Owners of micro, small and medium-sized businesses deal with a very wide variety of fields to run their business successfully. This is what makes managing a small business so interesting, and so challenging.
For some professional areas, it helps to get professional assistance. In some countries it may even be required by law, for example, to engage an accredited financial auditor. In areas where taxation is complicated, a tax professional can help save money.
There is quite a number of external professional services that can support the growth, profitability or survival of a business, regardless of its size:
- Business planning or re-planning for existing business
- Business planning for start-up business
- Business start-up, business re-organising
- Business turn-around
- Product costing and pricing
- Service costing and pricing
- Calculated risk taking
- Bookkeeping, accounting, analysis
- Financial planning, budgeting, cash flow
- Taxation
- Government relations
- Bank relations
- Family business relations
- Legal and structuring matters
- Collection matters
- Employee engagement and motivation
- Employee training, development & management
- Interpersonal relations and conflict management
- Organisational personality, culture and structure
- Vision, mission, goals
- Business ethics and social responsibility
- Supplier relations
- Purchasing system assessment and development
- Product development
- Production process analysis and tuning
- Natural environment safe-guarding and improvement
- Service development
- Service process analysis and tuning
- Information, communication technology assessment
- Information, communication technology implementation or tuning
- Market analysis, segmentation and positioning
- Market development, product or service promotion
- Sales system assessment and development
- Customer relations, service, communications
- Local and international intercultural relations
- Export potential and development
As the owner of a small business, you know you've got your work cut out for you. For some matters, like certified accounting and web design, getting external professional help comes quite natural.
For other issues, it doesn't. That's OK. We feel the same way. Yet at times it is part of the entrepreneurial art to recognise when external help can move you forward.