Welcome, Guest: Register On Nairaland / LOGIN! / Trending / Recent / NewStats: 3,199,708 members, 7,972,616 topics. Date: Friday, 11 October 2024 at 02:15 PM |
Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Investment / Signals Indicating The Need For A Consultant (177 Views)
Bakery Technology, I Am A Consultant / What Is The Difference Between An Estate Agent & A Consultant / Be A Consultant And Get Paid Monthly (2) (3) (4)
(1) (Reply)
Signals Indicating The Need For A Consultant by leketon: 2:26pm On May 06, 2021 |
SIGNALS INDICATING THE NEED FOR A CONSULTANT James E. Svatko, former senior editor of Small Business Reports, came up with the following situations that signal the need for outside expertise from a consultant: . Lack of a Written Business Plan . Unexplained Low Morale . Steady, Constant Increases in Costs . Regular Cash Shortages . Chronic Delays or Late Deliveries of Products . Loss of Market Position . Overworked Staff . Excessive Rework Without Achieving Objectives . Continual Supply Deficiencies . Lack of Information About the Competition or Market WHY DOES ANYONE NEED A CONSULTANT? You may ask yourself why a large company hires a consultant, at sometimes very high compensation,when it already has staffs of experts who, one would think, should be even more qualified than the consultant. In a television broadcast several years ago, a 60 Minutes interviewer asked this very question about consultants to the government.After all, if the government employees themselves are qualified, why does the government need to hire consultants? And why pay them more than the employees are being paid on an hourly or daily basis? Actually both the government and business organizations use consultants for a number of very good reasons. In fact, not only are consultants hired, they are hired again and again and held in considerable esteem. Because it is good business to find a need and then fill it, you have to understand the reasons for hiring consultants. Let’s look at each of them in turn. 1. The Need for Personnel. Sometimes even the largest companies lack personnel during specific periods or for specific tasks.They may need assistance during a temporary work overload, or they may require unique expertise that is not needed on an ongoing basis every day of the year. Temporary assistance might be needed, for example, when a company bids for a government contract. During this period, a great amount of work has to be put out over a short period of time; the hired staff may not be available to handle the load without stopping other important projects, so consultants are hired. Or a company might need unique expertise on short-term projects, as in direct marketing, an area I once frequently consulted in. Even today, with the amazing growth in direct marketing and database management, excluding the Internet, some businesses use direct marketing only occasionally. So it does not make sense to hire a full-time employee whose salary could easily exceed $75,000 or more per year, in addition to benefits. Therefore, a company is perfectly happy to hire a consultant at fees of from $50 to $300 an hour or more to accomplish a specific task.The need for personnel also provides the motivation for the search consultant who is paid by client companies for finding executives or professionals with specific skills and experience.The large fees these consult ants earn are an indication of the demand for their services. The large revenue in executive search, another unique area of consulting, also demonstrates the need for personnel and their importance to a firm.The top firms routinely spend over $100 million in this area, and a few may do three times this figure. 2. The Need for Fresh Ideas. Not infrequently a company has a problem, and management believes that its employees are too close to it to understand all the ramifications. It makes sense, then, to bring in someone from outside the firm, someone with competent problem solving skills but not necessarily a knowledge of the business. In fact,sometimes the individual’s very ignorance (assuming, of course, a talent for problem solving) helps to provide the answer. Peter Drucker has said that he brought to a problem not so much his knowledge about it, but his ignorance.2 Drucker had a tremendous ability to penetrate through a confusion of factors, recognize the main issue, and then recommend ways to solve the problem. His services were well worth the fees he charged. 3. Company Politics. At times the solution to a problem may actually be known. However, for various political reasons, those who understand the problem cannot present it. For example, a division of a major company once proposed that the company enter a new market with one of its products, which would have required an investment of millions of dollars.The potential in this new market was highly controversial within the company.Because the new product would come from the division that proposed entering the market, the division’s recommendations would be considered biased. However, by hiring an outside consultant to study the same issues, the division succeeded in accomplishing the same thing.The consultant was assumed to be more impartial and less likely to be influenced by company politics. 4. The Need for Improved Sales. No business can exist without sales. This is true no matter how knowledgeable its president and senior staff are, how skilled its financial people and accountants are, or how innovative its engineers are in developing or manufacturing new products. A company that needs to increase sales in a short time frame will sometimes look outside its own marketing or sales staff for help. 5. The Need for Capital. Every company needs money. The need for capital is extremely common in start-ups, but it is also very common in successful companies. In fact, the more successful a company, the more capital it needs. The need for capital is a continuing problem with many companies. An individual who has expertise in finding sources of capital will be in continuous demand. 6. Government Regulations. Government regulations, if not obeyed, can result in fines, imprisonment, or even the closing down of the business. No company is immune to government regulations, and all companies need to ensure that they fulfill these regulations in the most efficient and effective manner. At the same time, a company needs to minimize the negative impact on its business and, if possible, use the regulations to help in its operation. These regulations may affect a variety of areas: equal employment opportunity, age discrimination, consumer credit protection, safety standards, veterans’ rights, and numerous others. If you have knowledge in any of these regulatory areas or can become an expert in them, there is a real market for your consulting services. For example, as a university president, I approved large sums paid to a consultant who had worked in our state government and who understood the regulatory statutes governing our educational activities. 7. The Need for Maximum Efficiency. All organizations need to operate as efficiently as possible. An organization that operates at lower efficiency than it is capable of eventually has problems. More efficient competitors take away its market and drive it out of business. Inefficiency leads to high costs, making prices noncompetitive. Slippages, delays, and low productivity all result from inefficiency. If you know how to increase the efficiency of an organization, you have something important to sell as a consultant. 8. The Need to Diagnose Problems and Find Solutions. Businesses look for the MBA degree because graduates with these degrees are supposed to be very adept at diagnosing problems faced by business and developing appropriate solutions. Anyone who can do this is in demand.The more general problem solving you do and the better you become at it, the more your name will get around. Large consulting firms have capitalized on the need of businesses to have someone diagnose their problems and recommend solutions. For this reason, these firms have sought to hire MBAs from the top schools at extremely high starting salaries in order to build and maintain a reputation for problem solving. As noted earlier, some individual practitioners are nationally and sometimes internationally known for their problemsolving talents, and they are in great demand. 9. The Need to Train Employees. The operation of any business is becoming more and more complex, and today many employees are continually trained throughout their careers. Managers need different types of training for leadership, organizational, and planning skills; computer operators need additional training in the latest equipment, techniques, software, and programming. In fact, developments are occurring so rapidly that virtually every single functional area of business needs continual training. If you are an expert and can teach skills in any area that is in demand, you have a niche in a type of consulting that commands large fees from industry. 10. The Need for a Complete Turnaround. A friend of mine, who made a worldwide consulting reputation as a workout specialist, often was called in by a bank or a group of investors to take over a company in danger of bankruptcy. He came in as president and did whatever was necessary to turn the company around. Sometimes he was president of several companies simultaneously, and he spent a great deal of time in flight, continually going from one distressed company to another. Once the company was sound again, off he went to the next project. Since many companies sometimes find themselves in extreme conditions, there is a need for a troubleshooting consultant who can pull off a complete turnaround (as long as the bank principals or investors are willing to put up a fight).Turnaround specialists command heavy-duty fees of as much as $2,000 per day or more.3 William Brandt became a turnaround consultant while working on a doctorate in sociology. A friend asked him to help a failing coal mine. Once involved as a consultant, he never stopped. Brandt, only 39 years old, built Development Specialists, Inc., into a $4 million practice.4 11. Computers and Data Processing. Data processing specialists have been with us for a long time, but the technological advancement in this field has opened up opportunities at many levels for those who know their stuff.These consultants are earning big fees, too. For example, when my computer had problems, a business friend recommended a computer consultant. She turned out to be a young lady in her early twenties who had never entered college. She billed at $100 an hour and was worth every penny when every hour without my computer was costing me money. That was several years ago. Today’s computer consultants make more, and many are not college graduatesActually, the types of consulting are probably unlimited.While flying across the country some years ago, I picked up a copy of American Way. One article asked, “Are you losing ground at work? A personal coach can help you devise a game plan to regain your competitive edge.” The article went on to describe personal coaching, also called executive coaching, which at the time was an unusual type of one-onone business consulting that is frequently done over the phone or even over the Internet. The article stated that more than 10,000 coaches offered their services this way.5 This type of consulting really has skyrocketed. Probably 100,000 personal coaches exist today.
|
(1) (Reply)
Is This Website Legit? / Over 3 Months Broilers For Sales / Taking Advantage Of Longrich Business In This New Economy
(Go Up)
Sections: politics (1) business autos (1) jobs (1) career education (1) romance computers phones travel sports fashion health religion celebs tv-movies music-radio literature webmasters programming techmarket Links: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) Nairaland - Copyright © 2005 - 2024 Oluwaseun Osewa. All rights reserved. See How To Advertise. 31 |