I think if the paperwork or “thing” is central to the business idea, then it makes perfect sense to do the work yourself. In Duncan’s case he managed to find his niche by understanding all the legislation - which was a huge factor in determining his successful business model.

If the paperwork or “thing” isn’t core to your business model (i.e. a corporate website or your accounting) then it’s probably better to farm that work out to save time.

Example - If I was running a printing business, I’d be foolish to trust someone else to design my own business card. Any other sort of business (where business cards are not central to the business model) would simply pay for cards to be designed by a printing company.

I think Duncan’s point was to take control and be knowledgeable of the things that will ensure success for your business. I do agree though that he possibly could have saved his time by getting someone to form his company for him, though I suspect he wanted to learn about this process so that he fully understood what was involved. Perhaps doing this at least once would help all business owners, if only for the experience.

Great blog by the way, I’m a new reader but am quickly going through the archives! I hope to read more soon.

Thanks,
Nick

Yes sure, you *can* DIY when it comes to all the paperwork, accounts, and Inland Revenue documentation, but (in my experience) you just don’t know enough to be sure you’re safe. Having an accountant do your figures for you and submit them a) suggests responsibility to the Inland Revenue - that you’re at least aiming to do the right thing and b) uses the accountants extra knowledge of Inland Revenue’s foibles - you’re likely to get better tax advice, expenses advice etc. from an accountant rather than just “Well I *think* I can get away with that”.

To me - having done it both ways with a limited company now - having a decent accountant to handle that (and the payroll stuff) just makes sense.

At least that’s the impression I got from the book and a couple of the interviews he’s done.

Would even add that its obviously more complicated than that in reality.
In hindsight, sure everyone can choose the right thing. But when getting a company formed is alien and the first quote one sees is exorbitant. Doing it oneself appears best. Keep looking for a better quote? Sure, but when its your first company, with 10,000 other pressing things to do and no money to allocate to anything, a DIY/ “take it all on” mentality is high on the agenda.

Consequently, planning a roadmap and assigning ones focus and attention depends highly on circumstance:
On ones resources, stage of development, industry, knowledge/experience/contacts in that industry and Business model. A person’s ability or willingness to plan, allocate funds, to be a manager and delegate, to be a control freak and not…

I would imagine that traders, which is essentially what his first business was, typically create most of the value by themselves, leaving other functions to be carried out by low value add administrators…