Consultants: How Unbiased Opinions Help Businesses Thrive

Bringing in a consultant can help salvage or boost your business. If your business is doing poorly, a consultant can make it organized and profitable. If your business is doing well, a consultant can take it to the next level.

A consultant offers an unbiased view because they are not competitors who stand to profit from your vulnerabilities. They can help pinpoint and solve problem areas, and even point out issues that you were oblivious about.

Choose a Specialist

The best consultants are specialists. They know the ins-and-outs of a particular industry. In the health care industry, for example, health care consulting services can provide management consulting improvements that a general business consultant may not understand.

Expect a Wide Variety of Services

Business consultants help organizations improve both staff performance and business efficiency. These professionals will analyze your business and offer solutions to meet goals like improving the quality of your service and improving your bottom line.

Consultants can provide a wide variety of services based on their expertise in a specific market. They can identify problems in an objective way, revive an organization and expand its customer base. They may even help with staffing issues—teaching and training staff, eliminating recalcitrant staff, and supplementing the existing workforce.

A Typical 3-Step Approach

While all consultants approach their work differently, they usually have a three step approach to turning a company around.

• First, they learn more about the company. This can be called the discovery phase.
• Second, they try to figure out what needs to change. This can be called the evaluation phase.
• Third, they create a plan of action to apply the change. This can be called the restructuring phase.

Let’s take a closer look at these three phases:

1. The Discovery Phase.

A consultant will try to learn as much about a company as possible.

Gathering Documentation

First, they explore the literature of how the company describes itself. This might be buried in the business plans and goals, in company catalogues, in financial documentation and in website descriptions. This gives them a good idea of what the company is striving to do.

Touring and Interviewing

Next, they will tour the facilities and interview everyone in the organization from the business owner to the employees. They might also talk to the board of directors and even customers.

Summarizing Findings

Last, they will summarize their findings to create a detailed picture of the company’s mission and business operations.

2. The Evaluation Phase.

After a consultant has developed an in-depth understanding of the company, he or she will then identify its strengths and weaknesses.

Formal Analysis

Analysis is usually done in a formal way, with the consultant trying to gather as many metrics as possible. One popular management tool used in formal analysis is a SWOT Analysis. SWOT is an acronym for  Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. This simple and straightforward model assesses what a company can do and not do well. The model looks at internal issues like strengths and weaknesses, as well as external issues like opportunities and threats. This analysis helps identify realistic objectives and forecast possible obstacles. The consultant now has a good idea of what direction to go—specifically, what to minimize, what to overcome, and what to achieve.

Critique

This is the most delicate point in the whole process because the business owner must be open to constructive criticism. It is often at this point that a business owner can get defensive, even obstinate, and refuse to either make changes or only modified changes. If an agreement can be made, then the consultant and owner move together to the third phase.

3. Restructuring

The business owner and the consultant will set up business objectives, plans, and a working schedule. The consultant will work on building assets. For instance, if it’s a restaurant, he or she will work on improving the décor, the quality of food, and staff training. In addition, the consultant will work on eliminating liabilities and monitoring the progress of the plan, making adjustments as needed.

Finding A Great Consultant

Usually you get what you pay for. When looking for a consultant, you should look at their resume, their portfolio, their testimonials, their hands-on experience, their availability, and their cost.

The more knowledgeable and experienced a consultant, the greater their degree of industry specialization, the higher the cost. However, if you find the right consultant for your business, the improvements they make can usually help you make your money back and increase long-term profits.

Here is some excellent advice from Jeff Haden on how to set realistic expectations when hiring a great consultant: 

“Rarely can a consultant provide everything you request for the price and schedule you need. ‘No’ is disappointing but is often the answer you most need to hear up front. Would you rather create a plan based on reality or on empty promises?”