You are one of a very select group of people in this country who own or run a small business. What does “small” mean? Small refers to your business infrastructure, not your annual sales or number of employees. You are responsible for almost everything because you don’t have anyone else to rely on. You’re the CEO, the COO, the CFO, and the CIO! In your spare time, you are the Head of Human Resources and the Director of Marketing. You know the risks of owning or running a small business are high, the hours are long, and all of the important decisions fall squarely on your shoulders.

You face big challenges on a daily basis. You struggle to find, train, and keep the right employees. And, it continues to get more difficult and expensive to provide them with the benefits you know they need. You are sometimes surprised when your checking account balance is less than your accounts payable – and then by what your bank requires of you to borrow money. Completing your tax return and understanding your tax liability at the end of the year is frustrating. You’re not exactly sure what your accountant is doing for you.

Selling more of your product and/or service is getting harder. There are more competitors. Customers want to pay lower prices and willingly move their business to the low cost provider. Some of your competitors don’t even have a store-front. They do everything over the internet. Access to information is easier; in fact there’s so much of it, you sometimes feel overwhelmed. Marketing and advertising your product should be a lot easier than it seems to be. You spend a lot of money on both but you don’t honestly believe you’re getting your money’s worth out of the effort.

You also know that there are some benefits to running your own business. You might not have the infrastructure and the deep pockets that a larger company has, but you know how everything fits together and operates. You and your business are more focused and can react more quickly than a larger company. You are closer to your customers and better understand their needs and wants.

You’re able to make everything work, but something is missing. You have not yet found the one resource that will put you over the top. You can’t just hire more people and you’re not going to pay a consultant to tell you what you already know.

If this is “about you,” we hope you’ll make the time to check out Business Advisor Online. We know we can help you!