Consulting is an exchange of ideas. Every business does not hire consultants. Some do. Those who do, believe in the value of ideas, insights, knowledge and experience. They appreciate the fact that ideas can help them save time and money and that they may have to pay some fractional amount for ideas which can repay in rewards much more than the cost. Proper consulting can add some real value to a business.
There are three primary purposes for which a business may hire an external expert or a consultant:
1) To Fill the Competence Gap
External experts or consultants are hired to fill the competence gap. Every business requires different types of expertise and competencies. There are some competencies which are required full-time and resources with these competencies have to be hired on a full time basis. There are some other competencies or expertise, which are required selectively, for completing some specific part of the business or some specific project, which is not its mainstream activity. For this type of competence, services of external experts or consultants should be taken.
2) To Save Time
A consultant or a coach can help us avoid making mistakes in some area of the business, where our internal expertise is lacking. Of course, we can make our own mistakes and learn from them. But, usually it is time consuming and expensive than we may realize. With the help of a right consultant, we can learn and implement something faster. It is an investment in learning from an experienced person.
It may seem expensive at times, but if we can find the right expert and can derive value, such an external help can be much more rewarding.
3) To Get an Outsider View
Outside experts and consultants also provide a ‘third eye’, i.e. an outsider view of our business. Sometimes, from inside the business, we cannot see some obvious shortcomings which could be hurting our company. In some other cases, some fresh perspective is required. A consultant can provide such a fresher perspective.
Following are some such expert services for which external help is generally sought and utilized:
- Chartered accountants are required to help the business with its taxation, audit, compliance etc.
- HR consultants provide help for sourcing, recruiting and selection of employees, compliance with provident fund, labor laws and other government formalities. They may also help us in organization development.
- Legal consultants help us with various agreements documentation, litigation, IPR protection etc.
- Export/Import consultants help the company in those activities.
- Marketing and brand consultants can help us improve our marketing and branding activities.
- Business process consultants can help us streamline our operational processes and systems.
- Business strategy and management consultants are hired to focus the efforts of the company on the right target for achieving better results.
(Expert advice to GROW your business wherever you are, whenever you want.
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