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Professional Advice – Who is Important?. An Overview of Various Professional Counselors for Small Business Owners. Professional Counselors Who Are they? Accountants Insurance Legal Consultants Lenders. Professional Counselors – Legal. Seek local bar acceptable lists
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Professional Advice – Who is Important? An Overview of Various Professional Counselors for Small Business Owners
Professional CounselorsWho Are they?AccountantsInsuranceLegalConsultantsLenders
Professional Counselors – Legal • Seek local bar acceptable lists • Self Educate about Legal Process • Interview several; discuss fees • Choose one with start-up business experience • Choose one with fund-raising experience • Contracts review experience • Investigate track record, experience, & reputation • Remember: attorneys main raison d’tre is to keep owner out of liability
Professional Counselors - Accountants • Three kinds: managerial, tax, and financial • Managerial: predictive • Tax: avoid penalties and minimize taxes • Financial: good for outsiders like bankers and investors • REMEMBER: Accountants best for telling you as owner where you have been. Few are also good at business advice in general sense.
Professional Counselors: Insurance • Dealing with “risk”: how to minimize • Kinds of “risk” – financial, collections, technology, sickness & injury, property protection, product & service liability, legal violations, and loss of key employees. • Interview several: examine & compare rate quotes, experience, satisfied customers, recommendations, & resources for in-house training
Professional Counselors – Management Consultants • For profit ($$$) and not-for-profit ($). • Non-for-profit: local SCORE chapters, SBDCs, and WBCs. Check local chambers of commerce, and local university business schools. HR services now commonly done by hired consultants. • Frequent uses? Recruiting, HR duties, market experience, social media training & use, investor relations, sales experience, connections.
Professional Counselors: Lenders • Provide useful guidance on financials and recruitment of key employees • Provides legitimacy to public • Sounding board • Can help recruit customers • Identify business partners if necessary • Secured lenders will have little time; equity investors MUCH time.
Professional Counselors: Board of Advisors • Recruit Successful types (#? Maybe 5-15) • Diversify competencies • Meet 2-4 times a year (online?) • Give meaningful roles (not window-dressing) • Gives entrepreneurs inexpensive advice and benefit of others’ experience. • Local reputation gives legitimacy