The Dilemma of Professionals

Professionals are a breed apart.

You can always tell when you’re speaking to professionals as they exhibit the following qualities:

• Traditionally from the accounting or legal industries;

• Are highly intelligent due to their rigorous, technical training;

• Are sometimes “humbled” and “flattered”;

• Believe there’s a perfect solution for everything.

It’s this last point that has me increasingly concerned.

As technicians, professionals usually think that every business matter can be wrapped-up in a nice, neat package.

There’s a law or regulation that covers everything they’ll encounter.

So when something out of the ordinary occurs, the natural inclination is to quote some legislation and magically the issue is resolved.

CLIENT: “How do I change my product mix so I can average-out my customer acquisition costs?”

ACCOUNTANT: “Well, under the new STP laws, you have to notify the ATO every time you do a pay run.”

CLIENT: “Huh?”

LAWYER: “And don’t forget to make sure you’re paying your staff the correct amount under the relevant award.”

CLIENT: “Guys, I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

ACCOUNTANT: “Section 44(1) is about dividends … Section 8(1) talks about deductibility … Capital Gains Tax, Fringe Benefits Tax, PAYG WITHHOLDING!”

CLIENT: “Look, just take a deep breath and we’ll have a nice cup of tea.”

All jokes aside, there are some pretty good professionals out there.

They understand that the world is not perfect and there isn’t a perfect solution for everything.

And they understand that what they provide in terms of technical ability is just one, small part of the equation for a business.

For accountants, this generally means tax.

Yes, there are accountants who specialise in other areas but for the majority, it’s tax.

And whilst they may wish to involve themselves in other business areas, it’s difficult to do so.

Tax is complex, required by law and is time-consuming so they tend to find themselves bogged-down in this area.

And it’s generally in a professional’s nature to want to get things perfect, as I mention in The Classic “A” Personality-Type Response to Business Drama .

So if a perfect solution is found to a tax matter, then it’s hard not to believe there’s a perfect solution to any business matter.

But as any seasoned business person knows, very rarely do things go perfect in business.

A situation occurs and you simply try something to resolve it.

If it works, you continue with it.

If it doesn’t, you can it and try something else.

And with the business owners I’ve met, tax isn’t the number one thing that keeps them awake at night.

It’s how to grow their business, earn a living and more from it and build a valuable asset.

And then tax becomes a by-product of that … not the other way around.

Enter my new book.

In the next couple of months, I’ll be releasing my new book.

It’s not about tax.

It’s based on some discussions with some very successful and very private business owners.

They tell me stuff that I was, admittedly, pretty dismissive about … until I saw that it worked.

Stuff that most people wouldn’t usually think about.

Focussed solely on private businesses, this book will include a prelude of what’s coming to the business environment in the near future, how to combat this and raise yourself above the herd.

If you’re interested in being the first to get advanced extracts from the book, sign-up to the Sculpt community below.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Want to become part of our ‘Sculpt” community and be notified of new articles and special benefits? Then join here.

Until next time.

Please Note: These articles are provided for education purposes only and should not be construed as specific advice. Always seek professional advice in relation to your personal and business circumstances.