The WebSmartIdeas aims to promote and disseminate good creative ideas to improve society.

This is an area where many small business operators have the potential to throw money away. Small businesses often have less complicated needs than their larger business counterparts. This is in reference to Solicitors, Accountants, Consultants, and Advisors etc.

• Shop around, these people sell a competitive service … the price is probably negotiable. There's no shame in asking for a cheaper price. Remember, if you don't ask ... you don't get.

• What is actually included in the chargeable time of these professionals? Understand how they charge and ensure you receive an itemised billing statement.
  (Note: Many of these types of organisations offer employee bonuses based on the proportion of time that is invoiced, and it's quite common to find more chargeable hours than attendance time)

• Always be mindful of, 'you get what you pay for', so work out what you intend to get.

• The scope of the services to be provided should be well defined, as a negotiated price for a poorly defined service is no different to giving the supplier an open cheque.

• Do you really need the professional service? Or could you learn how to sort your issues out yourself? What tools do you need? Have you looked into this or simply taken the easy route? Remember their hourly rates are likely to be substantially higher than yours are.

• Are you talking to the right person? People often speak to solicitors about accounting issues and vice versa, remember they charge by the minute! 

• Could you use less expensive service providers i.e. debt collection agencies?

• Clarify up front what documents need to be supplied to the service provider. A billable amount for time spent searching for documents the professional never had is an easy method for them to boost billings artificially.