I’ll be honest straight up.  I hate asking for help. 

 

It’s not that I think I can do it better, it’s just that I don’t like to inconvenience other people.  You’re busy, I’m busy, we are all busy.

 

Since starting a business (and having children – same but different?) there have been times that unless I had asked a friend, mentor, colleague, total random – we would not be where we are today. 

 

I credit winning our first government tender [for my other business baby, G-fence] in part to my husband’s genius and “can do” attitude, but also in part to the very generous local mentor who gave us his complete collection of tender documents to use in our business.  If we had not asked for help, our business may have taken a less successful path.

 

We absolutely could not achieve our goals without the help of our family and friends.  I’ve lost count of the number of times our parents, siblings, cousins and friends have dropped everything and come to help us out.  We are very fortunate.

 

Being in small business means that you often need to access skills and knowledge outside your existing resources. 

 

Tap into business networks. 

 

Don’t hesitate to pick up the phone and ask an industry or field leader.

 

Most people’s contact details are very readily available these days.  Be polite, let them know who you are and how you came across their details.  Make sure it suits them to take the phone call, otherwise offer to call back at another time.  Ask for help and if they are unwilling, ask them if there is someone more suitable that they could refer you to.

 

Have a great weekend & feel free to ask me for help anytime.

 

I’ll leave you with …..  

 

5 unusual things to ask your friendly lawyer for help with:

1.  Doing your landlord rent increase calculations and notifications

2. Negotiating better equipment finance terms

3. Seeing if it is possible to waive guarantee and personal indemnity advice for a loan

4. Applying for a government pension or disability support

5. Setting you up with some employee agreements that suit your employees and you better than the award

Oh and 6. a good bottle of champagne