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Five Reasons NOT To Use A Business Adviser

 

At GoferBroke our vision is “To make it as normal to have access to a Business Adviser as it is to have an Accountant”.  How does that resonate with you, a Business Owner, Director, Partner or Senior Manager?  Wouldn’t that normality help you help your business and your people better?

You would hope that, if we intend to do that by building honest, open, relationships with Business Leaders, we’d need to have honest, open, conversations with people like you.

 

And we’d like to bring that relationship out of the Victorian era……

 

Jumping on the AI bandwagon, and the recent curiosity and conversation around ChatGPT in particular, I thought I’d ask it for five reasons NOT to use a Business Adviser.  And this is its response:

 

5 Reasons Not to Use a Business Adviser.

 

Cost:  One of the main reasons not to use a Business Adviser is the cost.   Hiring a Business Adviser can be expensive, and for small businesses or start-ups, this cost may not be justifiable.  Additionally, many Business Advisers charge hourly rates, which can add up quickly if you need a lot of help.

 

Lack of Control:  When you hire a Business Adviser, you are giving up a certain level of control over your business.  You may have to rely on the Adviser to make important decisions, and this can be difficult if you are not comfortable with it.  Additionally, Business Advisers may not have the same level of passion and dedication to your business that you do, which can lead to a lack of commitment to the success of your business.

 

Conflicting Advice: Another reason not to use a Business Adviser is the risk of receiving conflicting advice.  Different Business Advisers may have different opinions on the best course of action for your business, and it can be difficult to know whom to trust.  This can lead to confusion and uncertainty, and can ultimately harm your business.

 

Limited Expertise: Business Advisers may not have expertise in all areas of business, and may not be able to help you with specific issues that you are facing.  Additionally, they may not be familiar with your industry, which can limit their ability to provide relevant and useful advice.

Limited Accountability: Business Advisers may not be accountable for the success or failure of your business.  They may provide you with advice, but ultimately it is up to you to implement it and make it work.  If things don't go as planned, it can be difficult to hold the Adviser accountable, and you may be left feeling like you wasted your money.

 

In conclusion, while Business Advisers can provide valuable insight and guidance, they can also come with a number of drawbacks.  Some of the reasons not to use a Business Adviser include cost, conflicting advice, lack of control, limited expertise, and limited accountability.  Ultimately, it is up to you to weigh the pros and cons and decide whether hiring a Business Adviser is the right decision for your business.”

 

 

Of course, ChatGPT doesn’t just make stuff up.  It is designed to extract relevant information from the web and to display it as a meaningful conversation.  What’s coming next is obviously going to be my rebuff of ChatGPT’s findings, but in doing so I’d expect that a Business Owner / Business Leader will have already considered at least some of these themself.  But probably not all of them.  Therefore, if I’ve awakened additional red flags, I’ve made extra work for myself.

Except I haven’t!

Even if these blocks weren’t at the forefront of your mind, somewhere along the relationship, they would have popped up and potentially become very large ‘elephants in the room’ if they weren’t discussed openly.

So, let’s have that conversation now and deflate the elephants one at a time.

 

Cost

The obvious one is Cost, and the one that a Business Leader will first think of when considering an Adviser.  Somehow there is this perception that bringing in professional advice is a loss.  OK, when we bring out the old adage that “A Consultant is someone who borrows your watch, tells you the time and then charges you for it’, I suspect that many Business Leaders feel that bringing in an Adviser somehow suggests a degree of reproach on the leader, that they don’t know it all.

Firstly, no-one knows it all, and secondly, if that logic is taken a step further, then you could ask why your own Clients use you and don’t do the job themselves.

The answer is that you have expertise from which your Clients derive value.   And that is ultimately what any business is about, its Clients and Customers deriving value.  Essentially a Client has to feel that they are better off for the transaction, the relationship.  You’d pay for a piece of machinery if it saved you money in the long run.  GoferBroke is committed to building long-term relationships, friendships even.  We’d be horrified to be considered as purely a transactional relationship.  And we’d definitely expect to be seen as delivering value, providing value for money – in exactly the same way as you expect your Accountant to help you save and make money.

 

Lack of Control

Somewhere on the web, there must be articles that suggest you’ll lose control of your business when you bring in a Business Adviser, otherwise ChatGPT wouldn’t have come up with it.  However, that simply is not correct.

At no point would you be handing control to a Business Adviser.  How the relationship develops is up to you and the Adviser, but it is experience that is being provided, not a takeover.  What may be an issue though is trust.  For a Business Adviser to be effective, they need to understand where the business is financially, about relationships within the business and with outside entities, and about threats to the business – Not from Day 1, but as the relationship develops.  However, you remain in control of that process, and I’ll discuss that a bit later.  The same, of course, applies to your Accountant!

 

Conflicting Advice

There are some Business Advisers within GoferBroke who have specialist knowledge, experience and expertise in particular fields, and others who have walked-the-walk in many different industries and sectors.   Very often it is exactly the broad base of experience that brings in fresh ideas, new ways of looking at a problem, innovative opportunities, that haven’t been considered previously.

But the chances of conflicting advice are minimal.  The relationship with your Business Adviser, or Advisers, will have started and will continue to be built on mutual trust and, however many or few Advisers you work with, their clear guiding principle is always what is best for your business.

 

Limited Expertise

“Different Business Advisers may not have expertise in all areas of business”.  Of course they won’t!  NO Business Adviser will have expertise in all areas of business, and you should be wary of anyone who says otherwise.  Yes, just the same as each Accountant, each Business Adviser will have different experience and expertise.  By choosing an organisation with a wide range of Advisers, you can be sure that you will be matched with the ones that have experience, skills and expertise in the areas you are looking to tackle.

Ultimately though, the success of the relationship will also have a lot to do with personalities and whether you build up relationships and have affinity for each other – The ‘chemistry’ between you.  Because of the way GoferBroke works, your Adviser will not pretend to have any expertise they don’t and will refer you to a colleague who does, where needed, and give you the chance to decide if that ‘chemistry’ will work.

The relationship has to be two-way.  You have to feel you can work with the Adviser, and the Adviser has to feel they can work with you.  There will have to be a level of trust and openness and a mutual desire to deliver the best for your business.  If you do feel uncomfortable at any time with the advice you are being given, it is always possible for you to have an independent chat with our central team.

 

Limited Accountability

Ultimately, No!  A Business Adviser is NOT accountable for the success or failure of your business – You are!  And I don’t think you’d expect the Adviser to be accountable for your success, even if ChatGPT does seem to think so.

A Business Adviser is, however, accountable for their actions, advice and guidance.   Ultimately, we all know we live in a risk-averse environment, which can hinder open relationships – but only if you let it!  The relationship you develop with an Adviser must and will allow you to discuss the risks of decisions and avenues taken and to put some likelihood on them in a way that allows you to retain control of them.