Anytime, is the right time to engage an advisor in your startup. At some point in your business lifecycle you will hit a ceiling and realise that strategic advice from those that know their particular area of business exceptionally well can speed up your progress and success.
This might be something you realise when first starting out, or at any point in your startup journey.
So how do you get the most out of your advisors when you have a start up? Here are our top tips.
1. Need to be a good fit
Even if an advisor has had great success with other businesses in the past and is highly recommended they might not be the right fit for you. Make sure you can relate to one another, and that they have a style and role that compliments you and your skills. Style ranges from confrontational to encouraging, to analytical. Find someone who’s strengths compensate your weaknesses.
Related: Budget Ways to Scale your Business
2. Know when to ask for help
If you are stalling on a decision or issue or starting to second guess yourself, this is the time to bring in an advisor. An Advisors job is to help you work through the problem and task at hand and give you guidance and confidence in your decision making. By bringing in the help quickly and not procrastinating you will maintain the momentum and keep the business moving forward.
3. Find your advisor’s super powers
People don’t always unleash their full expertise straight away. You will need to elicit it strategically. A good way of getting the most out of them is to hire someone with very specific skills and knowledge rather than broad. That way they can really help you develop an important area of the business more thoroughly than you would be able to otherwise.
4. Be direct
Know what you want from an advisor and be very clear and direct with them as to the help that you need from them. Having clear direction as to what you need and how you want the relationship to operate can ensure that you start getting results sooner. With a start up you need to be moving forward and generating an income quickly so speed and agility are important and can mean the difference between success or failure.
Related: Are Corporate Accelerators better for Startups than Traditional ones?
5. Know when to end the relationship
Advisors aren’t employees. There is always going to be an end date to the relationship. So don’t be afraid to end it if you no longer need that skill from outside the company or if the relationship isn’t working. Continuing with an advisor who isn’t giving you what you need can result in wasted expenses, but also lost opportunities if you delay starting to work with the right advisor.
Having advisors in your business is essential but you need to control the situation, know what you need and want and don’t be afraid to ask for it.
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