What is the value of a small business owner having a relationship with an accountant?
As business owners, we often build our own mental barriers to change, until something changes…
When I first met this one client, every time we talked, he would bring up his desire to offer health insurance to his employees. I would ask him about talking to his insurance agent, and he would present me the options that were presented by the agent. He had ‘trust’ in his agent, and was somehow looking for me to resolve ‘the problem’.
I would suggest talking to another insurance agent, but would get resistance. After about 6 months of this, I finally told the client that EVERY time we had talked , this subject had come up, and it was time to put or shut up. I told him that if his insurance agent was so good, then we wouldn’t be having this conversation every single month, that at least, it was worth talking to another agent.
He met with a different insurance agent, and a whole different solution was presented with my client now offering health insurance to all his employees with a minimal match by him as the employer.
My point is that, to my client, that problem that could have festered for a lot longer. But it was because he had a ‘relationship’ with an accountant or business adviser, he was able to get out of his mental box and move on.
As a business owner, don’t settle for just looking for a bookkeeper or an accountant. Look for a someone that you feel comfortable with, someone that’s approachable. Look for someone that you feel comfortable opening up to.
If you can’t open up, then your advisory can’t help you get out of your box and help you achieve your long term objectives. With that all said, you also have to give the relationship time, and not expect results within days of starting this relationship.
What are you waiting for? Check out our Business Financial Confidence Map for a head start.
