When looking for a business advisor, it is important to find someone who has a balanced approach.  You want a balanced advisor that can speak and share insights on many subjects.  Many business advisors who offer their services on the market are usually strong in a particular area. This could include sales and marketing or in management strategies.  Although it is hard to find someone who is skilled in many areas, finding someone who can balance the key areas is what you want.

Key areas for a balanced advisor to be able to mentor, educate, strategize and manage are:

Your advisor doesn’t necessarily need to do all of the details for you. Your advisor does need to be able to speak and mentor on the areas you need to consider.  Each situation and each organization has its own conditions and challenges. Not every advisor can address all of them with the skill and expertise which might be needed.  The balanced advisors will seek out those resources which will address the situation, or they will inform their clients of their inability to address the situation in a satisfactory way.

A good balanced advisor will usually know other good advisors.  They are able to address all kinds of areas of expertise in which he or she does not consistently work in that area.  For example, an advisor with an operations background may have a solid understanding of corporate tax strategy, but they would most likely hesitate to say that he or she was an expert in that area.  Instead, good advisors know what to look for when finding that right person.  They will also usually know that person already.

If you find that a business advisor is not able to address a particular area and is not able to recommend a qualified expert in that area, you may want to consider another advisor to help you.  Nevertheless, you do want for your business advisor to have a solid understanding of the basic areas of business management.