Six Reasons Vendors Are Your Best Small Business Advisors
Small business advisors come in many forms including vendors. Six reasons they can be instrumental in growing your business.
Does your growing company recognize the Board of Directors it likely has in its professional vendors?
If not, you could be missing out on valuable advice and guidance.
One major challenge that many small companies face during the early stages of rapid growth is getting good advice. The good news is that even if you can’t afford to hire a true Board of Directors, you’re likely already working with many professionals who can serve the same function by offering counsel and guidance:
- All companies need a Board, but a smart small business can get creative in where those small business advisors are found by making use of the wisdom of the professionals you’re already engaged.
- Professionals such as attorneys, CPAs, insurance agents, and web developers can provide valuable advice in their areas of expertise based on years of experience with other companies like yours.
- Recognize the valuethese professionals can offer your company beyond the function you’ve hired them for and reap the rewards.
Six reasons vendors can be instrumental in growing your business:
- Good advice doesn’t come cheap
Good advice often doesn’t come cheap. But the good news is that even if you don’t have the financial resources or growth to attract a true Board of Directors, you can often leverage the investment you’ve already made in your professional vendors to create your own quasi-Board, getting you the solid guidance that a growing small company desperately needs.
- Hiring the right professionals
By hiring the right professionals people with experience and expertise who excel in their fields and are open with their counsel you can give your company access not only to the vendors it needs to complete certain important functions, but also to a wealth of knowledge from which your business can benefit.
And the best part is that since you’re already paying these professionals for their services, their advice is often thrown in for free you just must know enough to ask.
- Start with your attorney
The attorney that incorporated the company is generally a good place to start.
On a typical Board, the legal advisor is a key role, providing guidance on legal advice, compliance, and contract structuring.
In a smaller business, the business owner should look to his/her attorney as a small business advisor because any solid attorney will have seen many business situations that the business owner may encounter, and the business can benefit from the attorney’s advice.
The next time you are meeting with your attorney, don’t hesitate to mention any legal or business/contract structure situations you are dealing with.
- Your CPA
The tax preparer or CPA is typically another great candidate as a key small business advisor. Not only can the CPA offer tax advice, but in many cases is available to share best practices for business operations, sales, and finance, having witnessed the successes and failures of other clients in your same industry.
In addition, keep in mind that the CPA is in a great position to give referrals because many other clients also look to him/her as an advisor. The more your CPA knows about your business and the more confident s/he is in its operations, the more likely this partner is to send prospects your way.
- The insurance agent
The company’s insurance agent can also serve as a valuable Board Member. Insurance agents are vital in safeguarding the company’s interests at every stage of the growth cycle and therefore are also in tune with a growing company’s changing needs.
Many insurance agents can offer financial business products as well as personal products for the owners to facilitate and accommodate a growing company.
- Your web developer
Finally, in recent years the web developer has taken on a small business advisory role for many companies. Small businesses look to web developers not only create a website, but also to help the company develop their branding and create their marketing communications to the outside world.
A good web team can be an invaluable resource as a company grows, informing changes to the company’s brand and marketing that should parallel growth.
In summary
These are just a few of the professionals that you may have already engaged that can meet the Board role for your growing company, but there are likely many other sources of small business advisor wisdom that you can tap.
You know your vendors best the key is to see these people not just as professionals who perform a singular task like preparing a tax return or designing a website, but as potential small business advisors and mentors. Be smart and leverage their expertise to get the advice your growing business needs.
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Choosing The Right Business Professional
