Support in which a Business Owner should consider.
So in recent weeks, months or years you have or you are thinking of starting a Business, what sort of help should you consider finding, is included here, and some of the help may be the difference between success and failure in your Business, depending on your business knowledge and skills.
I am giving a brief summary of how each of the services can help your business.
Mentor, Coach, Advisor.
A mentor, coach, Advisor can help you with the advice and running of your business, they can help you set future of Goals of your business.
They can assist you with your Business planning, and finding the support you need.
A Mentor, coach, Advisor may have business qualifications, possibly have run their own businesses previously, or may have good business experience through previous employment arrangements.
Sometimes when getting assistance, it is not always knowing what is the best way to do something, as this can change with variables within the business, it can be sometimes understanding what wont work in your business, so you know what not even to try as it will be a waste of money or finances.
I recommend, all businesses, think about having a mentor, or coach when they begin their Business, often an advisor who can evaluate your business and advice you, are great to consider once you have been in business for a couple of years.
Accountant
An Accountant can help you throughout your business life, with helping you to understand and meet your Tax Obligation, they can help you understand with the ATO legislation and ensure you comply with legislation.
An Accountant can assist you with your set up structure, and advise you whether Sole Trader, Company, Partnership, Trust could be the best structure for your business and explain why.
If you choose the right Accountant, they can also provide Business advice, to help you improve your business.
An Accountant can also act as your Financial Officer and help you understand the financial position of your business, including helping with budgets etc.
Solicitor/lawyer
A solicitor/ legal rep can assist you in understanding your legal obligations, whether it is contract law, Trademark legal requirements, Employment Law, Consumer Law, WHS/OHS Legislation.
We don’t expect everyone business owner to understand all Legislation in relation to their business, the important aspect is ensuring you have access to someone who knows the legislation.
A lawyer can also help you with any commercial leases you take out when moving into a commercial premise to run your business.
They can also assist you in understanding which legal structure is best for your business operations.
Bookkeeper
A good bookkeeper can help you record all your expenses; they can assist with your IAS/BAS returns as required.
They can assist you in keeping track of your financial income and expenses and help to you maintain a good cash flow, ensuring you understand which clients owe you money etc, and also where your money is going.
Set up your chart of accounts well and you will know which service or product within your business is viable and making you money and which one is appearing to be a waste of time.
As your Business grows your bookkeeper can play a huge part in your business growth.
Web site designer/ Developer
When looking for a person to help you to build your website, you will need to discuss with the website person on exactly what they can do to assist you.
Some will just use the free templates available and build your website through that.
Others may actually write code to help build your website to your actual individual requirements, sometimes costs more though, depending on the features you need.
They can assist you in buying your domain name, hosting your site, providing you with your business email address.
Some may assist with your SEO. Ad word campaigns etc to improve the ranking of your website.
Marketing/ Advertising
A good Marketing/ Advertising campaign can help to promote your business, and obtain you good leads into possible new clients, however it is up to do you to do the sales aspect and convert these leads into actual sales/clients.
Without any sort of advertising, it will be difficult to obtain new clients.
There are a range of forms to do this in, Facebook/ Social Media, Paper/journalist, radio, anything which can help promote your brand and your business to potential new clients to learn more about your business, either by contacting you or checking out your web site.
HR Support
A HR person- employee or contractor can assist you in developing good Human resource policy and procedures, and processes, which can help to set the culture of your workplace.
They can assist you in understanding your legal obligations when it comes to employing staff
They can help you with your terms and conditions within your business.
A HR person should be working with you, about 3-6 months prior to employing your first employee, although the sooner you being working with on the better for your business.
Security, Risk Management/ OHS/WHS.
This type of consultant/ Advisor/ employee is great for when you make the decision to move into commercial premises to start your business, sometimes known as Bricks and mortar.
OHS/WHS is well worth having to ensure your premises are a safe workplace for your staff, contractors, Visitors or Volunteers with the NFP sector, and to help you comply with the relevant legislation within your state.
Security Risk Management, can assist with understanding the security requirements of your Business, and to ensure your business is risk free, or at least a plan in place to deal with the Risk when it is compromised in anyway.
Security Risk Management can help to ensure you have sufficient camera’s and protection for your Business to limited the chances of break ins from the undesirable people.
Some Security Risk management people can help you develop your Business Continuity Plan, where you evaluate the risk to your business and develop a plan to respond to every risk.
Virtual Assistant – VA
A Virtual Assistant is like your Secretary or Admin person of the Business, they will complete, organize and general assist you with any Admin work you need done.
Speak with a VA to find out exactly how they can assist your business.
Insurance Broker
An insurance broker will assist you in finding the right insurance policy for your business to ensure you are covered the best you can be. They can help you with a range of insurances.
An insurance broker will also act on your behalf should you need to claim an issue against your insurance.
IT Consultant.
An IT Consultant will assist you to ensure all your computer and network issues are looked after,
Ensures your computers, servers etc are working correctly to help you get the best performance out of your computer/ networks as you can.
Summary.
So as you can see in the list, and this is only probably part of the available resources out there which can assist a business in their operations.
In a majority of the areas listed above their are mentors in a majority of industries, who assist people to understand each of the sections, e.g. bookkeeper mentor who can help you understand what is required.
Although it can be achieved, there are minimal people out there who have knowledge of different areas, e.g. might know about Marketing, might know about bookkeeping, might know about security and risk mgt, where you can have one mentor who can assist you in a range of areas. Which can limited the contacts you need to have the contact details you need to remember etc.
