What many business owners do not realize is that they rarely go through any trials and tribulations that someone else has never dealt with. Not to mention that about 70-75% of their business is the same as every other business including HR, finances, sales, marketing and funding. The other 25-30% is industry specific.
Small to mid sized business owners take away much more from an advisor than big businesses. This, if for no other reason, is the case because the smaller companies have owners that wear a lot of hats. Many of those hats take time away from the things the owner actually needs to make a priority to see their company succeed. Things they should be doing that they don’t have time to get to or things they are taking care of that they have no experience in doing. These situations take away from them doing what they do best. That’s a problem.
The question now is how to find an advisor. There are many types of business advisors out there. Some are purely “coaches” and others are true developers and implementers that will roll up their sleeves with you when asked to. It’s up to you to pick the type of person you want or need. Here are a few things to think about:
- Do they click with your personality? There are many good advisors out there but if they don’t click with you as a “business friend”, don’t bother with them because you will end up fighting them even when you agree on the advice.
- Have they owned a small business before? Gray hair does not equal business ownership knowledge. I promise you that the ex-CEO or Senior manager from a huge company knows very little about successfully operating a small business. These are two significantly different worlds.
- Don’t worry if a potential advisor doesn’t know your specific industry. Remember that a lot of your troubles have nothing to do with your industry. It would help though if the advisor had contacts/resources for you in your industry for when specific problems are addressed.
