Business Consultant vs Accountant vs Solicitor: Where I Fit In
Business Tips
How I Work Alongside Accountants and Solicitors (Not Instead of Them)
You already see the problem before anyone else does
You meet your clients every quarter. You file their returns, review their figures, and quietly notice the ones who are struggling, the succession that hasn’t been planned, the cash flow that doesn’t quite add up, the family tension creeping into the business.
You care about the outcome. But you don’t always have the time, the brief, or the specialism to go deeper. That’s exactly where I come in.
I’m not here to compete with your practice. I’m here to be someone you can hand the trickier, harder to categorise conversations to, knowing your client, and your relationship with them, comes back to you intact.
What I do, and just as importantly, what I don’t
I work with SMEs and family businesses on the commercial and human side of the business: strategy, succession, conflict and turnaround. That leaves the technical and regulated side exactly where it belongs, with you.
What I do:
- Leadership mentoring for the next generation
- Commercial strategy and business advisory
- Family business succession planning
- Conflict resolution and family dynamics
- Financial turnaround for SMEs
- Fractional Director support (1–5 days a month)
What I don’t do:
- Cold-call your clients without your introduction
- Tax returns or compliance work
- Legal documents or conveyancing
- Regulated financial advice
- Audit or accounting services
- Anything that conflicts with your practice
I’m simply there for the conversations that fall outside what a practice can reasonably be expected to cover.
The three clients I see most often
Over the years, three types of client keep turning up in my diary. You’ll likely recognise at least one of them sitting in your client list right now.
The Turnaround Client. Revenue £1m–£5m, owner-led, no management team. Profitable on paper, but always cash-tight. What they need isn’t another report — they’ve had plenty of those. They need a commercial sounding board who’ll sit with them and work out where the money is actually leaking.
The Succession Client. Revenue £5m–£25m, a family business, second or third generation now involved. The succession conversation is being quietly avoided by everyone at the table. Roles are unclear, and the conflict is starting to creep in around the edges of every meeting.
The Next-Gen Successor. Already working in the business, but not being given real authority. Frustrated, capable, and needing structured support to step up properly — rather than just being told to “wait their turn.”
If any of that sounds like a client you spoke to this week, that’s usually the moment to make an introduction.
How a referral actually works
I know referring a client out feels like a risk. You’ve built that relationship over years, sometimes decades. So I’ve kept the process deliberately simple, and deliberately protective of what you’ve built:
- You introduce us. A warm introduction, on your terms.
- We have a free call. I speak with your client directly — no cost, no obligation.
- If we’re a fit, we work together. If we’re not, I’ll say so, and nothing changes for you or them.
- Your client gets the help they need. And you stay informed throughout, because it’s still your relationship.
Your client gets a free 60-minute discovery call. There’s no obligation on either side, you stay informed, and your relationship with your client is protected. I’m not there to replace you, only to cover the ground you don’t have the time or remit to cover yourself.
As Wayne Hockley at Anthony Russel Ltd, Chartered Accountants, put it:
“I have collaborated with Mark on projects and have been impressed by his professionalism and his ability to transform an underperforming business into a successful enterprise.”
Ready to make an introduction?
If you’ve got a client whose figures are fine but whose family or leadership situation is a little more complicated, it might be worth a conversation before things become harder to untangle.
Mark Bailey is a Family Business Consultant helping SMEs improve communication, profitability, succession planning and growth strategy. For more family business and small business sales support find and follow Mark Bailey on Linkedin.
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