The Three People You Should Consult When Starting and Growing Your Business
Starting and growing your small business or side hustle can be a very daunting task. While small business owners take on a lot of different responsibilities to support their new business venture, the most successful ones do not do it alone. In my experience, the more successful business owners keep themselves informed about the key areas of their business by working with experts to help process, analyze, and act on information quickly. Today, I'm going to tell you the three people that I think are essential to consult with when starting and growing a small business.
Your Customers
Customers are the lifeblood of any business, and it's important to understand what they want and need so they can be served properly. It is critical to collect feedback from customers in the form of reviews, surveys, and direct conversations to ensure that the business is able to identify and analyze customers’ needs and desires. Having a customer first mindset that is backed up with frequent customer consultations is a great way to start the business and keep it on track as it grows.
A Social Media Expert
In my opinion, social media is the hardest thing to learn for a new business owner because it is ever changing. A small business could have:
A Website
A Facebook Page
An Instagram account (which can have posts, reels, and stories)
A Twitter Account
A YouTube Channel (which can have stories, shorts, and videos)
A TikTok Account
A LinkedIn Page
Each of these platforms can help your business reach new customers if used properly, but they are all distinct in terms of their user demographic and the type of content that works best on the platform. With so many different ways a social media page can become the biggest driver of new business or the biggest distraction for the owner, it's very important to consult an expert who can tell you what platforms and content are worth your time.
Your CPA (or a Numbers Person)
A business can't survive for very long without someone running the numbers in the background and making sure the owner is aware of the financial implications of all decisions. It's a great idea to have your CPA support your business by walking you through the finances and key performance indicators of your business. Remember, CPAs can do more than file tax returns! Your CPA (or other numbers person) can help you run a profitability analysis or create business models for potential scenarios in addition to keeping everything organized for you. It’s important to remember that even if your goal isn’t to make as much money as possible, your business will need money to operate and perform its purpose. Unfortunately, many well-intentioned people that start a business to support a cause or a dream neglect the finances for too long, resulting in an early shutdown that could have been avoided. Don’t let it happen to you!
If you are running a business and don’t have a direct line of communication with people in each of the above categories to support you, stop reading this and go find them. Once you have a strong support system that includes these experts, you will have the tools and the network to identify, analyze, and tackle many of the challenges that your small business will face.