Not only do they feel the weight of the world on their shoulders– being responsible for the wellbeing of their employees, delighting their customers, and the overall success of the company– but they’re expected to simultaneously keep so many balls in the air without fumbling, with limited time and energy to make it all happen. This is even more difficult when the company isn’t yet big enough to have a strong leadership or management team in place to help take some of these out of the owner’s hands.
Out of necessity, small and medium sized business owners are elbows deep in the day-to-day—because that’s what it takes to build something successful.
But when you're in the weeds, how do you find the time to step back and look at the bigger picture?
The bigger picture matters. That’s where long-term strategy lives. It’s where opportunities to grow, de-risk, and prepare for the future exist. But getting there requires more than just time to be “big enough” to hire help; it needs alignment between the business owner and their core advisors to make sure that everyone is pulling in the same direction.
This is where your advisory network should come in: accountants, wealth advisors, lawyers, bankers, consultants—each one with a piece of the puzzle, each one invested in helping you build and protect your business.
A business owner needs a strong advisory network; professionals who are experts in their respective fields and who can bring the right advice and strategy to support the business owner’s personal and professional goals. Looking at you, accountants, wealth advisors, banking advisors, consultants…
Sounds straightforward, right?
But here’s the problem: more often than not, those advisors aren’t aligned. They’re reactive, siloed, and disconnected from each other. Everyone means well, but when communication is inconsistent—or worse, non-existent—the business owner ends up being the messenger.
It’s like a game of broken telephone, and your path to success is what’s being jumbled up along the way.
Not only does this create inefficiencies—it creates missed opportunities.
- Opportunities to leverage the wealth you’ve built – knowing when and where you can take advantage of positive momentum
- Opportunities to plan ahead instead of just catching up, or constantly reacting to things that could have been de-risked in the first place
- Opportunities to make confident, informed decisions about your future.
Imagine instead a network of advisors who are on the same page—proactively surfacing insights, collaborating behind the scenes, and focused on helping you reach your goals. Advisors who are up to speed on your business performance and health, and who can provide advice from their field when the time is right. Advisors who aren’t just reacting to problems, but who are identifying blind spots before they even get to that point.
That’s the kind of advisory experience business owners need—and deserve.
Build a circle of advisors who communicate, collaborate, and act with intention. The ones who care enough to look at the bigger picture, and both your personal and professional goals. The ones who know that your time is valuable—and that your success depends on more than just showing up when there’s a fire to put out.
When the right people are aligned around your goals, you gain something incredibly powerful: clarity. And with clarity, comes confidence in the decisions you’re making—not just for today, but for the future you’re building.
Author: Rebecca Cook
