Introduction
If you’re like most business owners, you’re juggling an ever-growing list of tasks and responsibilities. If you don’t have a team or department dedicated to business development, marketing, and operations, it can be hard to keep track of everything that needs doing. And when there’s no clear path forward for your business, it's tempting to hire someone who can take the reins—even if they aren't necessary. Perhaps hiring someone in-house is not the answer. In this article, we will discuss some hints it's time to hire a consultant to help solve your business needs.
What exactly is a business consultant?
If you’re looking for a way to improve your business, the first thing to do is figure out what type of help you need. Business consultants come in all shapes and sizes. They can be anything from an accountant to a lawyer, to someone who specializes in helping the management of small businesses. Outside salespeople with experience with specific industries—like healthcare or technology—could also be considered consultants.
Whatever their background may be, there are some characteristics that every good consultant should have:
Good soft skills
Problem-solving ability (critical thinking)
Written and verbal communication skills
Organization skills
The role of a consultant is to provide professional advice to individuals and businesses within the boundaries of their area of expertise, usually on a temporary or contract basis until a particular need is met.
Why hire a business consultant?
If you’re like most people, you feel like there are so many decisions to make, goals to set, and ways to find the solution. You have a lot of information coming at you from all sides; it can be hard to know where to start or even what direction is best.
A consultant can help with this by:
Helping you make decisions about your business
Setting goals for your business that align with your vision for where it should go in the future
Finding ways to solve problems that arise along the way
Pretty much everyone can benefit from some outside help, but what are some of the hints within your business that the time to hire a consultant might be now? If any of the 13 instances below sound familiar, you might want to consider looking for the right consultant to supplement your workforce.
1. You Are Coming up Short on In-House Resources
If you are a small business owner and do not have the time or resources to solve your problems, it is time to hire a consultant. You could have an employee who does not have experience in that field or someone who has the skills but no enthusiasm for doing the work.
Consultants can help you leverage technology to increase efficiency and productivity. In addition, they can determine if the lack of resources is truly a capacity issue or something more culturally motivated. Outside consultants have a great vantage point because they are not deeply entrenched in the politics of the organization. They can separate emotion from the situation and tell you whether or not you have the right people doing the right things within your company, and if not, what you can do about it.
2. Multiple Positions Being Covered by One Employee
One of the earmarks of a small business is that employees take on multiple functions (or positions); although this can also take place when a business has outgrown its internal structure. When this happens, you may find yourself asking: "How do I get help?"
It isn't always easy to know who or what type of person would be best suited for your needs. And even if you've managed to find someone with the right skill set, they might lack insight into how things work at your company. Depending upon the size of your firm and leadership’s involvement in hiring, this core process could be demanding too much of your valuable time.
That's why bringing in outside help—like an experienced consultant—is so important. There are consultancies that specialize in recruitment. They can give you an unbiased perspective and take away some of the guesswork involved with hiring new employees while taking some of the work off your shoulders.
3. You're Unable To Meet Your Goals
If you’re like most entrepreneurs, you've set some pretty lofty goals for yourself but you're not able to achieve them. You may not be able to meet your own expectations (that's normal), but if it's starting to affect the people around you and their ability to excel at their jobs, then it's time to step back and take stock of what needs fixing.
If you're unable to live up to what your stakeholders want from you, then there will be repercussions—and they could potentially cost you business in the long run if left unaddressed like this! No one likes being let down by someone they put so much faith into beforehand.
Business and Management consultants can help you achieve your goals. They can do this by developing strategies that will make your vision a reality. This often involves solving problems by gathering data and conducting analysis to make improvements to the organization’s operational efficiency and performance that hindered your ability to meet your goals in the first place.
4. You Can’t Figure out Why the Business Isn’t Growing
The reason your company is stagnating can vary and have many different causes, so addressing this issue requires some serious introspection.
Consultants can help figure out what exactly the problem is and then take steps to overcome your challenges. Whether the reason for slow growth is:
Your current marketing strategies aren't working as well as they once did;
You haven't been able to identify new avenues for growth; or
The market has changed significantly since you started your business, and now you're struggling to adapt in a way that won't affect your bottom line
There are experts that can and have addressed these issues a thousand times. If your business isn't growing, it's time to hire a consultant, you cannot afford not to.
5. You Aren’t Keeping Up With Emerging Trends or Technology
When it comes to technology, there are always new trends and updates. According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, “The time to develop, deploy, mature, and then retire technologies is moving from decades to years and sometimes faster”. You need to be prepared for these changes if you want your business to stay competitive.
If you’re struggling with finding the time and resources needed to keep up with all of the latest tech advancements, hiring a consultant can help make sure that your company stays on top of things.
Here are some signs that it might be time for you to hire some outside help with tech expertise:
You don't have a clear understanding of where your company is going in terms of technology or what needs improving
Your systems aren’t working well together effectively or efficiently enough
New ideas are coming through frequently but taking too long (or maybe never) to get implemented due to organizational roadblocks
6. Filling a Position Full-Time isn’t Appropriate
If you can't afford to hire a full-time employee, consider hiring an external resource. Hiring a consultant is a more cost-effective way to get the same level of expertise and expertise that comes from having someone on your team.
The cost of training and onboarding a new team member varies according to industry and location. However, according to a study, the average cost of training a new employee is around $4,000. If you're in New York City or San Francisco, expect to pay even more than that!
Consultants are typically cheaper than high-level internal employees because they work without benefits or payroll taxes (which are usually higher than what's taken out from an outside consultant). Consultants also have no long-term commitment: if things don't work out with your current consultant situation within 2 months' time, there's no reason not try someone else out instead!
Full-time employees are not as easy to let go and replace. It may take months before it is determined someone is not the right fit, followed by many more months of candidate vetting and training. Having an empty position can sometimes cost the company more than what a consultant would charge.
7. Your Business Feels Stuck or Stagnant
You should hire a consultant when you're feeling stuck in your business, stagnant, and lacking inspiration. A consultant can help show you a new way to look at your business, as well as give perspective on what is happening in the marketplace.
A good consultant will help get you thinking differently about how to solve problems in your organization, and they can give guidance on how to make decisions based on best practices. They can also help provide inspiration by looking at things from a different angle than what's been tried before.
8. You Have a Time-Sensitive Project
Business consultants can help you meet deadlines. If your business is working on a project that must be completed by a certain date, a business consultant can help you stay on track and make sure everything is done in time.
They can also help you deal with a crisis. Maybe there’s an issue at work and everyone seems to be running around in circles trying to fix it. Or maybe there is an emergency that requires immediate attention but no one has any idea what to do next. If this sounds like your company, then hiring a business consultant may be just what you need!
Better than that, business consultants can actually help you avoid crises in the future by planning for them now! This means creating documents about potential problems before they happen so everyone knows how they should respond when something goes wrong or needs attention immediately (which happens more often than people realize).
9. You Have Tunnel Vision
Tunnel vision is when you're so focused on doing what you think is best that you don't consider other options. It's easy to get caught up in your own ideas and feel like there's only one way forward, but this type of thinking can lead to missed opportunities and poor decisions. If your business isn't growing as fast as it should be, tunnel vision may be the culprit.
Challenge yourself to see things from different perspectives by meeting with people outside of the company who may have different views than yours. Be open to new ideas from others who have experience that is outside of yours (e.g., hiring a consultant).
Consultants can facilitate culture change within your organization. A shift in culture can promote innovation simply by keeping an open dialogue with employees about their ideas for improvement and growth.
10. You're Working on Things Beyond Your Expertise
If you've been working outside your expertise and need help, consider hiring a consultant.
It may sound like a costly proposition to hire a professional for help, but the cost of doing it yourself could be even higher. Besides, if you really want to get things done in your business and maximize profits, wouldn't it make sense to invest in the advice of someone who has done what you want to do?
11. Your Team Lacks Expertise
If you're at this point in your business, it's time to bring on a consultant. They'll be able to help you get up and running again with their valuable insights and skills.
One of the biggest advantages of hiring a consultant is that they can help you get things done in less time. Consulting firms are often made up of experts who have years of experience and know what they're doing when it comes to running a business. They'll be able to help you identify problems, solve them and move forward with your goals, even when your team cannot.
12. You Need An Outsider's Point of View
When it comes to business, it can be difficult to see the forest for the trees. The answer isn't always obvious and a decision might not necessarily be what you want it to be.
In this case, an impartial opinion from someone outside of your organization can help: they will look at things with fresh eyes and provide an unbiased perspective that can open up your mind to new possibilities.
A consultant can also help you make decisions that are in your best interest: if they don’t agree with a strategy or direction then they won’t hesitate to speak up about their concerns and give feedback on how they think things should go instead.
13. You've Stalled and “Put a pin in it”
You've been working on an idea for a while and it's not going anywhere. You need someone who can see the bigger picture, and help you see what's wrong with your idea and how to make it better.
You need someone who can help you dig out the ideas that are already in your head and make them better. You are the “visionary” of your company, let a consultant serve as the “integrator”.
Be honest with yourself
Sometimes, it's easy to forget what you started your business for in the first place. Your passion has been buried beneath the daily grind of running a business, and even though you know there are things that could help improve your business and make it grow faster, you're not sure how to implement them.
When this happens, it's important to take a step back and ask yourself some serious questions:
Are there any goals I've set for myself or my company that I haven't achieved yet?
If so, what is stopping me from achieving these goals? (Maybe they seem too big or out of reach.)
Why am I still doing this if my heart isn't in it anymore?
If you're no longer passionate about your business, then it's time to take a step back and consider what else could fill that void. If you're still in love with your company but feel like there are things missing from your life, then maybe it's time to think about how you are choosing to spend your time, and how a consultant can lighten your load adding value to your work-life balance.
Conclusion
If you're wondering if it's time to hire a business consultant, the answer is probably yes. Business consultants are an incredible resource for companies of all sizes, and they can help you navigate through some of the most challenging (and exciting!) times in your growth. If you feel like there's something missing from your business, or if you want advice on how best to reach your goals, these professionals are here for you!
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