A large part of my consulting business involves teachingadvisors to be better business owners.

Thanks to the influx of business consulting help and literaturein the independent advisory industry, many firm owners have becomequite good at prioritizing; that is, deciding what things are moreand less important, and then, when they need to be done.

While most advisors include their clients, employees, partners,technology, marketing, custodian or broker-dealer and themselves intheir priority equations, they almost always leave out oneessential element — their business.

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This is ironic because it is the business that supports allthose other areas.

The reason for this omission is that most small business owners(and other people) think that a business simply does well if youget all those other parts right.

While that’s half right (you do have to get those other thingsright, too), I’ve come to realize that a business has its own setof needs and priorities, and consequently, requires its own seat atthe priorities table.

Needs & more needs

The bad news here is that, unlike most of the other items on anowner’s priority list, the business has a lot of needs.

The good news is that they are relatively straightforward andwon’t take up a lot of your time if you deal with them regularly.But if you ignore them, until some become critical, they willoverwhelm you and your business.

Related: 4 ways to do things your way as an insurance agencyowner . . . and succeed

To keep your business’s needs from overwhelming you, monitorthem regularly and address any problems that arise ASAP.

For most businesses, this means the owner must spend an hour ortwo, every week or so focusing on the needs of the businessitself.

Here’s a list of what business owners should consider to be suretheir businesses are getting the nurturing they need:

1. Budgeting and cash flow.

One of the challenges of independent advisory businesses is thatthey often generate so much cash flow that owners tend to lax aboutmonitoring and controlling expenses. This can both weaken abusiness and reduce its ability to respond to new challenges and/oropportunities.

Related: 3 keys to effective cash management for yourinsurance agency

One of the needs of a business is to use its resourceswisely.

You don’t have to be stingy, but you don’t want to waste moneyeither. And it’s well worth a couple of minutes every week or so tobe sure you’re managing your cashflow prudently.

2. Service offerings.

Every successful business knows exactly what it is offering, and towhom. Obviously, you don’t have to think about this often, but youdo have to think about it periodically.

The world changes, financial services change, and clientschange. Your business needs to be sure it’s offering the rightservices to the right people.

Maybe twice a year (or more often if major changes occur) putyour service offering on your business agenda.

3. Changes to your priorities list.

You undoubtedly have good reasons for every idea you currentlyintend to implement, but making too many changes at once can hurtyour business.

Therefore, consider everything you’re planning for the nearfuture and work out a schedule for doing them that will notoverwhelm you, your people, or your business.

Related: What it takes to inspire insurance clientconfidence

4. Profit margin.

Profit margin isn’t just about how much you can takehome.

A business is only a business if it brings in more money than itspends. And a healthy, growing profit margin means that your planis working.

Falling profits tell a different story. You need to monitorwhich way your business is heading, and find out why if it is notgoing up.

5. Client turnover.

Almost as important as profits, hanging on to your clients is a bigneed for your business. For one thing, it’s a lot cheaper to keepyour clients than it is to get new ones.

Related: The secret to client retention

If this number percentage is low, you need to figure out theproblem and fix it ASAP.

6. Cash flow.

This isn’t the same as profit margin. Cash flow is the regularinflow and outflow of money in your business.

It’s important because a business needs to have a certain amountof cash on hand to meet expected expenditures such as payroll,bonuses, etc. Many of the outflows are regular, and fluctuations ofinflows are often predictable.

But you need to stay on top of it, as well as be sure yourbusiness has what it needs to meet obligations.

7. Compliance.

Most owners don’t like to think about compliance, but it’sobviously a critical part of the business.

You should review it often enough to be comfortable that yourpeople, systems, and support are all working together with nothingslipping through the cracks.

8. Succession planning.

Again, you don’t have to think about this often, but it should bereviewed regularly.

Your succession plan is most likely your retirement plan; it’salso the plan for the future of your business. It’s worth takingsome time every couple of months to make sure everything is ontrack, and everyone is still on board with it.

Related: Exit strategy: Keys to successfully leaving yourbusiness

9. Other issues.

No matter how diligent you are, a business will always have otherproblems. This means it’s far more prudent to assume the worst andfind out early if anything is going wrong with the business.

The best way to do this is to take time to talk to your peopleabout what’s going on with their jobs. Ask them questions andreally listen to the answers. Find out their challenges and helpsolve them.

Related: 6 ways insurance agents can build winningteams

David Rockefeller, former chairman of Chase Manhattan Bank, usedto call this “management by walking around.”

Again, you don’t have to make it a full-time job, but the needsof your business need to be a priority. Because if your businessdoesn’t get what it needs, it’s not going to be able to meet anyoneelse’s needs either: yours, your employees, or yourclients.

Angie Herbers is founder of the consulting firm, AngieHerbers LLL. Email her at [email protected] orcontact her on Twitter @AngieHerbers.