Businesses often need consultants – this is now taken for granted. Surprisingly however, very few business mentors and consultants have actually realized that what firms need is not generic advice and common facts, but rather expertise and business tips specifically targeted to meet their unique needs and solve their problems. While most business consultants offer a one-size-fits-all approach, there are already some that have realized what the essence of business consultancy is.



To be a business consultant, you need to adopt the approach of a good doctor. When a patient (business) is ill, you have to carefully examine it, check all symptoms and identify the root cause. Once you have arrived at a diagnosis, you have to prescribe the right treatment for efficient recovery. Like medical care, the business consultancy process involves expertise, attention to detail as well as care and concern for the sick patient (business).

Shape Your Business (syb.com.au) is a company which could be called Australia’s best business doctor. Mike Reddy, who is the principal and founder of Shape Your Business, is a qualified accountant who changed his traditional accounting practice in the 1990s and soon became a respected Small and Medium Sized Enterprises business consulting and mentoring authority.

As well as the company’s experienced in-house talent, Shape Your Business is also a member of RAN ONE – an international network of accounting and consulting firms with members in North America, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, which focus on the unique needs of small-to-medium sized and privately-owned businesses. This network provides access to a wealth of exclusive information and resources and allows the company to draw on the combined experience of the organisations 700 members.

The company website (syb.com.au) features numerous business tips in the form of manuals and articles that many business owners would find useful, such as how to design a company logo, conduct a customer satisfaction survey or build an efficient sales and marketing network.

Shape Your Business has a comprehensive range of business consultancy services in Australia which extends to customers in other parts of the world.

The company also organizes online seminars on various business topics, which participants can either attend or purchase in the form of e-books. These so-called ‘webinars’ are designed with the time-poor business owner in mind and aim to help by providing the skills and knowledge to increase profits and create systems and strategies to solve many of the challenges they face and make the most of often hidden opportunities.