What Value Do Business Consultants Bring to an Enterprise?

 



Your value for a business consultant is largely influenced by your business location or your personal exposure as an entrepreneur. 

Running an enterprise in certain parts of the world will lead you to realise the role of a business consultant. You'd get to know precisely why business consultants are invaluable. More importantly, you will uncover the link between having a consultant and leading a successful business. 

If your business location and exposure does not suffice, you can trust that this article will bring you to terms with the value of a business consultant to your enterprise. 

Who Is A Business Consultant?

A business consultant, or advisor, is an entity employed to give corporate guidance. They may be required for one or more specific areas of the business. For example, a consultant may be hired solely to advice on management or on both management and legalities.

Two Types of Business Consultants

Business consultants come in two forms. This talks about the type of entity behind the consulting business. 

Independent Consultants

An independent consultant is a self-employed individual who works in the consulting business. This type of consultant usually charges less than the second type (consulting firms). They may be resourceful, but their level of expertise and pace of delivery is limited.  

Consulting Firms 

A consulting firm consists of a group of consultants who all work as under the same brand. This type of business consultant charge higher fees for their services - often intended to cover the cost of maintaining its employees. 

On the bright side, consulting firms boast of access to expertise through the combined knowledge and experience of their employees. 


Did you know? North America and Europe have the largest growing market share for consulting services. 

The Value of Business Consultants to an Enterprise

Emotional Distancing



You've probably heard the saying, "The spectator sees more of the game." Well, this is true. The concept implies that individuals who are not directly involved in a situation may have a clearer perspective than those who are participating. 

Business consultants fit this position perfectly. 

Consultants are emotionally distant from the business or company they work for. This gives them a clear eye towards the business challenges and solutions. Also, the fact that they are not involved in an organisation's politics gives them the power to present unbiased solutions. 

Having a spectator's eye makes consultants really useful to a business - they can easily spot oversights in business practices and prescribe solutions without fear or favour. 

The importance of their role is that both top management and regular employees can be called out if they are deemed to be the reason for a business challenge. 

New Knowledge and Expertise


Just like counsellors, business consultants have access to a lot of cases. Their experience (from years of consulting) and critical thinking skills help them develop new knowledge. This new knowledge drives their oars, especially when navigating unique situations. 

The knowledge and expertise of consultants culminate to form their technical value. Three ways such value is expressed are through: 

Externally acquired knowledge
A consultant's technical value is hidden in the amount of knowledge they develop from their interactions with cases and businesses (before yours) over time. 

Accurate diagnosis of business problems 
Another thing that makes a consultant's technical value is their accurate diagnosis of a business problem. Just as a doctor will see certain symptoms and correctly tell what the problem is, business consultants should be able to diagnose a business problem in an early interaction with the company.  

This is certainly not a hard requirement - since doctors still have to perform confirmatory tests despite making a diagnosis. 

However, it is a clear sign of value and deep resourcefulness for a consultant to be able to accurately tell a problem. 

Effective and actionable resolution or plan
Problems require solutions. Therefore, once a business problem has been properly identified, the consultant needs to come up with a fix. The proposed solution must be both effective and actionable.

A plan that is effective but cannot be implemented is basically useless. So also is a plan that can be implemented but is clearly ineffective. 

Ultimately, businesses have the right to ignore input from a consultant. They may only assume it to be an advise and do not have to engage with the plan or strategy except they are confident that it works. A good deal of personal business research must be made in addition to consultancy. 

Milestone or Goal Achievement 



Consultants are excellent at understanding business milestones and end goals. They are keen listeners and great observers. This makes them reliable in understanding business pain points and perspectives. 

A consultant's ability to understand problem descriptions, their encounter with similar problems, their familiarity with helpful resources and tools, and their resourcefulness at procuring brilliant solutions all leads to the achievement of client milestones and long-term goals. 

Damage Control


Many businesses only hire consultants when they are halfway into a crisis. This practice is risky but unfortunately, it is common to see. 

Consultants introduced into such situations are tasked with resolving the business problem - whatever it may be. Like a genie or circus magician, they're expected to wave some stick around and restore normalcy. 

There are chances that a business situation is impossible to salvage. However, this is not always the case. 

Consultants sometimes deliver on their impossible task - salvaging the business and helping it regain its confidence and previous status. When the business issue cannot be resolved, the consultant still does some critical work. This is by performing damage control to ensure the situation does not escalate further. 

Agile Sourcing 



Agile sourcing refers to a nonorthodox procurement practice. It combines rapidly changing market situations and immediate business needs to make fast and efficient procurement. 

The agile sourcing process involves finding reputable suppliers, creating and managing contracts, and entering favourable negotiations and bids. These critical activities can be performed by a consultant. In many cases, however, the consultant only plays the role of a guide, leading a business team to make the best decisions during procurement. 

In addition, consultants may help with the internal aspects of agile sourcing. This includes conducting spend analysis, internal business management, etc. 

Important Business Consulting Statistics 

Keeping an eye out for updated industry statistics is important. As far as we can tell, anyone in the consulting business might really want to make use of this. Being so, we'll jump right onto the point. 

  • The U.S. has the single largest share size for the consulting services market. 
  • The U.S. is home to some of the most reputable and successful consulting service business. Tagged the Big Four, these businesses are; Deloitte, Ernst & Young (EY), PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), and KPMG. 
  • The industry is determined as being "yet to peak" as the numbers keep rising in its favour. 

Bonus: Different Business Consulting Service Lines



Finance Consulting

Finance consulting seeks to increase a business's shareholder value, capital efficiency, and bottom line. This consulting looks into a broad range of topics, including taxes, risk assessment, income management, etc.  

Legal Consulting

Legal consulting determines what is best for a business regarding legal matters. It seeks to deliver proactive and reactive legal guidance and operations. Legal consultants help businesses make risk assessments, comply with legal directives, and understand lawsuits or other terms.  

Operations Consulting

Operations consulting looks into the intricacies of business operations, including the strategies, objectives, and costs. The consultant counsels its client on effective and efficient operations that feature lowered costs but deliver on objectives. 

IT Consulting

Information Technology, a critical part of today's businesses, is also a huge focal point for consulting. Businesses may acquire an IT consultant to get direction on the best technologies available for their type of business, how to implement them correctly, and what it means to manage them. 

Management or Leadership Consulting 

Management or leadership consulting takes into account the leadership/management roles and practices within a business - and its impact. 

This form of consulting will criticise the role of leaders and managers, their skills, approach, and resulting decisions. Generally, it seeks to drive impactful decisions, build a positive culture, and foster company growth and success. 


Did You Know? Business Consultants closely follow management and technology trends regardless of the area of consulting (legal, IT, etc.) or the business industry.  

Conclusion

Still contemplating the value of a business consultant to your enterprise? Sure you're not. 

 

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