Plain and Simple: Bright Business Insights Winter 2018 | Page 10

DO YOU KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT FROM YOUR BUSINESS ADVISOR? A Trusted Advisor Should Always Bring These Four Qualities To The Table Are you wondering whether it makes sense to bring in a professional advisor to help you grow or nurture your business, but you’re not really sure what exactly this person would be doing? You’re not alone. The term “business advisor,” after all, is pretty broad. From CPAs to lawyers, you already work with a fair share of service providers, but that doesn’t mean you should consider all service providers to be trusted advisors. You should strive to work with professionals who make the grade. In addition to being trustworthy, the professionals you consider to be your business advisors should embrace several other key qualities. Generally speaking, your business advisor should: Support your financial goals. Whether the topic of conversation is on your personal finances or your business’s financial wellbeing, your advisor should genuinely care about your current and future economic security. For example, as a trusted business advisor, your CPA isn’t just looking to save you money during tax season; they are looking for ways to minimize your tax burden while maximizing your bottom line all year long. Not be afraid to ask for help. Because they want your future to be financially sound, your financial advisor is not only happy to call in outside reinforcements and other industry experts to weigh in on key financial decisions, they insist upon it. It’s just not realistic for one person to have all the answers, especially in business matters, which is why your trusted advisor likely has a contact list full of bankers, lawyers, real estate brokers, city officials and many other industry leaders and business experts. interests. Are you looking for ways to prevent occupational fraud in your business or do you need to know the true value of a property you are interested in purchasing? Either way, a trusted advisor should have the expertise and experience needed to keep you from being taken advantage of. Bring good advice rooted in experience. Always have your back. It should go without saying that your advisor has worked with their fair From helping you identify ways to protect your business against fraud share of business owners. So, when it comes to knowing the ins and outs to helping you avoid spending more money than is necessary during large negotiations, your advisor is always looking out for your best of running a business, they have a lot of good advice and can give you some great insight into techniques that have worked as well as warning you about others that may have fallen short of meeting expectations. A trusted advisor may not always provide you with the answer you were looking for, but if you bring them into the conversation they will always be there to give you the sound advice you need. by: Chad Bice, CPA Principal & Southeast Ohio Regional President 905 Zane Street, 2nd Floor Zanesville, OH 43701 [phone] [email protected] Help is always right around the corner. If you have a personal finance question or are in need of expert business advice, give us a call and speak with one of Rea’s trusted advisors today.