Tag Archives: small business consulting

What Can I Expect From a Business Consultant?

A Business Consultant Assists With Inventory Planning

Precision Insight for Specific Problems

Overcoming challenges is just a part of life as a business owner or corporate officer. We’ve all faced the frustration of a management problem that simply won’t go away no matter how many different angles your team analyzes it from. Sometimes the solution is to bring in an outside, experienced perspective. That’s where a business consultant can help!

Today, we’ll dig up some of the most frequently asked questions about these crucial industry experts. By the end, you should know what to expect from consulting services, when to hire a consultant, and what qualities to look for as you search for third-party talent. Let’s get started!

Consultants Explained

“Why do you need a business consultant? What exactly does a business consultant do?” Before diving into how to get the most out these misunderstood professionals, we’ll define their role in the business community.

Role

What is the Role of a Business Consultant?

Sharma Graham (M.A.D.E. To Lead and Forbes Coaches Council contributor) does a fantastic job of defining the role of a consultant. “Consultants diagnose a problem and make a recommendation. From there, they take the client somewhere based on what they believe is best.” In other words, they tackle specific challenges laid out by the hiring company. These professionals often specialize in one or a handful of industries related to their clients.

Let’s use a personal-sized example to explain this concept. Say you discovered a sudden surge in your monthly energy costs. You can hire an energy consultant to determine why the spike occurred and how to fix the problem. After the process of home performance testing, your expert would identify the issue causing the waste and provide a solution (for measurable results)

Purpose

Why Do Companies Hire Consultants?

The life cycle of a business is one of continual change, road blocks, and modifications. While companies can hire new employees to address certain problems, others are too complex or cost-prohibitive to overcome with internal talent alone. This is particularly common for smaller businesses, who don’t have a larger pool of expertise to draw from. Even larger corporations look to business consultants however, especially when they’ve become stuck in the deadly pattern of “That’s just the way we do things.”

Companies hire consultants for a variety of reasons, such as the following:

  • Process Efficiency: Discovering new ways to complete a familiar process in order to save time and money.
  • Consumer Research: Identifying traits or patterns in a particular target market to create opportunities for growth and strategize for the future.
  • Management: Determining more effective ways to hire, consolidate, and manage internal and external talent.
  • Risk Assessment: Examining the market and environmental landscape to identify risks, comply with regulations, and create solutions.
  • Financial Analysis: Assessing and consolidating the financial resources of an enterprise.

A business may hire consultants for one or more of these tasks, generally when they need a trusted, third-party perspective on a specific problem.

Consulting vs Coaching

Business Consultant vs Business Coach

Confusion between these two terms leads to thousands, sometimes millions of dollars in wasted investments. Without digging in too deep, we’ll briefly describe the differences between these two roles.

Consultants’ extensive knowledge and experience allows them to make specific, metric-driven plans to address a specific problem. You’ll find this to be true, whether you’re hunting for a business consultant for small businesses or large corporations.

Business coaches, on the other hand, offer more generalized knowledge to educate and equip management professionals. They don’t solve problems, but teach internal talent how to do so. If you’ve been looking for a mentor to guide development for yourself and/or the management team, consider a coach instead of a consultant.

How Can a Business Consultant Help?

So we’ve talked about the general purpose of a consulting professional. Now let’s dig into how a consultant can benefit your company. Keep in mind, there are countless industries in the United States alone, any of which can benefit from consulting. We’ll use some of the most frequently faced problems that have cross-industry applications.

When to Hire a Business Consultant

  • Your business struggles with inventory management.
  • Your management desires insight for launching a new product or entering a new market.
  • Your operational team craves new opportunities for better processes or department efficiency.
  • You need help planning cash flow, developing capital, or facing a financial threat.
  • Your management team needs assistance with organizing employee compensation or boosting engagement.
A Business Consultant Helps a Small Business Owner Plan Ahead

Start Finding Your Solutions!

What does it mean to be a business consultant? We have your answer at R Moon Consulting! Industry-specific knowledge, metric-driven planning, and timely results are traits you can depend on when you choose our team as your Dallas, TX business consultant. If you’ve run into management challenges, HR difficulties, or sluggish growth, feel free to talk with one of our seasoned professionals! Learn more about our services and start planning your strategies at (214) 382-2964.