| Consultants
and Small Businesses: Choosing a Consultant
By
Evan Wise, Managing Director of Management One
The
fear of making a mistake in choosing a consultant keeps
many businesses from making the choice at all. That,
in itself, is normally a big mistake. Just like a teenager
doesn't quit dating because the first date was not a
success, the search for the right consultant should
not end with the wrong choice! There are some guidelines
that you can use to choose the right person for you.
The
first consideration is values. Your business values
are the guidelines that you use to make decisions in
business. If a consultant does not share your values
you will probably end up not using his advice and guidance.
To assess this, take the time to speak with and get
to know the consultant. The topics may include family,
friends, hobbies and especially work ethic. This is
an important reason that Management One affiliates take
the time to meet with each potential client. They understand
that choosing a consultant is important to a business
and the process works best when the consultant and the
client can communicate and respect one another.
The
next consideration is process. As a small business owner
you have probably survived shooting from the hip on
decisions long enough. The last thing you need is a
sidekick that is shooting from the hip too. A good consultant
has a process and methodology he has used successfully
for many years. We use Ultimate Retail™, Winning@Retail™
or Winning@Business™ to bring success to businesses.
These processes have been proven over the last 14 years.
You don't want to be the test monkey for a consultant's
new process.
When
you hire a consultant you are hiring experience. Generally
a good consultant has a network with which he communicates
often. The larger and more available the network, the
more varied and valuable the advice he will bring to
the table. Management One® affiliates have a network
of 40 professionals within the team to gather input,
ideas and recommendations.
Set
a timeframe for working with the consultant to give
you a chance to evaluate the relationship. Generally
a review at 4 and 8 months and an opportunity to end
the relationship at 12 months is a prudent approach
to providing a fair evaluation of a consulting relationship.
Keep in mind that it will take 3 months for a consultant
to get a good feel for your business. You don't want
someone that feels they know all the answers and starts
shooting out ideas on day one. That may be impressive
however the solutions are generally based on a different
business and not yours. Some patience is required for
a positive experience. Once the consultant has a feel
for you, your operation, your customers and your business,
he can begin to lead you and your team toward solving
problems and seizing opportunities. It will take 3 months
or more to start seeing the effects of the changes.
A year is probably the best timeframe to get a proper
analysis.
The
corrolary to setting the timeframe is to set goals for
the consulting relationship. That requires a measurement
process to benchmark progress against those goals. You
should be able to point to the cost benefit analysis
of the consulting arrangement at the end of the year.
This process must be established and agreed upon BEFORE
the engagement starts. There are no guarantees in business
or in consulting however measurement of success is important.
Finally, find a mentor and a teacher. A consultant that
comes in and tells you, "Do this, move that, publish
this," may help business today, but he has merely
become the boss and not a consultant. A good consultant
will mentor you and teach your organization how to be
more effective. After the first year the consultant's
role may change. He should have taught you and your
staff to operate more effectively. He now can begin
challenging the thinking, actions and goals you are
setting. Just as business changes constantly, the role
of a consultant changes too.
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