Starting up a business can be a worrying and lonely prospect, but fear not a team of advisers can help to make the experience much easier for you.
An adviser can be anyone that can offer you and your fledgling business a helping hand. When you start a new business this can mean advice on a variety of subjects from accounting and marketing, to premises, funding and the law. You may already have some existing skills and knowledge to provide what you will need for your new business. However, as they say two heads are always better than one, and you can’t be expected to know everything in business.
Fortunately there is a lot of advice available out there, but it is important that you choose the right advisers to support you and your business.
What Should an Adviser Do?
An adviser should be able to:
- Listen
- analyse problems
- find and offer impartial information
- problem-solve
- suggest innovative ideas
- develop action plans
- challenge you; and
- find you specialist help if they cannot offer it.
Finding the Right Advisers
Professional business advisers have either expert general business knowledge or expertise in a particular area such as marketing or funding.
Your local Enterprise Agency (such as COLBEA) can offer both these types of business advice, and can provide it in the form of one-off help, short-term support or an ongoing mentoring relationship. Specific advice is also available through organisations such as banks, insurance companies, solicitors and accountancy firms.
Recommendation is often the best starting point to choose your advisers - ask friends and contacts who they would recommend and also ask businesses around you if they go to someone locally. The Internet is also of course a great source for finding business advisers.
Whatever recommendations you are given or business advisers you may find, consider getting answers to some of the following questions before going any further:
- Are they qualified and a member of the relevant professional bodies e.g. Accounting Technicians, Law Society.
- Are they familiar with your business sector?
- Do they have special rates for smaller businesses?
- As an existing client what would you recommend about them and what are the weak points?
- Were they always on hand when needed?
Finally, why not also read some of the other How to… articles in this area, which will give you more information on what specific advisers could offer you and your business.
