The fastest-growing businesses borrow experience

Why looking outside your business can help you see what’s going on inside it

Most people inside the business already have a full day of responsibilities.

They’re dealing with customers, people, problems, deadlines and everything else that keeps the business moving.

That usually doesn’t leave much time to step back and look properly at something that needs some investigation and consideration.

I talk about why bringing in outside expertise makes financial sense in this short video.

A different perspective

When you work inside a business every day, you naturally become used to the way things are.

Take a step back and you might realise that a process takes too long, that communication could be better or that the same frustration keeps cropping up.

Even if you do see it, getting to the bottom of why it’s happening can be harder. And do you, or your team, have the bandwidth to investigate?

You’re close to the detail. You know the history. You know why certain decisions were made. You have other fires to put out today.

Someone from outside the business comes to it with a fresh perspective. They will ask questions that perhaps nobody has asked for a while, challenge assumptions and look at the issue without being tied to the way it has always been done.

What outside experience brings

One of the most valuable tools an external adviser brings is experience from other businesses.

I’ve worked with more than 60 businesses now. And whilst every business is different, you do start to recognise certain patterns.

That doesn’t mean taking a solution from one company and dropping it into another. But it helps me ask better questions, understand where to look, spot things more quickly and get to the real issue.

And if the right expertise doesn’t sit with me, I have a brilliant black book of contacts, so I can bring other people into the conversation or connect you with them.

Inside knowledge, outside perspective

The people inside the business already bring a huge amount of experience and knowledge.

They understand the customers, the people, the systems and the day-to-day reality of the business in a way that someone from outside won’t … initially.

Bringing that internal knowledge together with an outside perspective and challenging the status quo (and received wisdom) can uncover where the solutions and opportunities to build a better, bigger, more profitable and more resilient business lie.

What’s the cost of doing nothing?

The final point to make is that external expertise should be an investment. I know that is a trite statement, but over time you should be able to put your finger on the changes that have been made, the effect on the business and the commercial upsides that have resulted.

But it’s a double-whammy too.

Consider not only the commercial upside, but also what the commercial downside of doing nothing is. Worrying about the cost and sitting on your hands is probably costing you money every day.

Have you ever considered bringing an external adviser into your business? If you have but didn’t, what’s stopped you from doing it?