06 November 2010

A Must-Have For Your Business Team: An Accountant and a Mentor

Heading into a business venture requires a great team that would serve as a strong foundation. The 2 people that you must have on your team are a certified accountant and a mentor. These two are the most important individuals that would make up the excellent grounding of your business. Having the best on these two fields gives you the best advices on growing your business and making sound decisions.

An Accountant goes beyond the usual bookkeeping or tax services. While bookkeeping gives you a report on the expenses and gains of your business and tax services help your business abide by the law, financial progress, reports and advices can also be provided by your accountant.

You accountant has the eye for financial progress of your company in the present and for the future while basing forecasts from previous patterns. Crucial decisions like increasing a commodity by a few cents may seem small, but in the long run would affect your financial stability. You can solicit advice from your accountant on these matters and seek ways on how to improve the overall financial picture.

Will filing for a loan help your business or would only worsen your situation? How much can you loan for to make sure you get them paid in time, without eating too much of your company’s profits? Knowing the value of your business with regard to the situation of your competitors in the market will help you in making a financial decision like filing a loan. Financial planning to reduce costs without compromising quality and improving on revenue are also some of the advice that you can seek from your accountant.

Although you already have your Accountant for financial advices, getting a mentor to give you an insight of the trends and situations in the market can help you in making sound decisions and avoiding pitfalls. Possible outcomes of non-financial aspects that your accountant may not be able to foresee or handle can be foretold by your mentor. It is advisable to have somebody who has been in the business or different businesses and industries for a long time to give you a clearer picture as you step away from it.

However, this does not limit you from having just one mentor or adviser. Since not all aspects can be seen only by two eyes -- or in this case four – it is important that you also have advisers from different sectors that really know the playing field and has played well.

Finally, it is also important that you do your own research. You cannot fully rely on these two people. Being the owner or the manager of the company entails being able to see an overview of different situations and give direction to your company. Where do you want your company to grow and how? Be inquisitive and ask as much questions as you can to understand different aspects of your business. Learn as much as you can not just from your advisers, mentors and accountants but also strive to learn on your own. This shall prepare you for bigger ventures ahead after establishing your business.

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