We’ve written before about the importance of building a professional team for your small business: accountant, banker, attorney, insurance agent. But knowing that you need this help and finding the right people are two different things. If you’re leaving the security of the corporate womb for the first time, it can be tough to know how to pick the right professionals to help you out.
Nevertheless, you ought to make a deliberate choice when entering a professional relationship. While not necessarily a disaster, hooking up with the wrong accountant or attorney can rank high on the scale of small business annoyances. Before hiring a professional, you should always schedule a “get acquainted” meeting to explore whether they’re right for you. Here are some of the things to look for in that first meeting:
Do they have small business experience? – The professions are not one-size-fits-all fields. Just because someone can do a superb job helping out the 500-employee manufacturer that keeps your town alive doesn’t mean that they have any insight to the problems facing a one-person shop.
Do they understand your field? – This one can be tougher, depending on where you’re located. But all other things being equal, if you can find a professional who has worked with other web developers or software authors (or whatever your chosen field is), you’ve got a better chance that they’ll be able to understand and sensibly advise on your issues.
Are they available? – Some of the professions are slow to innovate; you’ll still find firms without their own web sites, and partners who can’t be reached by e-mail. As someone who lives on the web, I shy away from such firms, no matter how good they are. You’ll also want to check whether you can exchange documents electronically; this is particularly important in the case of accountants if you do your own bookkeeping.
How do they figure their bills? – You want to know two things (particularly for accountants and attorneys): what their hourly rate is, and what their minimum billing increment is. $200 an hour might induce palpitations, but it’s even worse if you get billed a minimum of half an hour for anything done on your account, even sending a fax or answering a two-minute phone call.
What are their qualifications and references? – A responsible professional will be happy to discuss their schooling, their experience, their professional memberships, and some of their other clients with similar needs to yours. Shy away from anyone who wants to just assure you that they know what they’re doing without providing any details.
Are you in your comfort zone? – This is intangible but important. There’s no point in hiring someone who you don’t feel treats you with respect. If they’re too busy to answer your questions, or act like you’re an idiot – take your business elsewhere. Ultimately, you’re the one paying the bills, so you ought to get at least basic politeness.
What are your own best tips on building your own professional team?
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