Controlling the controllable and reducing the effects of the uncontrollable are prudent decisions for successful business owners. But how can you know which is which, and where can you go when confronted with a business situation you’ve never experienced before? Here are a few ways to keep yourself current and educated on the outside forces that may affect your business.
- Be curious
Leveraging curiosity can help you stay in touch with current events and perhaps find new opportunities to strengthen your business. It’s never been easier to be curious. You can go online anytime, type just about anything into a search engine, and be served a flood of information about the topic.
However, with so many different ways to gain information and insights, being curious can be exhausting. How do you know whether you’re talking to an expert or a charlatan? A professional or a someone selling snake oil?
Curiosity is a good starting point for guiding change. Coupling this with building relationships with trusted advisors could open new avenues for success, while helping you prepare for and take advantage of outside forces that affect your business.
- Find trusted advisors
As your business grows, it’s likely to become more complex. These complexities could force you to confront areas that you simply have no expertise in. Things like minimizing taxes, knowing what attracts top talent, and how forces outside of your control could affect your business may seem like overwhelming tasks to take on alone. That’s because, in most cases, they are.
The good news is that a high-quality advisor team can help you break big problems down into smaller, easier-to-manage solutions.
But how do you build a trusted advisor team? If you already work with advisors you trust, you can tap into their network to find experts that can complement their specific skills. For instance, a trusted tax advisor may have relationships with other professionals who can help you consolidate your personal and business strategies more efficiently.
If you don’t have trusted advisors, one way to begin the process is by consulting with an exit planning advisor. Exit planning advisors often serve as a scout for advisor talent and act as the quarterback of the advisor team. They typically have networks of advisors from various professions that they draw on to help business owners with issues around planning for a successful future.
It may be tempting to tell yourself, “I built this business by myself, I can do this by myself.” Though this ambition is admirable, shouldering the burden of tasks that you may not be an expert in can quickly grind you down, burn you out, and create errors in your business.
There is absolutely no shame in asking for help. In fact, asking for help may allow you to uncover strategies to strengthen your business that you had never considered.
- Ask questions
The best way to get the answers you seek is by asking questions. And truly, when it comes to planning for a successful future both inside and outside of your business, there are no bad questions.
When talking to potential advisors, prospects, customers, employees, or next-level managers, don’t be afraid to ask the questions that you need answered to strengthen your business. In some cases, the best way to get a clear answer is to provide the wrong answer and let someone correct you.
Asking questions could help you find the answers you’re looking for and open up lines of thinking that may not have existed before you asked the question.
For example, you may work with an advisor and tell them that you want to sell your business for $5 million because that’s what you believe is enough money to live on for the rest of your life. While $5 million may seem like a lot, your advisor may ask you, “Why do you think that’s the right number?”
The above example is common when business owners begin planning for their eventual business exits. Many business owners believe that they need less money than they really do to thrive after they leave their businesses. By presenting assumptions as questions, you may find unexpected answers that help you pursue a path to success on your terms.
Conclusion
Curiosity, a trusted network of advisors, and the fearlessness to ask questions can help you stay up to date with the market, create the strategies required to pursue your goals, and reduce the likelihood of assumptions harming your long-term planning.
We strive to help business owners identify and prioritize their objectives with respect to their businesses, their employees, and their families. If you have questions on this topic, we can help with more information or a referral to another experienced professional.
As Your Family CFO, we are financial advisors for life’s big decisions. No matter what stage you’re at on your wealth journey, we go to great lengths to build a better, closer relationship with you. That means that you can expect exceptional personal attention, access to in-house expertise and a proven track record of real-world solutions. The depth and breadth of our service is what separates us from our competition. With more than 100 years of industry experience, our team is strategically designed to be multigenerational because our client relationships are multigenerational. We proudly work with clients at every stage of the financial life cycle, whether you are building a career or planning for the distribution of your wealth. Our practice is organized around our clients and their legacy – not an individual advisor – so that our continuity of service to you and your family is sustainable long into the future.
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The information contained in this article is general in nature and is not legal, tax or financial advice. For information regarding your particular situation, contact an attorney or a tax or financial professional. The information in this newsletter is provided with the understanding that it does not render legal, accounting, tax or financial advice. In specific cases, clients should consult their legal, accounting, tax or financial professional. This article is not intended to give advice or to represent our firm as being qualified to give advice in all areas of professional services. Exit Planning is a discipline that typically requires the collaboration of multiple professional advisors. To the extent that our firm does not have the expertise required on a particular matter, we will always work closely with you to help you gain access to the resources and professional advice that you need.
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Any examples provided are hypothetical and for illustrative purposes only. Examples include fictitious names and do not represent any particular person or entity.
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