Push to The Edge in Business Conundrum? An Advisor Could Provide Unbiased Insights!

Demands on business owners, especially those of small or early-stage operation, can be very daunting. Owners and founders of business organizations may find themselves working as accountants, finance, HR, sales, and IT specialists. But, wearing too many hats, business owners can easily find themselves unable to move ahead.

In large enterprises, at first glance, we can wonder why companies would not just solve their problems with the bright brains they have. Nevertheless,  there are instances where insider experts could not see things objectively while outside expertise can provide objective insights. It is similar in problems where you are dealing with an issue in life, and you turn to your friends or family members for their opinion. In general, a consultant can provide unbiased and objective expertise to help guide a business (Cardone, 2018). Consultants specializing in various areas such as strategic management, operations, human resources, accounting and finance, funding opportunities, information technology, cybersecurity, and sales & marketing. With their expertise, consultants might help you develop business skills and grow knowledge. They may share how to design a business model, create a marketing plan or determine which marketing techniques you need to use and how to use them. In the current digital playing field of business where rapid change is the name of the game and security is a primordial concern to stay competitive, consultants can also provide unbiased advice in IT strategies that should align to the needs of the specific business peculiarities. As we move out from the COVID-19 pandemic, consultants are very much needed for businesses to Fastrack the attainment of their goals and maximize their business potentials.

Benefits of Using a Consultant

Consultants will help identify challenges, offer unbiased advice and objective, practical solutions, and work closely with business owners and managers. You may consider consultants as doctors (Schein, 1978), diagnosing problems and prescribe a remedy to alleviate the pain. As suggested in Rothenburger (2019), the following are some benefits of hiring a consultant:

Expertise. Knowledge, skills, and expertise are the central values of a consultant. As they work in various businesses, they may possess a much broader and deeper knowledge of the business trend, industry challenges, technological trends, and new processes than internal employees. According to Kaplan et al. (2018), consultants are disseminating innovation and new knowledge.

Cost Savings. Saving cost is fundamentally one of the benefits of hiring a consultant rather than hiring a full-time employee. In hiring a consultant, a business owner or manager only pays the services needed. Therefore, it is a substantial saving over hiring a salaried employee with the same level of expertise on a similar task.

Time Savings. The experience of specialists implies that they know the current best practices. For instance, a lean advisor can look at the manufacturing process and very quickly identify inefficiencies. With a consultant, an entrepreneur can avoid wasting time or lose significant chances to complete an expert soon.

Objectivity. Consultants are distant from the business challenges; they are not emotionally attached to business owners’ operations. With this, they can quickly identify and address the challenges of implementing new technology or being in a merger or acquisition. In addition, the consultant’s uninterested objectivity can be crucial in family-run businesses, where dynamics could be emotional and challenging to discuss.

Customization. Specific solution for specific challenges is a significant advantage of hiring a consultant. The particular solution comes accordingly from each client’s business goals. Fullerton and West (1996) suggested that this customization is much more effective than a generic advisory service. For example, a consultant expert in government grants and funding can select the funding program for which a client’s business is eligible with the most excellent chance of success. It could be that an IT consultant independent of any IT vendor can provide specific solutions to a client’s needs.

References:

Cardone, G. (2018). Hiring a business consultant is costly enough without hiring the wrong one. Entrepreneur. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/320051

Fullerton, J., & West, P. K. (1996). Consultant and client – working together? Journal of Managerial Psychology. 11(6), 40-49.

Kaplan, S. R., Nolan, R., & Norton, D. P. (2018), The creative consulting company. Harvard Business School Working Papers. https://www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication%20Files/19-001_d2e7f7ec-f8a5-409c-8ca9-90c5c6106c05.pdf

Rothenburger, S. (2019). Could hiring a consultant spur growth &lower stress for your business? Business Strategy. https://www.mentorworks.ca/blog/business-strategy/hiring-business-consultants/

Schein, E. (1978). The Role of the consultant: Content expert of process facilitator? The Personnel and Guidance Journal. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2164-4918.1978.tb04644.x