What Does a Good Business Consultant Do?

All About Business Consultants and Business Consulting

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Are you thinking about hiring a Business Consultant and wondering why you need one? Or wondering what a Business Consultant does? Or looking for someone to write a good Business Plan for your company or venture? We will answer these questions and more about business consulting.

A good Business Consultant has experience working in and working with a broad range of businesses. It is the accumulated business history of a Business Consultant which makes the consultant valuable. A good Business Consultant is experienced in a lot of different types of businesses and industries, while also having very specific experience in running companies, in the financing of a company and most importantly in the marketing and sales of a company. Experienced Consultants have experience with companies in all stages of Growth: Existence, Survival, Success, Take-off and Maturity. In other words, a good Business Consultant has broad and narrow stroke experience and typically, 20 years or more of accumulated business experience. Having an MBA from a good business school isn’t enough. The Business Consultant must have solid real world experience with many types of companies in order to be an effective consultant.

So what does a Business Consultant do? First and foremost, a Business Consultant gets to know and understand your business. As the business owner, you know more about your business than anyone else. For this reason, a good business consultant will take the time to learn from you, your department heads and key employees what the ins and outs of your business entails. It is only until complete understanding of your business, that a Business Consultant can begin to help you.

After a Business Consultant has learned the details of your business, the consultant goes to work identifying problems and opportunities. Those may be certain problems and opportunities you point out to the consultant, but also a good Business Consultant will have a process to identify problems and opportunities which a business owner has not identified. A Business Consultant brings fresh eyes, fresh experience and an open mind to your business enterprise, providing a completely different perspective than that of someone who has been running the company for some time or someone looking to start a new venture.

After identifying the problems and opportunities of the business a Business Consultant will then analyze this gathered information in order to provide solid solutions and plans for the future. The consultant takes a micro view at the business and provides solutions for the macro outlook, strategizing for the future success of your business. Often times, business ownership is so focused on working “in” the business that short term and long term outlooks and strategies are overlooked and neglected. The Business Consultant re-focuses a company’s strategies in order to solve immediate problems, while taking advantage of future opportunities. In short, a Business Consultant will minimize expenses and maximize profits through a proven process.

Steps taken in a good Business Consulting process:

1. Learn about the business

2. Identify problems

3. Identify future opportunities

4. Perform analysis

5. Provide solutions through a concrete plan

6. Listen to feedback and adjust plan

7. Implement and track the plan

Learning about the Business

· Tour the Company’s facilities

· Read all the company materials

· Meet with the Board of Directors, all executive heads, founders and owners, Department Heads and Key Employees.

· Understand the product or service

· History of the business

· Business track record

· How the business is run

· How decisions are made

· How problems and opportunities are handled

· Company process, trade marks

· Company’s competitive advantages

· Financial track record

· Banking and finance connections

· How the company is organized quality control

· Employee incentives, benefits, and wages

· Meeting the company’s advisors and consultants

Identifying problems

· Problems seen by ownership and management

· Problems/ issues identified by the business consultant

· Business consultant given unrestricted access to the company so that problems can be identified

· Identify revenue points and expense ratios for all products and services

· Understand tax implications

· Key: open, clear communications between the consultant and the company’s people. Trust is vital.

Identifying opportunities

· For every problem/issue, there is a hidden opportunity

· Opportunities seen by ownership, management, and key employees

· Opportunities discovered through the business consultant’s process

· Understanding margins, sales history, and sales growth

· Understanding and identifying new products and services

Analysis

· Business consultant analyzes the identified problems and opportunities while keeping in mind, a clear understanding of the business

· Business consultant decides which problems and opportunities are important and which are not

· Identify potential future problems

· Identify symptoms of problems provide certain conclusions and facts based on the analysis

· Provide certain conclusions and facts based on the analysis

Solutions

· Business consultant provides a plan which provides solutions and identifies opportunities

· Business consultant illustrates how certain expenses can be reduced and how certain profit areas can be maximized

Feedback/ Adjust Plan

· Business Consultant receives feedback from the business and its advisers on the proposed Business Plan

· Business Consultant oversees implementation of the business plan

· Business Consultant tracks progress of the plan

· Plan is readjusted as necessary moving forward

· Business Consultant ensures plan is integral to the Company and intertwined into the fabric of the company.

The Consultant utilizes many different outlooks to develop a Business Plan that will be effective for the Company. The Consultant gets the opinions of the Company’s Professionals (accountants, lawyers, bankers and other advisers). The consultant can utilize Delphi Sessions and Red Teams which contain industry experts and competitive viewpoints. And the Consultant relates carefully to the view points of the Company’s Ownership, Founders, Board, Top Management and Key Employees. A final Business Plan is agreed upon and signed off on by the Company.

A Business Consultant can help an old company re-new itself and find itself again. A business consultant can help founders start and develop new venture or project. A business consultant can turn-around a company fraught with problems. A Business Consultant can help a company identify new opportunities to exploit.

When an Entrepreneur is thinking about starting up a new business, A Business Consultant can apply a given Start-Up Process Analysis to determine if it is a feasible opportunity:

· Analyze and Evaluate the Opportunity:

-Opportunity timing window

-Profit potential for an adequate return?

-Can the opportunity be expanded? Diversification options?

-Obstacles

-Market needs

· Develop a Business Strategy & Model:

-Effective Barriers to Entry

-Identify and Define Customers

-Supplier Relationships and Buyer Conditions

· Resource Audit:

-Skills and Resources Existing

-Resource Gap Management Plan

-Internal Skills and Resources Needed

-Lacking Resources to be Out sourced

-Unique Aspects of Business Model

-Cost minimization Strategies for Resources

-Regulatory Compliance

-Critical Milestones which will minimize the Ventures overall Risk

-Contingency Resources

· Acquiring & Leveraging Needed Resources:

-Control Mechanisms

-Motivations of Resource Providers

*Incentives

*Will opportunity produce an adequate return?

· Venture Deployment

-Management Systems

-Attracting and Retaining good Employees

-Role of Entrepreneur

*Management Delegation

· Getting and Distributing Value

-Harvesting Options: Be Acquired, Merger, IPO, Secondary Offerings, Sell Company, Liquidate & Distribute

-After Tax Yield Considerations

-Factors triggering a Harvest

-Factors preventing Harvest

-Consideration of Company Participants: Creditors, Investors, Partners, Owners, Founders, Key Management & Employees, The Entrepreneur

When considering purchasing an existing business, a Business Consultant can employ an effective Business Analysis, such as:

· Products & Services Analysis

· Management Team Appraisal

· Operational Analysis

· Market Position

· Competitive Factors

· SWOT Analysis

· Financials Analysis

· Valuations

· Risk Assessment

A Business Consultant’s derived value pays for itself. What you pay in fees for a good Business Consultant will pale in comparison to the profitability the Consultant’s strategies will create. A Business Consultant is an investment in the future success of your company.

Should you retain a Business Consultant to write your Business Plan? You can hire Business Plan writers who think they know your business and write what they think your business plan should be. They do a cursory job and often the result is sub-par. A Business Consultant, with ample business experience in various types of companies, will get to know you and your business, while providing you questions to answer about your business through a Business Plan Process which achieves the objectives set out for it by the business owner. Moreover, a Business Consultant assists you in implementing the Business Plan, tracking its progress and adjusting the plan periodically as conditions change in the market place. Do you want to place the future of your business in a writer’s hands or an experienced consultant’s hands?

For a step-by-step guide on developing an Effective Marketing Plan and a Successful Business Plan, please consult the ABC Business Consulting Comprehensive Business Planning Workbook.

This article was written the ABC Business Consulting Business Success Consultant, Frank Goley, who has many years experience helping companies start, grow, turn-around and succeed. Please visit The ABC Business Consulting Website for more information on what a Business Consultant can do for your Company.

We wish you success with your venture!

Disclaimer: ABC Business Consulting, LLC is not offering or providing business investments or loans. This is for informational purposes only.