Russell Bell: Skilled advisers key to success

Russell Bell PHOTO/FILE

DECISIONS are key in business and life and can have a profound impact on how successful, or otherwise, your business becomes.

And because each of us have different backgrounds and can see things in a different way, we may choose different solutions to the same problem.

How do we make the right decisions for our business?

It is all about information and experience which, in turn, create knowledge and wisdom. I also believe in trusting "gut instinct" but believe this is our subconscious processing the information we have based on our "experience memory".

Where decisions tend to go wrong is where information is not complete or not accurate, or you do not have the experience to recognise a trend or developing situation. Too often you hear of business failures where assumptions were made or the market moved in a way that caught the owner out.

Risk crystallising in this way can be mitigated through having robust information, management processes and advisers with the experience that you may not have in full.

This week I talked with a client about establishing an advisory panel to help in the transition to a managing director role - the panel to be populated by businesspeople with skills and experience which filled gaps in this person's experience - for example, accounting, budgeting and forecasting may be an area of weakness, so the panel would include a chartered accountant.

It's much the same concept as having a business mentor, and if you don't have one I recommend that you find one.

Of course, there are always unexpected events that are near impossible for any adviser to warn you of. However, even in these circumstances, indicators are out there. For instance, the 2008 housing bubble bursting gave rise to the "mother of all recessions" and I recall reading an article on this very scenario way back in 2006, some two years before Bear Sterns and Lehman Brothers collapsed.

So it's important to critically assess the information and advice which feeds your business decisions.

If you find that you are experiencing a run of bad luck in sales, it may be that you aren't asking your customers the right questions.

You might already have a board, a number of advisers and you operate as a team, in partnership or alone.

The quality of information and advice is critical to your success - get it right and more often than not your decisions will be good ones.

-Russell Bell's Zenith Strategic Solutions is a specialist Wanganui business advice and consultancy practice - if you want more information on how they can help your business call Russell or Stephanie on 06 3479997.