeeper, a social media marketer or an accountant, the business owner is not familiar with what a good or bad professional service provider does for them, and what criteria their work should be measured against.

Generalist or Specialist?

Whether you think you need a specialist or a general accountant, the important question is, “What do I get for my investment in outsourcing this part of my business?” For many busy owners of SMEs, this simply takes too much time, so they simply find a nearby accountant, ask a friend or use someone who has prepared their family's personal tax returns for years. In theory, there is nothing wrong with this.

As the ‘help me fix my taxation or cashflow emergency’ accountants, our experience tells a different story.

A very painful, costly and health-destroying story.

We find serious structural errors in the accounts of 80% of the people who come to us. Impossible to imagine, right? Yet it is true.

Does this ever occur in our dealings with other professionals? Of course, it does. How often do we visit a doctor and find that what we are diagnosed with is not the real problem? Redness in an eye that is treated as a sty; when it is in fact it is an allergic reaction to the food you are eating? Pain in the belly is a tropical bug that is treated as food poisoning. A headache that is thought to come from neck or back problems, yet is related to dehydration.

A bookkeeping error that occurs once per week soon adds up to a huge annual error. An automated payment that keeps being made for months after the service is no longer used. Failing to ask for better payment terms from large suppliers causes cash flow squeezes. Not correctly accounting for GST, superannuation or other employee entitlements.

What Makes A Specialist Special?

Focussing on a single aspect every day allows the specialist to be up to date on the latest trends, systems and rule changes. Removing other distractions gives them laser-like focus and solutions that have been applied before. This shortens the lifecycle of the pain of error correction, getting a business turned around fast.

Knowing the problem and its impact gives the specialist the confidence to apply radical approaches to correcting errors. They don’t tolerate the cause of the error. They prevent it from continuing immediately, understanding the impact of it over time.

As external specialists, they are not attached to the outcome and provide solutions that resolve issues in favour of the client. Their task is to fix the problem, not get involved in it. The beneficiary is the business owner.

You.

Your health.

Your peace of mind.

Your relationships.

Your financial wellbeing.

Your wealth.

The Specialist works for you. Isn’t it time you took prevention more seriously than trying to find a cure when you find yourself in a financial, personal and business mess?