Unless you are the world’s greatest expert on everything, at some stage you will probably need to hire outside expertise to deal with particular issues. Then, having hired such experts, you must be able to work with them and trust them.

The problem is finding someone who is worthy of that trust – finding someone who really is an expert from among the many who merely claim to be.

The challenge

There is usually no shortage of people offering their services. The challenge is sorting the good from the bad.

Some professions are tightly regulated. These include solicitors and accountants. This is a good thing in theory, in that it should at least guarantee a minimum standard. However, beyond that minimum standard, there is no way of knowing whether a practitioner is any good or not.

This is not helped by the very regulations that guarantee that minimum standard. Most professions have rules against ‘poaching’ clients from others. Some have restrictions on advertising. For example, at one time solicitors were not allowed to advertise. Indeed, relatively few accountants and solicitors use their existing rights to market themselves as much as they could. Many old-fashioned practitioners, who include some of the most reliable, consider it ‘bad form’ to be ‘pushy’.

Some professions go the other extreme – they are not regulated at all. Anyone can call themselves a ‘management consultant’, a ‘marketing consultant’, or an ‘IT consultant’.

Pitfalls

Worst-case scenario: you end up hiring a con artist.

Next to worst-case: you hire someone you think is an independent consultant, but who is really a salesperson. This often happens with IT consultants, computer consultants and financial advisers who are tied agents for a particular supplier.

However, the most common pitfall is that you hire someone who is simply not up to the job. It can be disastrous when major decisions that determine the whole future of your business are made on the advice of a professional who does not really know what they are doing.

It is particularly dangerous where the business needs a close, even intimate relationship with a professional, such as an accountant or a solicitor, to operate at all. The wrong choice can wreck a sound and prosperous operation.

Choosing the right person

Sorting through the hosts of professionals offering their ‘help’ is not easy, but it can be done. There are honest, reliable professionals out there, and among them is at least one that is right for you.

Like any other search, there are some basic rules:

• Don’t rush.
  
• Decide first what you want.
  
• Do what you can to check backgrounds.
  
• Look for honesty – those who say what they can’t do.
  
• Don’t commit at once – test them before you give them everything.

You can guarantee that professional advisers, even good ones, will have their own agenda, their own way of doing things. They will have their own specialisation, which they will steer you towards. There may be a particular service or solution they wish to sell you, even if they are independent, out of a sincere conviction that it will benefit you. However, this may not be what you want or need.

It is therefore important that you set the agenda. Sit down and think what your business needs in general terms. You know more about this than anyone – more than the greatest professional advisers. They may have some ideas of their own, in which case you should listen, but in the end only you can decide what your business really wants.

Once you have decided, list precisely what you would expect a professional adviser to do, in your own words. Then seek out one who will implement your vision, not start pushing their own.

This is particularly important when dealing with IT consultants, who may be pushing their own systems, and who are not above blinding you with jargon.

Finding the right person

Once you have decided what you want, you need to pull together some names to create a shortlist.

The best option

The best option is to use an adviser you know and trust yourself – ideally someone with whom you have worked before.

However, do not be too eager to employ personal friends. Just because someone is good company does not mean they are a good professional, or right for your needs. Even if they are, doing business means there will be a grey area between friendship and business that is conducive to neither. Bad business has killed many good friendships.

The next best option

Ask people whose opinion you trust if they could recommend anyone. Ideally, ask someone who is in the same profession but not a candidate for your business. For example, ask a friend who is a criminal lawyer about the best employment law specialist. Alternatively, seek recommendations from people in the same or similar line of business as yourself.

Research

If you are not given a recommendation, look in the local press, and the trade papers of your industry for the names of professionals who are doing the sort of work you want.

If you are looking for, say, a tax or planning lawyer, find out who has won the latest appeals. And look at new appointments – these people will be keen to get new business.

Ask the relevant trade body for members who specialise in your field.

Random choice

If you still have no names, start at random. Sticking a pin in the Yellow Pages is as good a place to start as any. Better still, if you have the money, advertise offering the work to tender and consider the offers that come back.

Remember, you are only looking for names for a short list at this stage. The important thing is to check them and talk to them before you choose one. You are looking for someone honest, competent, efficient and reliable.

Checking

Professional organisations, such as the Law Society for solicitors, and various institutes for accountants, will be able to confirm whether a candidate is a member in good standing – but little else.

In the case of less organised professions, there are institutes for management consultants, marketing specialists, public relations, and the like, but membership is not compulsory.

Limited companies can be checked at Companies House.

Interviewing

Most candidates should be willing to meet you for an initial discussion. This is your main chance to assess whether they are right for you. In particular:

• Ask about their business, how big it is, how long it has been established, and so on. Being big and old is not necessarily best, but they must demonstrate that they are stable and that they have a continuity plan in place if they fall ill, for example.
  
• Pin them down tightly on whether they receive commissions from anyone other than their clients, whether they are tied agencies or have exclusive supplier agreements with anyone, and whether they are truly independent (this is particularly important with IT consultants). Someone who is not independent but who is honest about this may still be useful, but beware of any evasion.
  
• Sound out their attitudes to fixed budgets. Think carefully before hiring anyone unwilling to commit to a fixed price for a defined job.
  
• Before you tell them exactly what you want, ask them about their specialisation. Someone who is upfront about what they do not do is more reliable than someone who tries to pretend they are expert at everything.
  
• Ask for CVs of the people who will actually be doing the work, and ask those people about their experience of similar cases.
  
• Remember that you define what is to be done: eliminate those who start telling you what they want to do for you.
  
• Make sure the whole interview is in plain English: write off anyone who tries to confuse you with jargon.
  
• Confirm that they have professional liability insurance and with whom. If their advice proves faulty, you want to be sure of redress.

You do not need to know much about the law or accountancy or IT, or whatever you want to be advised about – that is why you are hiring an adviser after all. However, you must be able to state, in clear and practical terms, exactly what you want done.

Budget

Set a figure for what you are willing to spend and let would-be professional advisers know you are on a fixed budget. That figure has to be realistic. Good people do not come cheap.

Generally speaking, if someone is willing to work too cheaply, there is a reason – they need the work or they are not experienced. Ask them why others are not using them. The old saying is true: if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. Of course, you can pay top dollar and still get monkeys!

How much someone charges is not, in itself, a reliable indicator of how good they are, but their reaction to your budget may show their professionalism, or lack of it.

• If they offer to do the job for exactly the sum in your budget, but do not say how, they could be opportunists: be careful.
  
• If they say it is not enough, but are unwilling to say how much it might be, they might bleed you for as much as they can: be careful.
  
• If they say it is not enough, but specify how much it might be and exactly what they would do for that sum, it could be that you underestimated the costs, and that they are being both honest and professional in response: consider them.
  
• If they say it is too much for what you want, they are at least honest: consider them.

And later, when it comes to the invoice, ask for an itemised breakdown of their bill if they put something vague such as ‘To professional services – 10 hours.’

Remember always that, if you do not have a fixed price arrangement, professionals charge for every phone call or meeting. Avoid having long chats or long lunches with them unless they have ‘stopped the clock’.

Options

What sort of adviser do you need?

Large firm vs. small firm

A large firm of solicitors or accountants usually has more depth of expertise – but this is not always available to smaller business clients. Having a top person as senior partner means little if the work is being done by a junior. That may be perfectly adequate – as long as you pay junior partner rates. Pin them down in advance on the level of service you expect and at what price.

Sometimes a smaller firm may give a better, more personal service but there may not always be someone on hand for emergencies.

Big city vs. local

Sometimes, especially in complex legal cases, big city expertise is essential and you have no choice but to pay. It may be wise to take out commercial legal expenses insurance to protect you in these circumstances. However, for more general work, it is often better to have someone local and accessible.

Generalist vs. specialist

Many professions are increasingly specialist. You rarely get a ‘lawyer’ these days – you get a ‘tax lawyer’, a ‘planning lawyer’, or an ‘employment lawyer’.
Only you can decide whether you want one of these specialists or an old-style general practitioner or both – but you must decide.

Testing

If you are still uncertain, remember you don’t have to give all your accountancy or legal work to the same person or firm. Indeed, it is a good idea to spread it around a little – it keeps everyone on their toes. You may even want to give a new professional a small task as a test. If they perform well, give them more as your business relationship develops.

Working successfully with professional advisers

Successful professional relationships rely on you being clear about what you need. Write it down in plain English, and get your adviser to confirm, again in plain English, what they said at the interview and what they have agreed to do. Pin them down: make sure they are doing what you want, not what they think is best for you. Irrespective of any formal contracts you may sign, get a letter from them setting it all out in plain terms.

Once you are happy with the arrangement, let them get on with their job, but write into the agreement that they give you regular reports on progress and cost. If you are not happy, do not hesitate to complain.

You do not need a detailed knowledge of their particular profession to work well with a professional adviser – only of what you want.

Useful contacts

Companies Registration Offices

Records of limited companies are kept at the Companies Registration Offices. They also offer guidance on how to form a limited company.

Companies Registration Office (England, Scotland & Wales)
Companies House, Crown Way, Cardiff CF14 3UZ
T: 0870 333 3636
F: 029 2038 0517
W: www.companieshouse.gov.uk

Companies Registry Office (N Ireland)
Customer Counter
1st Floor
Waterfront Plaza
8 Laganbank Road
Belfast BT1 3BS
T: 0845 604 8888
F: 028 9090 5291
W: www.detini.gov.uk

The Law Society

Regulatory body for solicitors in England and Wales. Site contains directory of solicitors.
T: 0870 606 6575
W: www.lawsociety.org.uk

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants

Site contains and online directory of members.
T: 0141 482 2000
W: www.accaglobal.com

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