Financial Advisors are essential contributors to middle market companies. They help management teams and ownership groups chart a growth path and a financing plan. Often middle market companies confuse a financial advisor with the role of their accountant or their tax preparer. Or they may think that this person is the person who manages their personal net worth.
Financial Advisors are strategic consultants who are into Business Consulting Services and can help a company articulate value creation strategies through a financial plan. The strategy can be any number of things, including:
- Acquisitions
- New product launches
- Regional expansion
- Increased business development efforts
- Divestiture of a line of business
- Sale of the entire business
A Financial Advisor is also a Business Advisor who has experience with all of these initiatives and can help the management formulate operating assumptions that the company can use to implement the plan. All companies need someone like this on their team.
The trick is how to find this person!
Often, a company will ask their accountant or lawyer to fill this position. Or the company may ask their accounting firm or law firm to refer someone. Often, the CEO will belong to a networking or learning group where he can trade connections with other business owners. These methods can be effective but are generally limited due to the local nature of the contacts. Chances are, the local service providers that may be referred are not financial advisors and thus aren’t strong matches for the needs of the company.
Social media sites such as LinkedIn and other opt-in business sites are effective ways to widen the net and generate more financial advisor candidates. Most professionals listed on these sites are well qualified and have references that can be vetted.
In addition, Google searching can yield a large number of prospects who can all be vetted through phone calls and Skype video. Companies that use extensive methods to find the best financial advisor generally end up with the financial advisor aptly suited to their needs.