Architects. Designers. Doctors. Lawyers. Financial advisors. Insurance brokers. IT professionals. There are countless career paths that fall under the umbrella of professional services, and they all share one thing in common: They all have developed specialized skills in their industry, but few have training in running their businesses.
While professional service providers are very skilled at making recommendations for their clients, many struggle when it comes to making decisions for their own practice. Here are the top reasons professional service providers can benefit from a business advisor.
Strategic Planning
Running a successful business requires a cohesive plan. From pricing your services to hiring the right people, establishing the foundation of your business requires expertise. Strategic planning allows professional service providers to focus their energy and resources, strengthen their business operations, ensure all players are working towards a common goal, and plan ahead for the future of the company. Ultimately, every element of your business, including HR, accounting, and operations, should be working together to achieve your vision.
Goal Setting
A major aspect of strategic planning is goal setting. You can’t achieve a vision if it’s not defined. Goals set the direction of the company, and give you and anyone who works with you direction. From each goal, you can pull tactics or tasks that will help you get one step closer to your larger aspirations.
Sales and Marketing
It’s one thing to create a solid business plan and offer a high quality service. It’s quite another to know how to tell potential customers about it. In the digital age, there are countless ways to sell your business services, and it can be overwhelming to figure out which track is right for you. Will social media lead you to success, or should you have a sales person making cold calls? The options are vast, and you need an expert who can help you navigate.
Establishing Processes
We all know that it’s inefficient to reinvent the wheel each time you need to roll forward, but have you carried that mentality over to your business? A business advisor will help you see which tasks are repetitive and can be automated. He or she will look at where you are wasting energy and help to develop solutions. Systems and processes are a key element of running a successful business, but it takes knowledge and planning to establish them.
Accountability
Especially in a client-based business, it is incredibly easy to get caught up with the day-to-day work. However, when you constantly work in your business and never take the time to work on your business, you will find that you are missing the opportunity for growth. Your business advisor holds you accountable to your goals, and he or she will keep you on track when you begin to get off course.
Finding the Right Partner for Your Professional Service Business
Professional service providers go into business because they are experts in their field. Those who are most successful leverage a network of mentors and advisors to fill in the gaps of knowledge, so they can avoid wasting time and energy on false starts and ineffective plans.
As a FocalPoint Certified Business Coach, Greg Emslie leverages three decades of business expertise to help businesses across Pennsylvania develop solutions for all their business challenges. In one-on-one coaching sessions, you get the personalized answers you need to overcome the challenges standing between your professional services business and its ultimate success.
Let’s get the conversation started. Contact Greg for a free business evaluation today!
About the Author
With more than three decades of experience in all facets of sales management, customer service, business growth, and staff coordination, Certified Business Coach Greg Emslie is a focused professional with the tools to help you grow and manage your business effectively.
Driven by his ability to implement proven business concepts and help improve teams, Greg affects all areas of the companies he works with, including sales, leadership, profitability, and decision-making. He focuses on improving efficiency and processes for his clients while helping them grow their revenue base.
Ready to begin finding other ways to make your company more productive? Let’s get the conversation started. Contact Greg Emslie for a business strategy discussion today.