Working yourself up from within an established company to a position that allows a level of creative control can take time. Because of this, many entrepreneurs look to starting their own businesses as a way to quickly bring their product or service to the market. While some individuals revel in the responsibility this brings, deciding to take full control can lead to rushed or misguided decisions. The time it demands of you can also seriously affect your personal life. A lot of the issues many small businesses suffer from could be solved by seeking third-party support, such as a financial advisor or a bookkeeper.

What Do SME Struggle with the Most?

In a survey conducted by Gibson and Hewitt, enquiring about the biggest challenges they faced running their own business, 1,000 SME owners named managing employees (32%), accounting and tracking finances (25%), and keeping on top of admin (22%). As a result of this, many business owners found it difficult to effectively manage their work schedule with their personal life. Almost half admitted to missing a personal occasion, such as an anniversary, wedding, or even that they’d missed picking up their children from school. A similar study in the US noted that out of every ten business owners, only four have consulted with a financial advisor, and fewer than one-third have a formal financial plan for managing their income and expenses during retirement.

How Seeking Financial Advice Can Help

One of the ways to combat these issues is to seek out the appropriate third-party expertise. This will allow you to take advantage of the benefits of starting your own business while balancing your social life and improving the chances of your businesses’ future success. A business mustn’t plan just for its initial survival, but also for long-term success. However, with the pressures of keeping on top of the day-to-day running of the company, key issues can sometimes be left unresolved. A financial advisor can offer you the regular strategic advice you need and help you identify any problems earlier. It’s estimated that around half of UK start-ups fail within the first couple of years of operation so this level of expertise can be critical to the survival of a new business.

Consider corporate financial advisors an investment for the future. The knowledge you acquire will allow you to appropriately budget how you and your family will live after you no longer need to work, or if you are no longer able to. They will offer expertise and, perhaps most crucially, a level of discipline that you haven’t had a chance to develop yet as a young entrepreneur. You will benefit from insight into fundraising, management advice, as well as acquisitions and disposals to advise you on how to develop your business over time.

Perhaps the key reason to consider financial advice is the time you save will allow you to focus your efforts on the areas of the business that match your own skills. In business, knowledge, and timing is everything. If you want to run a successful company, it will pay off, in the end, to gather as much information as you can as early as possible.