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Selecting a business adviser
August 1, 2009 By: Carl Hughes LPGas“It’s lonely at the top” is the phrase often associated with feelings of isolation that come with running a small business.
I suspect that owners of independent propane distribution companies can relate to that phrase. It’s the independent way to build and drive the business using the limited resources available and making key decisions with the best information in hand at the time. However, it’s lonely because making those key “right turn or left turn” decisions is often strictly up to the owner.
Many go it alone on those key decisions. However, the most successful propane operators know they have a better chance of success if they seek outside advice when they face critical or strategic decisions. The type of adviser that is most helpful is not one who provides technical expertise but rather broader perspective and input.
Objective criticism
It is human nature to like the accolades and press clippings that come with the success of your businesses.
However, accolades teach you little and do nothing to prepare you for the future or for the next level of challenges. Instead, you should be listening to your critics. They are the ones who will provide a true picture of your strengths and weaknesses and will also give an objective and candid view of the company and your leadership. This can be the role of a good outside adviser.
Wanted characteristics
• Experience – Will Rogers said it best, “Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.”
You will want an adviser who has battle stories to share and scars to prove them.
• Wisdom – You will know it when you hear it. If it makes no sense or sounds like platitudes, it’s not wisdom.
• Achievers – Look for someone who has failed, persevered and prevailed. This is the true reality cycle for business success.
• Longevity – This comes with experience, but staying power is rare.
• Risk takers – Business, like life, is about risk. That means assessing and measuring risk, then working with a certain set of parameters and moving in a certain direction.
Unwanted characteristics
• Those who have never achieved – These people are all over the place and have much advice, but it’s worth little.
• Those who have never risked – If they have never had to make a payroll, or have never taken their hard-earned capital and put it at risk for a venture, they will have little understanding of your situation.
• Casual advice – from friends, employees and family. We spend most of our time with this group, and their advice comes early and often.
The best advice is not casual, but comes from an individual who arrives at conclusions with much thought and experience. Friends, family and employees can be biased, therefore not giving you the most objective advice.
• Cheerleaders – You are not seeking affirmation on what you have done or are about to do. Those who simply cheerlead are driven by motivations that do not match the requirement for objectivity.
What to expect
The adviser I am talking about can be a close professional adviser, such as an attorney, CPA or banker.
However, these candidates often won’t have the characteristics you seek and may be reluctant to be 100 percent open with you.
Instead, an adviser will often be another active or retired businessperson in a completely different line of business.
Whomever you select should be expected to …
• Be objective – The most valued adviser has no reason not to give advice and counsel to you as straight as they see it. They should have no motivation to do otherwise.
• Review the facts – Hard decisions are based on facts. Any good adviser will ask many more questions than give advice. These questions will revolve around facts, not feelings or hunches.
• Offer a fresh perspective – The leader of the business is often too close to the issues. What is needed is for the situation to be approached from another angle, one that may not be obvious to you.