What do businesses do when seeking business advice?

That was the question asked in a survey by the University of Nottingham – Barometer Project.

Following the demise of face-to-face business advice that used to be offered by Business Link, the survey asked a panel of business owners where they now sought business advice.

The results showed that just over one-quarter (28 per cent) of respondents use an accountant, one-fifth go to colleagues (21 per cent), smaller proportions use business advisers/consultants (15 per cent) and trade organizations (8 per cent). Just over one-tenth reported that they used nobody in particular (12 per cent).

Now according to my maths that’s a total of 84% and the report doesn’t tell us what happened with the remaining 16%.

Based on more than 10 years of providing business advice to owners of small and medium businesses I’m amazed that 72% of owners claim they actually ask for advice! And at the risk of upsetting accountants I’m even more surprised that more than a quarter of people surveyed say they see their accountant as the primary source of business advice.

There are some very good accountants but relatively few have the knowledge or experience of running a business that’s needed to advise on anything other than the financial aspects of a business. And anyone who has run a business knows that, important as good financial control is, there’s a whole lot more to growing a successful business.

The advice I give is based on practical, hands-on experience of running successful small businesses, and I deal with issues outside my own knowledge by referring to associates I know and trust.

As a former Development Manager, and having spent the last 8 years helping owners to sell their businesses, I get a buzz from helping younger owners to grow their businesses and helping the more mature owners to prepare their businesses for sale.

For more about the University of Nottingham – Barometer Project, please see www.ukbb.ac