The top five advisors your business needs

Every business owner needs help. Part of your job includes surrounding yourself with advisors who have a range of expertise and can provide guidance on a variety of issues.

These are the top five types of advisors that every business owner should have:

• Legal Every business has legal issues. (Read that again.) You have customers, vendors, and a registered legal entity (hopefully). Every one of those interactions—each sales agreement, every purchase order, and where you registered your business (hopefully not a state you don’t live in just for the tax benefits) is a legal issue. You may not feel like you have any legal problems yet, but every legal issue is a potential legal problem. A real attorney—not just a web-based legal service where you never talk to a real person—can help you navigate the legal issues related to starting and running your agency, such as contracts, intellectual property, employment law, and compliance.
• Financial The ultimate purpose of a business is to make money, and your goal should be to keep as much of that as possible to build wealth and do good in the world. Your business must put a proper accounting system in place to track revenue, expenses, assets, and liabilities. From there, a CFO can help you develop a budget and forecast financial performance, allowing you to make sound financial decisions for your agency. You also need a tax advisor, who may or may not also be your CFO. And when you’re profitable and have extra cash flow, you will want a personal financial advisor to help you set up and fund investment accounts to build long-term wealth.
• Positioning One key to success and greater profitability is differentiating your business from your competitors. It helps to get an outsider’s bird’s-eye view of your industry and market. From there, you can develop and implement a marketing plan to build your agency’s brand and reputation and attract and retain high-value customers.
• Business coach/mentor Even the world’s greatest athletes—Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Serena Williams, Lionel Messi—have had coaches they trust and listen to. Your business coach or mentor helps you approach running an agency with a clear mind. More often than not, running a business means getting out of your own way and making tough decisions, avoiding getting stuck in paralysis by analysis. A coach or mentor helps you relatively quickly work through the options, the pros and cons, and make a choice.
• Networking and industry contacts Building a network of industry contacts and establishing relationships with other professionals can be valuable for a new agency owner. Social media and online communities have made this incredibly easy, although local, in-person groups still provide critical opportunities. Keep in mind, though, that every business is different. When it comes to specific legal, financial, or marketing decisions, your particular situation may mean a colleague’s recommendation either won’t work or isn’t ideal for you.

As you find qualified advisors and your business grows, you’ll start to rely more on them. I like to think of this group as a personal board of directors, helping you run your business and manage your life.

The specific advisors you choose will depend on your agency’s needs and goals. You may find that you need to hire additional, more specialized advisors as your agency grows and evolves and your and personal wealth accumulates and goals change. For example, if you want to add real estate investments to your personal wealth portfolio, you should have a real estate agent, along with an attorney specializing in rental law, on your personal board.

So let me know...

Who was your first advisor on your personal board of directors? (Mine was my mentor. After more than five years, he’s still my most trusted advisor.)

Are you currently looking for a particular role on your board? (I might have a referral for you.)

Which role is still missing from your board?

Hit REPLY and tell me about it!