Insights

Thriving small business startups are reaching out to consultants to fill the gaps in their business plans.

Experienced consultants can examine daily operations whether in person, online, or on a spreadsheet and make suggestions for improvements that busy managers or owners have overlooked.

Consultants aren’t tethered by personnel issues, or company traditions. Rather they use an impartial view of the way things should be to help a company move ahead.

An excellent manager may also be equipped with the organizational skills their company needs to get a particular job done. However, the daily must-do items often leave no time for planning or analysis.  That is a good time to employ a consultant who can take on a leader’s vision and set out a plan to achieve it, either with existing client employees, or temporary work staff.

A small business may need assistance with multiple tasks their current staff is not equipped to provide, such as bilingual messaging, website building, a strategic growth plan, or a simple inventory.

Consulting costs don’t have to be a burden. Assign one task to your consultant and see if the outcome is worth your initial investment. Then increase what is outsourced to fit your budget.

A good relationship with a business consultant means adding a valuable expert to your team, on your terms, and only when needed. A consultant can add polish to your product which makes your offerings outshine the competition.

When he was a presidential candidate, George W. Bush explained to Meet the Press why having expert advisors (consultants) is a priority for running the business of the U.S.

“That depends upon my advisors, and the people who know a heck of a lot more about the subject than I do… I’ll be surrounded by good, strong, capable, smart people, who understand the mission,” said Bush.

Like Bush, successful businesspeople surround themselves with experts to tackle areas that need improvement, from seasonal human resources needs to a dream-big plan for future expansion.

Machinery, rent, and personnel are all big expenses. Using a consultant can be a trial run to see if your company needs certain tasks done regularly prior to the commitment of expanding staff.

Again, employing a consultant to review your business plan could be likened to having another set of eyes determining the reality of the path one has set for their business. A quarterly or semi-annual review from an “outsider” can be a wise investment for a company’s health.

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Chris Russell Gonzalez has over 30 years’ experience writing for newspapers and magazines in North Carolina and Texas.