Working with advisers
What a Useful First Conversation with an Adviser Covers
Thirty minutes is enough to tell whether an adviser can help, as long as the time is spent on your business rather than on their pitch.
A good first conversation is mostly questions, and most of the talking should be yours. These six tell an adviser, and you, more than any slide deck.
- When are you busiest, and when are you slowest? The slow stretch is usually where the money is.
- Where do new customers come from today, and which of those channels do you control? Many businesses live on channels they don't own, such as map listings, delivery apps and word of mouth.
- What do you spend on marketing each month, all of it added up? Few owners have ever totalled it.
- What have you tried before, and what happened? The answer tells you what will not work, and why.
- When did the phone last ring more than usual, and what happened that week? It connects cause and effect.
- What is one good customer worth to you over a year? That number puts every marketing cost in proportion.
What You Should Leave With
By the end, you should know three things: what the adviser thinks the real problem is, what they would do first, and what it would cost. If you leave without all three, the conversation was a pitch.
And if an adviser does not think they can help, they should say so.
Our own initial consultation follows this shape, and there is no charge for it.