Knowing when to let go
Our managing partner and I met with an accountant this morning. The purpose of this meeting was to fire me, so to speak. Since our company started in February, I have been over IT, finance and general administration in addition to maintaining a vibrant workers’ comp and special needs practice. In the beginning, it was a one hour per week proposition. Now, as we’ve grown to five times our original size, it has become more of a 1-2 day per week thing. This has taken away from my ability to work on my cases and has, indirectly, cost us money due to decreased billings. The general admin and IT aren’t major issues and don’t consume a lot of time but the finance was becoming a bear. Additionally, due to the number of accounts and total dollars we were working with, I really felt like I was getting in over my head. We now have professional help to manage our day to day finances and I can do what I’m trained to do, manage cases and consult.
It can be a difficult thing to let go. When we first discussed the idea I will confess that my initial reaction was negative largely because I didn’t want to give up the power of the purse. Gradually, I came to realize that I was a) over my head and b) hurting myself and our firm by not ceding the daily financial stuff to a professional. Over time, my attitude changed. When we left the accountant today, I felt like I had a 16 ton weight taken off of me. But the decision was much easier because I came to it myself and was not forced into it.
Here are my questions then- are we introspective enough to realize it’s time to let go or do we need someone to push us toward the light (so to speak). Not necessarily make the decision for us, but point us in the right direction. And, are we mature enough to, when the time comes to relinquish, do so with a good spirit and attitude and assist the person who follows us and set them up to succeed.
Discuss amongst yourselves…
