What Business Consultants Do And When You Need Them

At some point in their business, every entrepreneur meets someone who is doing better in the same field as they. It’s not sheer luck; they are just better informed and experienced. This article will help you understand why you need a business consultant to upscale your business.

Firstly, we will talk about who they are, the tools they use for your business, why you need a business consultant, the types of consultants, and when to hire one.

Who Is A Business Consultant?

A business consultant works closely with business owners and managers to improve their companies’ operations. They assist in identifying, addressing, overcoming obstacles, and meeting the company’s goals.

A business consultant is a skilled professional with a diverse set of abilities. Because of their education and prior experience, they are knowledgeable.

See also: How To Conduct A Feasibility Study For Your Business

What A Business Consultant Does And The Benefits

Let us be more specific in what a business consultant does for your business:

• They determine the impediments to the growth or efficiency of your business 
• Bring in innovative solutions to revitalise a company
• Assist with business planning and the establishment of new ventures
• Analyse a company’s budget, make recommendations, and assist in putting those recommendations into action.
• Find providers and partners to assist you in meeting your objectives
• Determine what changes are required and assist in their implementation
• They provide staff and management with any necessary training and resources

See also: Reasons Why Your Company Should Be Outsourcing

Types of Business Consultants

These are the consultants popularly sort after in the business world but are not limited to these numbers:

Financial Consultants

They provide a broader picture of a company’s financial health. Financial consultants help you manage your business assets and liabilities. In addition, they play roles in advising your business on taxes, investment plans, daily expenses and prospects.

See also: Marketing and sales plan.

Operations Consultants

They advise and assist in implementing decisions that affect an organisation’s ability to produce goods and services that add value to customers. 

These business consultants assess your current business model and determine the best way to achieve the same high-quality results at a fraction of the cost and time.

Strategy Consultants

They assist your organisation in developing business plans, delivering and capturing value for your customers. An example is Florence Chikezie, the founder of ReDahlia and Entrepreneurs.ng. She has mentored several entrepreneurs in this field. 

Her training style and tactics were evident when she took a class on Strategy during one of the Business Clinic sections. She helped develop business models and identified key activities that help find and keep customers.

Human Resource Consultants

These consultants can take over your day-to-day HR tasks, such as employee recruitment and retention, payroll processing, administrative tasks, and performance management. 

In layman’s terms, HR consultants assist businesses in understanding how to better deal with humans to produce better results.

Marketing Consultants

Marketing consultants assist businesses in developing and implementing marketing strategies. They assess current marketing efforts, analyse them, and suggest ways to improve them. 

They carve marketing messages and recommend how to deliver them to the target audience via online and offline channels. Marketing consultants assist businesses in identifying and expanding on their brand’s strengths to increase brand awareness and exposure.

Risk and Compliance Consultants

They concentrate on risk management, which assists your organisation in optimising relationships, internal auditing of your business, and ensuring that you comply with government regulations.

Tools Business Consultants Use

While being smart and generally informed is a good trait for a business owner, some tools make your work as an entrepreneur seamless and more accurate. 

Although the average businessman or woman may not use them, a business consultant is well-versed in some of these tools due to their studies and qualifications.

See also: Consulting Business Ideas You Can Start In Nigeria

1. CRM Software

Because the CRM comes with different features, a business consultant will help you choose the beneficial one for your business. 

CRM software allows you to provide a seamless experience to your customers while understanding customer interactions, tracking sales, organising and prioritising opportunities, and facilitating collaboration between various teams.

2. Project Management Tools

Because business consultants manage multiple clients simultaneously, they use project management tools to keep track of each client and prioritise each work without sacrificing quality.

3. Time-Tracking Tool

It will not only ensure they carry out their assignments in due time but will help them hold you accountable. Now, projects you run with them can be completed at the appointed time.

4. Cloud Automation Software

It makes the workflow of your organisation more efficient. A business consultant can easily manage sales, projects, time tracking, and more by integrating existing apps into a cloud platform.

5. Proposal Software

Because of the many proposals they’d have to send during their job, business consultants use business proposal software to maintain professional structures. With ready templates, proposal software also helps them save hours of work.

When To Hire A Business Consultant

Should one wait until his business is crumbling to hire a consultant? Of course not. But many entrepreneurs assume they do not need one as they can run their company by themselves. So let’s go through why you should hire a consultant.

Starting A New Company

While you are excited about your brilliant business idea, it will be unwise to go in without proper guidance. Startups can hire consultants to help them complete their planning and get off to a strong start.

A Need For Expert Skills

Your staff cannot have it all. There will be times when a particular skill is needed for either a project, a campaign or a full-time role to help accomplish a specific purpose in the organisation. Seeking a consultant for the job will be helpful.

See also: All You Need In A Perfect Company Profile

Compliance

When you realise that your company is not running strictly with government regulations, a business consultant who specialises in compliance issues can assist a company in avoiding violations.

Internal Auditing

When you can’t seem to understand your books and your company’s processes are slipping out of control, you need a business consultant to help audit your books and operations in your company.

Need For Growth

If your business is experiencing some setbacks and can’t pinpoint where the problem is arising from, you need a consultant to figure it out and proffer solutions.

Staff Issues

Human resource consultants can come in very handy here. They can fire or train staff and advise on who to hire and how to pay. They ensure you have the right kind of people working on your company’s growth.

Breach Of Contracts

A legal consultant will advise on what best to do to handle any breach of contract with your partners, employees and the like. They ensure your decisions do not harm the company. When certain contracts must be reviewed, the services of a legal consultant are required.

New Projects

Companies can hire a consultant for specific projects, and they can provide a cost-effective way to implement new tools.

‘Outside The Box’ Ideas

There is a fresh outlook and perspective that an outsider brings to a business. They see what you haven’t in five years when they are professionals. Hire a consultant when you need a fresh outlook on where your business is going.

Time Management

A business consultant can be an excellent resource for quickly staffing up to complete short-term projects and tasks. They make sure that your business runs its campaign and projects on time.

How To Choose The Right Business Consultant

Ask An Expert

Because your business needs a consultant doesn’t mean you stick to the first one with a business card. To choose a business consultant, you can ask an accredited business firm who will advise on the right consulting you need after hearing what problems you are facing in business. 

Entrepreneurs.ng runs a business development scheme called ‘Ask An Expert’. Here, you can go through our array of qualified consultants and pick one beneficial to your needs. If you do not know who to choose, we are only a call away. We will put you in the right direction.

Use Your Existing Network

Where do you often meet other business owners? Do you have a network of entrepreneurs? These are people you need to talk to because, among them, one or two have used the services of a business consultant.

Also, the sites you visit and the content you read. Credible sites like Entrepreneurs.ng offer helpful advice on where to find the consultant you need.

 Question Your Consultant

Imagine going to a hospital, and the doctor said you had leukaemia just by staring at you. You would scroll at him. How could he possibly know without running some test? How did he arrive at his diagnosis? 

The same way you’d question a doctor is the same way you should question your consultant. What tools will he be using for your business? What approach will he be taking? How did he arrive at his findings? These questions will help you ensure that you selected the right person for the job.

Examine Their Track Record

You are a renowned business consultant, that is all good. But where is the proof? Have there been other clients they have consulted for, or will your business be the guinea pig? One thing Entrepreneurs.ng take pleasure in is showing off our Alumni of the Business Clinic. 

We not only teach but offer mentorship for one month. With the permission of our happy and satisfied Alumni, we put up their testimonials for everyone to see that our processes are trustworthy and resulted-oriented.

Do You Need A Business Consultant?

Give us a call so we can sit and listen to what ails your business. Or maybe you want to move your business from the point of mediocrity to running a sustainable multi-national; we are your go-to consultants. 

Call or send a WhatsApp message to 08038874148. You can also reach us at business@entrepreneurs.ng. We look forward to assisting you in exceeding your company’s expectations.