Dealing With Clients: Vendors vs. Consultants

Always being compliant with everything that a prospect or a client says is not the best practice to build a sustainable business.  This is one of the most important lessons I've learned over a decade of running a business and separately running a consultancy—advising small and medium enterprises. Regardless of the fact that clients often want to hear what they're asking for, they're not necessarily in the right position to give the best piece of advice. I had a sales meeting a couple of weeks ago with a former client we used to work with back in the day. He… Continue Reading

How Much Does a Business Consultant Cost: Consulting Fees and Pricing Structure

Consulting fees and pricing can be structured in several ways. But like in most businesses offering services, the number one challenge is pricing their offers.  Pricing products is easier than pricing services because, with products, you can easily trace the production costs. However, with services, determining the value of what constitutes your services — time, staff, expertise  — is highly subjective.  This is why different consultants employ different techniques to ensure they price their services appropriately. In the process, consultants consider every factor necessary to ensure they do not overcharge or undercharge. Otherwise, the risk of losing clients over pricing… Continue Reading

12 Types of Small Business Advisors

Management consulting is a $329.9 billion industry and growing businesses employ a diverse number of business advisors for their business ventures. Running a business solo (or even with a co-founder) is not an easy feat. Executives and senior managers cannot realistically excel in every aspect of scaling a business. Small business advisors work with multiple clients at a time by supporting the business goals, providing industry insights, and tapping into their own expertise in running (or coaching) other companies over the years. If you're looking to solve some of the most common business challenges, I've prepared a list with the… Continue Reading

Top 10 Business Advisor Skills Your Company Can Benefit From

Gaining experience is not a solo adventure, and learning from the best is a shortcut that many people underuse. For business owners and executives who are wise enough to seek help, work with and learn from a reliable business consultant. Those who are much wiser take hints from how consultants work and what business advisor skills make them highly valuable to a company so they can benefit from adopting such skills. Key Reasons to Hire Advisors Employing external help can be a valuable experience for any organization. Advisors and consultants work with a portfolio of clients, manage multiple companies, and/or… Continue Reading

The Ultimate Guide to Hiring a Consultant for Business Growth

Consultants “can” be instrumental to a business. But since consultancy is broadly irregulated, everyone can update their LinkedIn headline and start a consulting career out of nowhere. There are lots of people who try to offer consulting without really knowing what they consult on. Navigating through the consulting landscape is extremely challenging without a reliable reference or enough budget for a top industry peer and hiring a random person on the Internet to help your business is just as reliable as hiring a freelancer or finding a plumber through Yellow Pages. The Importance of Business Consulting Business consulting is so… Continue Reading

11 Questions to Ask a Business Consultant

There are several reasons why large corporations, small businesses, or even a solopreneur would hire a business consultant.  Hiring a business consultant can be very expensive, but highly rewarding. Consultants provide invaluable services that include the following:  Providing expert advisory, mentoring and assistance in a specific market Assessing risks and identifying problems Providing leadership or support to existing staff Planning on new initiatives Providing objectivity in decision-making Training employees Refining the organizational model Developing a feasible business plan Networking with potential clients and influencers It’s easy to find a business consultant. There are more than 600,000 management consultants in the… Continue Reading