A marketing spree by advisors to small, ambitious companies looks likely amid research showing their expertise does not allow their clients to grow any quicker.
Only the bank manager emerged out of reported research by Delta Economics with their reputations intact, for being helpful to micro traders within their first five years.
After their fifth birthday however, getting the bank’s help for their business returned owners with barely any growth in turnover, according to the study of 1,800 traders.
Seen by the Financial Times, the research found that firms that failed to take on external advice saw their sales grow 20 per cent faster than those that did.
Those who literally had gone it alone emerged as six per cent more likely to be sitting on higher growth than those who sought advice from a professional adviser.
Early-stage businesses, again, emerged as faring the best, as that growth was 100 per cent higher for owners whose company had less than five years’ accounts.
The subtext of the research is that using external advisers may distract attention from the bottom line for new start-ups, with the only exception being financial support.
Despite the blow to small business helpers, Delta found the usefulness of their advice about growing turnover tends to increase the longer a company has been trading.
May 26, 2009
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