Running your own business can be a lonely occupation: it liberates you from a lot of the frustrations that come with working for someone else, but when you’re in charge, the buck stops with you and that isolates you from people working with you, and even from friends and family who may not understand the difficulties you’re facing.
As well as the emotional harm that comes from such isolation, it can result in tunnel vision – fixing yourself on a single goal and dismissing everything that doesn’t play towards it, whether it’s realistic or not. As hard as it might be to admit, everyone needs some advice when they’re running a business and today we’re looking at where you can get it.
Strategy Advice
One thing it’s important to retain as your business grows is a strategic view. You can’t be so distracted by the many immediate short term decisions you need to make that you take your eye off the long term future you’re trying to create.
Getting advice on the strategy you are (or should be pursuing) and the tactics you can use to achieve it in a safe, sustainable way for your business is a valuable use of your time and money. If you’re looking for strategy consultancy London hosts agencies of all sizes and even individual freelancers who can help you refresh your future plans.
Human Resources
HR is a much overlooked discipline in small businesses, and in some startup firms regarded with outright hostility, but it’s vital to get it right even if you’re operating so small a business you can’t justify even a part time HR hire.
HR consultants can help you set up the systems for communication, staff tracking and holiday and sickness management that will run through your business like a spine and keep everyone pulling in the same direction. It’s well worth taking advice on this point.
Law and Finance
It’s especially helpful to take legal and financial advice when you’re setting up your business. There are lots of different ways you can set up a business, and they influence how you can operate, how you can seek funding and the fees and taxes you’ll be liable for. Taking legal and financial advice at the point you’re setting up your business means you can lay the foundations in the best possible way for the business you want to grow into.