You’ve decided to enlist the expertise of a business adviser to drive success in your business. Maybe you’re looking for business advice to help you grow the company. Perhaps you want to be a better leader, or build a management team to take on more of the day-to-day responsibility.
Or maybe you want to inject a little oomph back into your business planning.
Whatever the reason for seeking business advice, key to getting the most out of your business adviser is to choose the right person in the first place. Easier said than done? Not if you look out for the following three attributes.
- Business experience
A good business adviser brings a range of business experience, ideally blending corporate experience with a proven track record in running their own company. An adviser who’s worked in different settings/industries and established their own successful business has, as the saying goes, ‘been there, done it, got the t-shirt’. That means, whatever issues your business is facing, whatever objectives you’re trying to achieve, your business adviser has probably already been through something similar. Use their experience to help you overcome challenges and avoid common pitfalls.
- Strategic thinking
A good business adviser will help you to clarify your vision, develop long-term strategies for achieving that vision, and break those long-term strategies down into achievable milestones and goals. In other words, they help you to chart a course for the future – and hold you accountable for staying on course. As part of this, they’ll also act as a sounding board for ideas, and bring a fresh, unbiased point of view to your business.
- Great relationship
A good business adviser has the right skills and experience, as set out above. But for them to be a good business adviser for you, the chemistry has to be right. You want to ‘click’ with your business adviser from day one. You want to feel like they listen to you. You want them to really understand your ambitions (and that includes your personal ambitions as well as your business goals). When you have this deep understanding and close relationship, your business adviser stops feeling like an external consultant and begins to feel more like a business partner – someone who’s truly invested in the success of your business.
Find out about Henchards Director Ian Parker’s expertise in our latest business advice video. Or why not tell us about your business needs and discover how Henchards can help drive your company forward?