Five Advisors Contractors MUST Have

By Wayne Rivers Co-Founder and President The Family Business Institute, Inc.

To be successful in business over long periods of time, you must find talent. Just as you work to find the best employees, you must invest time and effort into finding the right advisors who understand your vision and goals for your business.

I recommend five different advisors for top construction companies.

Number one is a certified public accountant . Without question, you must file taxes and comply with various levels of regulations government requires.

The second is an attorney. And, in today’s world, this really means multiple attorneys. The days of Perry Mason solving all your unique legal concerns have passed. There is so much specialization within the law now, such as construction law, estate planning, business law, etc., you need a full-service law firm. They're all quite different and a nice-sized law firm will have experts in each of these areas who can help you.

Third, you will also need a trusted banker

It’s also important to have adequate insurance coverage so you need an insurance agent as your fourth advisor. Insurance can be quite complex; you need a great surety agent, property and casualty coverage, life insurance, etc. Shop for the top pros in your area, and check with your brother and sister contractors for references.

And, for the final advisor, as you reap the benefits of your hard work and enjoy success over time, you will need someone to handle your investments . This person can work with you not only on your own investments but also help create a path for continued financial stability for the business.

So, who's not in my top five? Consultants.

You don't need consultants all the time. They are better for short-term needs on specialized projects, such as IT or succession planning. Those are unique needs that only arise occasionally.

The second area where you might need an outside consultant is simply to help find answers that aren’t in the wheelhouse of the traditional five advisors. They can be excellent resources when you need a new, fresh way of looking at things or a deeper analysis of a problem and outside alternatives to resolve it.

Another area where an outside consultant could help is when you are ready to dive into true long-term planning. These professionals can help with financial and performance benchmarking against the industry, so you can focus on your margins or the productivity of your employees or your gross revenue per employee. This information helps you know if you're being effective, efficient and profitable.

Consultants who specialize in long-term planning are also great at helping identify potential HR needs, hone in on services that your firm can offer as markets evolve and which geographies you’ll serve as time passes.

While always a sensitive discussion, a consultant can also help deal with unproductive team members, even if they are family members. It is often helpful to have an outside third-party help evaluate these matters.

It’s also critical for a business to be thoughtful in grooming its next generation of company leaders. All firms, including family-owned ones, need a clear understanding of who will take the helm. Consultants can help set this path, especially when current leadership feels that several can grow into top executives.

Every generation or so, businesses must decide, “Are we going to keep this in the family or are we going to open it up and sell to outsiders?” Whether the buyer happens to be current employees or from outside the company, this decision is fraught with emotion. You can’t make this decision lightly and there is no room for knee-jerk reactions.

My experience shows that in today’s business climate, people are much more interested in meritocracy and evaluating fair alternatives for not just family members but also for long-term, valued, key employees. Also, decisions today are more complex today than they used to be.

It's important to understand one key difference between the trusted advisors and a consultant. On average, a good consultant will work themselves out of a job in three to nine months, thus you only need them occasionally. Your trusted advisors are needed all the time. When you have a specialized need, reach out to find the right people to get answers.

But, your five key advisors, keep them on board and close all the time.