Business Advisory – you are unique

We’re not one for jargon or mystery but we do understand that the term ‘business advisory’ does seem to stretch far and wide in its interpretation! It is a term used widely among accountancy practices but for the majority of business owners, it doesn’t really say, ‘what it does on the tin’.

For us, business advisory means that we recognise that every business is unique and therefore the advice given should be tailored to their needs, situation, environment, external influences and goals.

Alongside compliance services, (including Tax, Accounts, Audit, Payroll etc), we look beyond to empower our clients with up-to-date information, allowing them to make informed business decisions. Providing a deeper focus and insight into your business and strategy is equally as important as providing advice/support around a business’s financial performance. We have the skill sets to become an essential strategic business partner to minimise risk and maximise growth.

We spend quality time with our clients to understand what their goals are, which can often be tricky to articulate. We then help them to assess the business alongside the key stakeholders to uncover strengths, weaknesses and opportunities across seven core areas which impact all businesses. We call them the 7 pillars of success:

• Strategy and Leadership
• Marketing
• Sales
• Operations
• Team
• Technology
• Financial and Legal

We believe that for any business to truly reach its potential it must first ensure that each of these areas has a plan, however large or small.

Once we’ve collated our findings, we can assist clients with pulling together a simple, but highly effective, business plan. The business plan is a fluid document, adapting to change and growth, so we believe in trying to get it onto one page, not 172 pages and unnecessarily overwhelming – it can be regularly revisited and updated.

We often support clients with producing the one-page business plan by hosting a strategy day, which is an exercise broken down into 3 segments;

1) The vision/purpose – This is where we discuss and agree on where the business is hoping to be in say 3 years’ time and why.

2) The how – By breaking down key areas, we can identify the activities that will allow the business to achieve their goals and start to map these out in terms of timeframes/priorities etc.

3) Accountability – Finally, we look at the overall map and allocate the relevant projects to those best placed within the management team. This is not to say that they must do these themselves, but that they are agreeing at this stage to be the one accountable to make it happen. This is a critical step which often gets forgotten. We find that doing this part as a management team, gets real buy-in from team and ensures that projects are not simply neglected.

Following the initial strategy day, we will often work with our clients to create an action plan in order to ensure that the projects agreed are ticked off one by one. Monthly of quarterly meetings are often held to track progress, whilst having the opportunity once a quarter to revisit, tweak and improve against the original strategy. Seeing the progress a business can make in 12 months can be extremely fulfilling for all involved.

So, business advisory can be an ambiguous and often misunderstood term but it boils down to us giving quality advice to your business to meet your objectives. We want you to achieve your best and we will work with you to reach these goals for you, your team and your customers.

The Wilson Partners team are business enthusiasts who also happen to be great accountants. We’re here to help you realise your ambitions through making better decisions.

If you’d like to chat about how we could help you identify these goals, give us a call on 01628 770 770 or email Duncan Bye.