What Does A Consultant Know About Your Business That You Don’t Already Know?




As a small business owner you are intimately familiar with all aspects of your business. So what can a consultant tell you that you don’t already know?  The simple answer is that you know your business for what it is; the consultant can tell you what your business can become. Understanding both the opportunities and constraints facing your business comes from education, experience and innovation.  The seasoned consultant will see possibilities to make your business more effective, larger and more profitable while managing risk.As different as your business seems, it has basic aspects found in all businesses.  In fact, many of the challenges faced by today’s small business owners are not unique at all. Listed below are common constraints to success that can be identified and rectified by the professional management consultant.

  1. Lack of goals and targets (and subsequent lack of accountability)
  2. You have failed to communicate your competitive advantage to your market
  3. Staffing and organization structure does not fit the needs of the business

                
Secondly, a list is shown below of common opportunities that are either overlooked or not addressed for any number of reasons.

  1. Government Contracts
  2. Proper Social  Marketing
  3. Use of Basic Management Tools (i.e. set goals and monitor actual performance against goals)

                         
Beyond these reasons to seek the help of a small business consultant is the need every small business has for Strategic Planning.  Few small businesses address Strategic Planning in a serious way, and they suffer as a result.  Strategic Planning requires that the small business owner step back from day-to-day operations and see the business as it relates to the industry, its competitors and its overall environment (i.e. government regulations).  It also requires the small business owner take stock of the business resources and liabilities.It takes someone trained in this exercise to orchestrate the planning session(s) that lead to drafting a winning Strategic Plan.  To be effective the Strategic Plan must address four dimensions of your business: 1) the financial prospective, 2) the customer prospective, 3) the internal prospective and 4) growth and learning.  The plan will detail how each of these areas of the business will work to make the Strategic Plan a reality. Furthermore, the effective Strategic Plan will result in providing the company a competitive advantage in the targeted market(s).  Competitive advantage can come in numerous forms: better quality, faster delivery, better price, better after sale support, wider selection etc.Today’s economy demands a higher level of business management to achieve success.  Competitors in most industries are fighting for a piece of a shrinking pie.  Your eaglesharp small business consultant can help your business survive and thrive during these challenging times.

cayleyv
About the author:
Managing partner in the business consulting firm EagleSharp where we help small businesses manage financing, refine sales and marketing, assist with web development and IT, and provide MBA level management help. EagleSharp provides C level executive management help from MBA level professionals.
My website is at: http://www.netpaths.net/


  

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