“A consultant is someone who provides value through specialized expertise, content, behavior, skill or other resources to assist a client in improving the status-quo in return for mutually agreed-upon compensation. A consultant improves the client’s condition.”

Alan Weiss, PhD

A compilation of the reasons why businesses should hire the right consultant:

• The economy has so assaulted your firm that you are too busy working at your business to be the only one working on it.
• With the right consultant the value that comes from the sustained improvements is likely to be far greater than the cost of going it alone or sustaining status quo.
• The economy is finally turning around or opportunities for growth abound.  Either way you want to be ready without adding to fixed overhead.
• You need help with crafting the right solutions to specific opportunities for improvement and help with the implementation.
• You are daring enough to ask someone to assess your executive performance.
• Help with growth and development for your existing employees makes a lot of sense.
• You want a view of how your firm appears from the ‘outside’.
• You need someone to work with you to coach or guide implementation of “new” business ideas.
• You want access to expertise that does not presently exist in your firm; expertise that may be needed for a fixed period of time or ongoing.
• You simply can’t do everything in house and not doing so is far more frustrating and costly.  You have had enough of ‘chronic satisficing’ and are ready to Anchor Excellence in the Foundation of Your Firm.

You are not alone in considering outside talent; experts suggest 60% of all businesses use independent contractors. And the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that … the management, scientific, and technical consulting services industry is expected to grow by 83 percent between 2008 and 2018.

Are you thinking a solutions focused business consultant might be right for you?  No commitments just give our office a call and ask to speak with Ron directly. The call is free.  He can always find 15 minutes to listen. Get a sense of what R B Lewis & Associates can do for you.

Want more help?

How to Hire a Business Operations Consultant

By an eHow Contributor

Instructions

Hire a Business Operations Consultant

Analyze your company’s current situation. Step back from your day to day situation and look at the overall plan for your company. A fresh look at the business as a whole can eliminate the need for a business consultant or it can indicate that the need is more pressing than originally thought.

Define your goals. Business operations consultants come from many different disciplines. Decide if you need legal advice, accounting help, direction for your operations processes or a combination approach.

Enlist the cooperation of others within the business. Consulting rarely works if it is pushed upon management and the work force without notice or, in some situations, their input.Research consulting professionals. Advertising one’s self as a consultant doesn’t require any credentials. If you are seeking help to have your company certified in some way, make sure the person you are using is accredited by the certification process.

Outline the scope of the project. Ask consulting candidates if they just formulate the plan or if they assist in implementing it as well.

Establish a time line for the consulting project. All parties should agree on what constitutes progress. Set benchmarks for getting results.

Recognize the monetary value of consulting. Consultants generally have an initial free meeting to discuss a relationship. There will be charges for subsequent planning sessions and work. Do not expect to get the benefit of consultant’s knowledge and ideas without paying for them.

Write a contract. Do not sign a generalized document merely agreeing to hire the consultant. The contract should include the previously agreed upon scope of the work and a payment schedule. Where appropriate, include confidentiality and non-compete clauses in the contract.

Commit to the project. It is not enough to hire a business consultant and expect that operations will improve. You must give a consultant the tools needed to do the job. These include full access to your operations, your support in front of your employees and your willingness to work with the consultant’s suggestions.

R B Lewis & Associates
Anchoring Excellence the Foundation of Your Business

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