Expert Business Consultant and How to Find the Right One for You

There are five considerations for finding the right expert business consultant. The right business consultant can have a transformative impact on your business and bring it to the next level of success. First and foremost, you must be clear about the objective that the consultant will be addressing. If you are unclear about what you need then ensure you have a discovery consultation.

Most ethical consultants will not accept a project unless they know they can positively impact the company hiring them. Be honest and transparent. After all, you can’t solve a false problem. An expert business consultant is going to verify that indeed the problem being presented is the one that needs to be addressed.

1. Experience

You need to find a person that has the proper amount of experience. Not all business problems need a high level of experience but most certainly do. Otherwise, why would you source and hire an expert business consultant? Expect to pay a little more for the experienced expert business consultant. However, you can also expect that the issue being addressed is going to be solved faster. Experience also allows the consultant to best prescribe the right solutions based on experience and not just theory. As we all are aware in business, theory is the starting point, but the real teacher is experience.

The risk of improper solutions being proposed by an experienced business consultant diminishes with the amount of experience the person has. Therefore, choosing the one best for you is based on your risk tolerance. The least risky is the one with more experience and not less.

2. Expertise

There are many types of expert business consultants with some being hyper-specialized to others being more general. You as a business owner or professional need to assess what your needs are. Some may specialize in business development, marketing, sales, human resources, accounting and finance, operations, and more. Others will specialize within a business segment, for instance in SEO and organic marketing within marketing or logistics within operations. It is normal for business owners and professionals to not know whether they need someone who is a general expert business consultant or a hyper-specialized one.

Most often, a very experienced general business consultant will have a lot of depth in each business area resembling a hyper-specialized consultant. It is good practice to engage with an expert business consultant to have a discovery session. The consultant can then advise whether you need a different type of consultant or a hyper-specialized one. Hiring the wrong consultant will be an expense instead of an investment.

3. Problem-solving Approach

You must ensure that the expert business consultant that you hire for yourself has a problem-solving approach to your issues. This includes concrete actions on how to overcome the problem. You don’t want to hire a business consultant to clarify the issue. Although that is an important aspect of solving the problem. The focus must be on either diminishing its frequency, and its impact or eliminating it when possible.

Your business issues will have solutions that range from little to no expense to implement them to the opposite spectrum. Some solutions may require implementing software, purchasing equipment or machinery, or other third-party services that will have a cost. Weigh the cost of each proposed solution and choose the right one that fits your circumstances and goals. A good expert business consultant will provide you with many solutions for any problem that they are solving. The exception is when they are working on a hyper-niche area of the business. You may have fewer options at times when the problem is a very specific business problem.

For instance, an issue with how to hire the best candidates for your business because of employees having a lack of skills. Here you would look at your hiring practices as well as your in-house training programs.  This is a simple example, whereas broader issues such as increasing employee lateness will have many possible reasons and corresponding solutions.

4. Cost and Value

You should not fear the cost of hiring an expert business consultant for the following three reasons:

I. Time

Your decision to hire the right business consultant means that instead of relying on ‘trial and error’ which wastes money and time, you will be presented with real solutions that are often best practices. Time is money. The more time you waste on actions that have already tried, the greater anxiety, stress, and costs you will incur.

II. Value

The value you will have from hiring an expert business consultant is no less than tremendous. Usually, the cost is a very small percentage of what the business problem costs your company. Most times it is less than 5%. If you quantify your issue in terms of dollars, you will be getting a 20 to 1 ROI. Meaning if you spend $10,000 on consulting services you will be receiving back at least $200,000 in savings. This does depend on who you are hiring as consultants from large firms will usually charge a lot more than smaller firms for the same work. Regardless of where the consultant comes from whether it is a large firm or a small one. The value is going to be in your favor.

III. Unbiased Approach

Your expert business consultant cares about solving the issues and unlike employees isn’t going to tell you what you want. Instead, you will be advised of what you need to get the results you want.

5. Your Needs

The fifth criterion to consider when you are choosing the right expert business consultant is to ensure that they are the right fit for you. This doesn’t just mean that they have the right personality that you like, but also these three factors:

I. Your Schedule

Your schedule may be such that you need a consultant to be available after normal working hours. You may need flexibility so that you are not paying for consulting hours that are scheduled but not being attended. Look realistically at your schedule and ask the perspective expert business consultant if they can meet your needs.

II. Your Communication Style

Communication styles vary in personalities. You may like someone who is very respectful and polite versus someone who is more direct and abrupt. Assess how the perspective expert business consultant communicates with you. There is no right or wrong but what you respond best instead.

III. Prioritization of Your Issue

Larger consulting firms may not provide you with personalized service and you may feel like a number to them. Whereas smaller firms are more likely to provide you with more personalized attention and service. Smaller firms also have a tendency not to charge for every minute or email response given. Small and medium-sized enterprises may include this factor in their decision.

Do You Need A Small Business Consultant for your business?
Learn More: 10 Tips for Choosing the Right Small Business Consultant

Myth: Is hiring an expert business consultant Expensive?

The answer is simple, which it is not. Most business owners and professionals are reluctant to hire a business consultant because they cannot bring themselves to the realization that someone else who doesn’t know the nuances of their business can propose solutions that haven’t been thought of. Most of the time it takes a person with a new or fresh look at an issue to see things that you cannot. An unbiased look at a problem coupled with experience is usually priceless to a business. Regardless of the size of that business, including you and your business.

Senior Business Consultant and Why Take My Advice?

As a business consultant with more than 33 years of experience. I have often turned clients away simply because I believed that either we were not the right fit to work together or that the client was not ready for the possible solutions that I may have possibly provided. My approach, like most senior business consultants, is to ensure that I’m providing real value for a client.  also, that the client will appreciate my efforts. As a senior business consultant, I will look at your budget, your issues, and your personality before accepting a project. My work involves single-session consultations to project consulting work. This is where you as my client will set a budget and timeline to complete a goal, solve an issue, or improve an area of your business. These types of projects require many hours of meetings and both sides must be comfortable working the hours required to solve the issue. As a senior business consultant, I want to ensure the successful completion of the business issue or project I was hired to achieve.

Senior Transformation Consultant

The expert business consultant that you hire for your business can have a transformative effect on you and your business. I know many clients have felt such an impact from my work. Although you may be skeptical, I offer you the following testimonial from one of my clients with a business located in Orange County California with approximately 950 people in three different locations. This may be a longer-than-usual testimonial but worth reading. You will understand that a senior transformation consultant is not just a title bestowed on an experienced expert business consultant but a realistic one in many cases.

Conclusion

Your decision to hire an expert business consultant is a good one for you and your business. Make sure that you take my advice so that you can have a transformative experience. The right business consultant will take you to your next level of success.