What Do You Do When Your Professional Board Disagrees?

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Bruce

As a business owner there are many tasks that you are responsible for and probably handle yourself. Everything from signing the big deal to cleaning the washroom may be in your list of jobs to be done at any given time. That is the joy and life of most entrepreneurs. Although many of us are good at multitasking we generally know quite a bit about several parts of our business but not everything. That is where the board of advisors come in for your company. The board may differ from company to company but usually consists of your acountant, your financial planner, your banker, and a business consultant. You may have more or less depending on the size of your business. Having all theses people on your board may make you feel that you’ve got a decent team behind you, that you will get financial and business advice that helps you grow. What happens however when the team doesn’t agree? When you are a small business keeping cash flow running smoothly can be a creative task especially if you have debt and obligations to pay. So as you are trying to do your best you are being told different things from each advisor, and the problem is that they are all right.

Here is what happened to us, we were trying to pay down debt and improve our financial picture. My partner and I had made a sound decision not use credit cards if at possible and live on cash. Our financial planner was elated and said that was the way to go. As our accountant was doing our taxes we were going over expenses and he said that it would be better to be paying certain items with the credit card as it helps in tracking items better in the long run, also the right advice. Our business consultant said try to increase your cash flow by reducing debt meaning that we should pay by cheque whenever possible, also the right advice. By now you are probably starting to see the disconnect that was starting between the advisors.

In the end the final decision comes down to you as as business owner. The team are advisors only and you have to do what is best for your situation. Just like the President you have to weigh each decision against the actual situation. When advisors give you advise they are advising from their outlook on the situation, which will be different for everyone. You have to make the best possible decision for your business based upon the facts and the best case scenario. Welcome to the world of business.

About the Author

Bruce Outridge is a business and leadership consultant for entrepreneurs. More information can be found on his website at www.outridge.ca

Category: Business, LeadershipTags: accounting, articles, bookkeeping, Bruce Outridge, business, entrepreneur, Leadership, Outridge Consulting Services, owner operators

One Comment on “What Do You Do When Your Professional Board Disagrees?”

janayuva
February 7, 2012

Thanks $author| you share some great -2 tricks, Thanks For Sharing all this and making it simple enough for any one to be able to grasp! I’ve Subscribed to your rss feed to Keep up to date, looking forword to your new info!

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