The Dangers of Not Getting the Right Advice
A survey recently conducted called the “The Voice of Australian Business 2016” found some interesting and concerning trends. One of those was that only 26% of businesses use professional advice to help them make better decisions and take better actions. Whilst the likelihood of doing so increases the larger the business gets, this could well be a contributing factor to the significant business failure rates in this country.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, more than 60 percent of small businesses cease operating within the first three years of starting. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission released a report into corporate insolvencies for 2011-2012 and they found 44 percent of businesses suffered poor strategic management, 40 percent were strangled by poor cash flow or excessive cash use and 33 percent ceased from trading losses. But this doesn’t have to be the case if you seek the right advice at the right time and have the right people on your support team.
Having said that, beware of seeking advice from the 3 ‘F’s – Friends, Family and Fools. The first two are well intentioned but may not always be well informed. The third should be self explanatory.
We understand small business is lonely business. Business owners wear many hats, wear all the risks and try to do what they do best. It’s no wonder they seek advice from those close around them. But the weekend BBQ is not always the place for strategic business advice.
The way we look at it is simple. The best athletes in the world have a qualified team behind them to provide feedback, advice, and support in being their best. That’s what we are for our business clients.
Ask yourself the following questions:
- What’s my business support team like?
- How available are they?
- How knowledgeable are they?
- What can they provide me to run my business better?
- What can they do for me to free me up to do what I do best?
When it comes to strategic management, you need timely and accurate advice to help you make the right decisions. When it comes to cash flow you need to know where it comes from, where it goes, and how much you need to build a sustainable business. In terms of business performance, if you don’t have a finger on the pulse of your current performance and whether you’re making a profit or loss then you absolutely owe it to yourself to address it now.
This is the perfect time of year to review your business performance with us and explore what else we might be able to do together to give you even greater support for the year ahead.
