If you’re starting up your own small business, you might be wondering if it’s worth the money to hire someone to give you advice on how to run your business. Small business consultants can provide invaluable help to start-up entrepreneurs, but they aren’t all created equal. The following are 10 things your small business consultant can do for you that will save you time and money so you can devote those resources towards building your business instead of trying to figure out how to operate it yourself.
1: Help you grow your business
Small business consultants can help you in several ways to grow your business. If you’re trying to decide what direction to take with your business, they can offer advice on how to get there. If you are stuck at a certain point, they can help get your business unstuck and move forward again. Or, if you are just starting and need help understanding some basic accounting principles or figuring out how to launch an e-commerce website—they can do that too! In other words, small business consultants are like super-doctors who treat all sorts of ailments without leaving your home or office. They’re also accessible 24/7 via telephone or email.
2: Bring you closer to a clear vision
As a small business consultant, my job is to figure out what’s working and what isn’t in your business model. Whether you’re just getting started or have been around for years, I’ll work with you to strategize your growth. One of my favourite questions I like to ask: If we were starting today, what would we do differently? My goal is to help you build a long-term company that thrives under changing conditions and adapts when things don’t go as planned. As a small business consultant, I’m here to help you figure out what works best (and how it can work better) in your business model so that you can create an effective plan for sustained growth.
3: Figure out what works (and what doesn’t) in your current business model
If you’re a small business owner, it can be hard to keep up with everything on your plate. It’s not that you don’t have enough hours in a day—it’s that you don’t know where all those hours are going. With help from a small business consultant, though, you can better understand how your time is being spent, which allows you to make strategic decisions about how to get more out of every hour. Think of it as having someone hold an MRI on your current processes and procedures and identifying where there is room for improvement. And remember: If you can improve one or two things in your workflow today, that could lead to big gains down the road.
4: Get rid of unnecessary processes
Unnecessary processes are often one of two things: 1) a holdover from when things were done differently or 2) an attempt to make a process more efficient without thinking about whether or not it adds value. As you review your processes, consider cutting down on all of these types of useless tasks. For example, if you find that a new employee has to fill out three forms before getting started, remove one of them.
5: Keep you accountable
It’s common for entrepreneurs to start a business because they have a great idea and think it’s going to make them rich. However, launching an idea is easy—it’s executing that idea that is difficult. It’s often easier to stick with something if someone else believes in you, but getting others to believe takes time. A consultant can ensure your success by keeping you accountable. When you know there are monthly or quarterly milestones and payments riding on your progress, it becomes easier to push through obstacles and achieves those goals.
6: Help you manage your time better
Between managing staff, managing customers, and managing finances, your plate is usually pretty full. A professional consultant can take some of that off your plate by helping you figure out how to manage all these responsibilities with more efficiency and less stress. Sometimes, all it takes is a little organization and prioritization. If you’re feeling particularly stressed or anxious about your workload, consulting services can help give you a new perspective on work by giving you tips on how to cut through red tape and find more time for what matters to you.
7: Free up time for higher-value tasks
If you’re running a small business and feeling overwhelmed, time is probably one of your most precious commodities. One way to free up more of it is by hiring a consultant who can take over some of your responsibilities—if you choose carefully, they can even do them better than you could. A consultant can help with everything from day-to-day tasks like answering emails to strategic planning like fine-tuning your marketing or sales strategies. Depending on what you need help with and how much time you have, they can focus on different parts of your operation and make sure things run smoothly when you aren’t there.
8: Save you money by eliminating wasted resources and improving efficiency
There are a lot of ways that you can waste money in business: wasted time, wasted effort, and wasted resources all add up. But by getting an outside perspective (from a business consultant), you can have someone on your team who is trained to help identify these issues and find practical solutions. This will not only save you money but also cut down on inefficiencies which means that there’s more time to focus on other tasks. And every hour spent focusing on tasks that are outside of core operations is an hour better spent, right?
9: Provide fresh ideas and inspiration
Sometimes when you’re stuck in a rut, it’s not just business that’s to blame. If your work is suffering, it could be a personal issue that’s negatively affecting your output. Consulting firms can help you find a new perspective by putting someone else on your team who doesn’t know the ins and outs of how you do things. That can prompt fresh ideas and inspiration from someone who isn’t as bogged down by working in-house day after day. Consultants also play a key role in brainstorming sessions to keep your products and services fresh.
10: Take on more than one task at once, saving you time and increasing your productivity
Depending on your specific business goals, consulting can also provide you with a team of professionals who are knowledgeable about different aspects of running a business. An accountant, marketing manager, and web developer could all work together to help your company reach its goals, allowing each professional to focus on an area they’re best at—saving you time and energy. Because consultants operate independently from one another, you can even hire more than one consultant at once if your needs are beyond what one person can offer. Talk to multiple experts before deciding who to hire—and which services you need them to provide—so that their contributions mesh well with your responsibilities.
