Have you ever heard the phrase ‘a little knowledge is a dangerous thing’? Business owners are often told to be more hands-on in their business and have a good grasp of their business operations. And I agree, that is a good thing.
However, there is definitely a line that can be crossed. Take branding as an example. Business owners should always be involved in discussions about branding and logo design. The input to this process can also be quite specific as far as preferences of aspects such as colour, symbols, overall style and so on.
But where problems can arise is when business owners go beyond specific and become prescriptive, despite having no expertise in graphic design. A graphic designer understands design principles, has experience in what design elements work well together, and so on. So although a graphic designer must take into account a business owner’s preferences, the graphic designer’s opinion should be considered carefully. They know what they are talking about!
This applies across nearly every aspect of running a business. You might know a bit about tax law and accounting (which is very handy for understanding financial reports and so on), but your accountant is always going to be the expert. You might understand a bit about risk management and workplace safety, but a specialist in this area will be able to advise you accurately.
This does not mean you should follow blindly what every so called ‘expert’ tells you: questioning and confirming is paramount! But it does mean that you should not try to do their job or think that you know best in an area where you are clearly not qualified.
