Business owners, without a good quality business adviser, are steering the ship blind. Business today is complicated and the number of areas of expertise we need to be across (as owners), is simply impossible – there are far too many and things in business are far more complicated than they used to be.
“Surround yourself with great people; delegate authority; get out of the way.” – Ronald Reagan
Business owners need to understand what this actually means – engaging an adviser and then micro-managing is not going to work (most good advisers won’t put up with it anyway).
- Find a business adviser who has the skills you need.
- Ensure they understand the problem and the outcome you would like to achieve.
- Make sure they are thinking strategically – long term planning.
- Understand clearly the engagement model – retainer fees, success fee – outcome-based fees always get better results.
- Give them information and the authority to do what needs to be done to solve the problem.
- Leave them alone and let them do the job.
- Constantly review, monitor and manage – results, not process.
A good adviser should make you (or save you) 3-4 times their cost – if they don’t – you have the wrong person. If I am going to charge you a $10,000 fee – I should be able to improve your business (outcome) by $40,000. A good return and a good outcome for the business. Cheap advisers will get cheap results in most cases – cheap results are not a good long-term strategy for your business.
“Wall Street is the only place that people ride to in a Rolls Royce to get advice from those who take the subway.” – Warren Buffett
