The pressures that small and medium-sized business owners face can be intense. Starting, taking over, or learning to manage a business is hard enough as it is, but such owners also often find themselves having to play the roles of VP Finance, Head of HR, Director of Sales, Marketing Specialist, and many more, all at once. With so many hats to wear, small business owners can quickly run out of capacity, and mental strength as well. In fact, having no time to “do it all” is one of the top stresses of small business owners, according to Forbes Magazine.

Hiring a Business Consultant: What are the Benefits?

Consultants work closely with business owners and managers to help identify challenges, offer advice, and propose practical solutions. You might think of consultants as doctors, who diagnose the problem and prescribe a remedy that alleviates pain. The benefits of hiring a strategy consultant include the following:

Expertise

The main values of consultants include their knowledge, expert skills, and influence. Because consultants work with a variety of businesses, they may have a much broader and deeper knowledge of business trends, industry challenges, and new technologies and processes, than internal employees.

In fact, according to Harvard Business School, consultants are fundamental in disseminating innovation and new knowledge within their industries.

Cost Savings

When you hire a consultant, you pay only for the services that you need, when you need them. This can provide substantial savings over hiring a salaried employee, with the same level of expertise, to complete similar tasks.

Further, consultants in multiple areas—lean manufacturing, proactive funding, financial planning, etc.—can identify areas where you are currently spending more than you need to, and help you cut costs.

Time Savings

The experience of consultants means that they know best practices already. For example, a lean consultant can look at a client’s manufacturing process and very quickly identify inefficiencies. With a consultant, there is no need for business owners to reinvent the wheel or lose valuable time to something that can be completed by an expert contractor.

Objectivity

Consultants provide a useful distance from business challenges; they are not emotionally invested in operations in the same way that business owners are, and they can more easily identify and address challenges, whether the issue is implementing a new technology or completing a merger or acquisition.

The consultant’s objectivity can be especially important in family-run businesses, where dynamics could be emotional and core problems more difficult to discuss.

Customization

Consultants do not offer a one-size-fits-all solution. Their value comes in learning about each client’s business and goals, and tailoring advice and strategy consulting to the specific challenges that the business faces.

This customization means that a consultant’s solutions are much more effective than generic advisory services. For example, a government grant consultant can select funding programs for which your business is clearly eligible and has the greatest chance of success.

Original Post: Benefits of Hiring a Business Consultant