The longer that you’re alive, the more you know how little you know. And though that may seem like a strange and circular thought from the outside, again, the older you get, the more you know it to be true. So, that points to the fact that there are many situations in life where your best bet is to ask experts before moving too far forward on a particular idea or project.

And five of these situations specifically that come to mind include home construction, real estate development, creating an IT framework, working on small business ideas, and getting career advice. In each of these categories, expert information, opinions, or advice can be helpful to your cause.

Home Construction

Some small home construction and improvement projects are going to be no problem on your own. But others, like putting on new siding, or sealing your basement, or making a new huge gazebo in your backyard, might take some specialized tools, experience, or planning. So before you start on anything too ambitious in the home improvement realm, consulting a few contractors is never a bad idea.

Real Estate Development

 If you want to get into the real estate business because it seems like it would suit your personality or your skill set, that’s awesome. However, real estate development is a crazy world, and more people go broke trying that succeed. If you want to make a legitimate run at that business, talk to developers who have experience, especially in your geographical area, and find out what issues they’ve run into as they worked on their own business acumen. They might not tell you any trade secrets, but they can at least give you fair warning about some things.

IT Framework

Everyone should at least know the basics of IT, cell phone service and email communication. But beyond that, understanding technical IT frameworks can be a really frustrating experience. If you have a company that’s expanding, it’s best to call an IT specialist to make sure that you have all of the parts and pieces to expand your infrastructure, before a failure on your part makes you lose money.

Small Business Ideas

 At some point in your life, you’ll probably want to start a business. And there’s a very strong likelihood that it will fail after a few years. This is just a statistical probability. But, if you want to be on the positive side of that equation, you must talk to the experts first, like people at the Small Business Administration for example. Find out the best path forward before too much energy is spent in the wrong direction.

Career Advice

 Advice about careers will come to about a dime a dozen, but all that input is for naught if the people you talk to don’t actually know what they’re talking about. When deciding on career options (or the schooling that will get you there), be sure to consult only the best and most legitimate career advisors that you can find.