The role of a trusted advisor

In a time that there are greater business opportunities and confidence is on the improve, business owners are looking for advisors to assist in growth, strategies and financial management reporting. There are many businesses that are engaging business consultants or business advisors to assist business owners in this regard. In my experience, consultants are normally engaged for a specific task or project, whereas advisors act in a mental or guidance roll that would normally be for the longer term and advise across all areas of the business.

So what does a trusted advisor mean?

Obviously they need to be trustworthy, which by definition suggests human confidence in someone for dependable performance. In my experience, I believe a trusted advisor should encompass the following:

• Value alignment
• Trusted advisors should share similar values to those being advised and put you first. An advisor should have your back and put your needs in front of their own, especially when it comes to financial gain.
• Build value for yourself and business
• An advisor should be looking at ways in which the business can increase in value and look at issues through a development lens rather than a management lens.
• How can your advisor assist in the development and growth of your business and understand you?
• You will get the best out of an advisor, if they can relate to you, understand you, support you and importantly challenge you. Your advisor should be genuinely interested in your plans and ultimately, what you want to achieve.
• Reliability
• Your advisor should be able to meet your demands in regard to timing and ultimately do what they say.
• Experienced and skilful
• Ideally your advisor should be experienced in business, as through their own experiences, can guide you on addressing your own opportunities and threats.

Ultimately, it is important when using a trusted advisor that there is a good fit and connection between each other. Your “gut feel” is normally the best way to go about choosing your trusted advisor and any concerns that you may have should be addressed upfront to ensure that there is appropriate planning monitoring and accountability.

We act as trusted advisors for many small to medium sized businesses, and importantly their owners.

If you are seeking someone to perhaps look at things differently, support you and or challenge you, it might be time to give us a call.