How Strategic Business Consulting Leads to Growth
Many consulting types exist to help businesses tackle common issues they may be facing. A company may seek a management consultant for general help with organizing and optimizing overall performance. Or a business may employ a strategic consultant for assistance with a more specific issue. Strategic business growth consultants aim to help owners and managers with specific strategic actions to grow the business. Do you think strategic business consulting could help your business address issues impeding growth? Read on to learn more.
Strategic Business Consulting 101
What does a business strategy consultant do? Business owners and managers work with strategy consultants to overcome specific challenges that may interfere with the ability to grow or increase revenue. Or, businesses may employ strategy consultants to help reach another goal, such as launching a new digital platform or making preparations to sell.
In general, whatever the goal of the business, strategy consultants start by doing an in-depth analysis. Do the current strategies align with the objectives as defined by the business owner? Based on the analysis performed by the consultant, they will make recommendations for specific actions the business can take to reach its goals. Strategic consultants can also help implement new strategies to ensure successful outcomes.
Why Focus on Strategy Consulting?
The main reason to focus on strategy consulting is to obtain help with a specific issue or goal. Why would a business need help from a member outside of its organization? A company that hires an outside expert in strategy consulting has the benefit of an impartial, unbiased perspective on the issue it is facing. Additionally, because existing employees and team members are engaged with their own roles within the company, hiring an outside expert focused solely on solving a specific problem will make the process much more efficient and the chances of success much higher.
A strategy consultant brings a wealth of experience and new ideas that those within a business may not have considered. Strategy consultants are results-oriented and use honest business assessments to determine the best action steps toward solving a problem. Before hiring a strategic consultant, owners and upper-level management have likely already tried to solve whatever issue they are facing within the business with little to no success. At that point, hiring a strategic consultant can help prevent further damage, stabilize the company, and provide a foundation for future growth.
Finding the Right Business Strategy Consultant
When the time comes for a business to find a strategy consultant that is a good fit, there are a few things to consider. Start by setting some expectations. Based on the company's primary issue, think about what kind of expertise the strategy consultant should have. Consider a reasonable timeframe for the engagement and the depth of involvement that would best serve the needs of the business. Keep the values and mission of the company in mind as well, as the strategy consultant hired should align with those values.
Start searching for strategic business consulting services by reaching out to network connections. Other business owners and colleagues may have recommendations. Working with a consulting firm or an individual are both options to contemplate. Beyond networking, strategy consultants can be found by searching online marketplaces, freelance websites, or organic web searches.
After identifying some potential candidates, move on to vetting them. Do they align with the expectations set earlier in the search? How can their unique qualifications help the business successfully navigate its challenges? What is their track record? These are just a few questions to consider and ask of candidates. It may also be helpful to ask about their process, desired level of access to the business, and the collaboration they expect throughout the engagement.
Working with Your Strategic Business Consultant
Effective strategic business consultants have some qualities in common. They are attentive listeners, effective business diagnosticians, and influential implementors of strategy. When working with a strategic consultant, the process will generally follow a flow that starts with the consultant obtaining all relevant information about the business. Next, an in-depth analysis based on the discovered information will lead to an evaluation and suggested action steps. Finally, the responsibility of implementation is largely placed on the shoulders of the business leaders, with assistance and encouragement from the consultant.
The relationship between members of an organization and a strategic consultant may change depending on the engagement stage. Ideally, there is a collaborative effort between the consultant and the business leaders throughout, regardless of the phase. A business strategy consultant's objectives include diagnosing the cause of an issue and providing solutions for associated problems. Desired secondary goals include building a company-wide consensus surrounding the identified issues and solutions, facilitating client learning, and permanently improving the company's operations. Meeting these goals and objectives leads to improved satisfaction among all involved parties. Business owners and managers will gain the most benefit by actively engaging with their strategy consultant through all phases.
Discovery
The discovery phase can sometimes be difficult for business owners. There may be a fear that the consultant might find issues that point to fault on the owner. Fear in this area can lead to resistance to revealing information about the business that would be helpful for the strategy consultant to know. Owners and business leaders can mitigate this fear by communicating with their consultants and remaining open to redefining the issues for which they approached the consultant for help. The goal of the consultant is not to place blame. Consultants need the information to be most effective.
Business owners that share their fears and doubts, in addition to their goals and aspirations during the discovery phase, take advantage of their strategy consultant's listening skills. The consultant may be able to connect some hidden dots based on listening to the owner's anxieties that can aid in their evaluation of the business.
Evaluation
As a strategic consultant completes the discovery phase, they will move on to providing a thorough evaluation of the business. Because of the nature of strategic business consulting, the primary focus will remain on the issue as presented by business owners and leaders. However, when a business strategy consultant does not evaluate the business as a whole, at least to some extent, they cannot effectively address the root causes. Additionally, effective strategic consultants should consider the repercussions of implementing changes.
Strategy consultants look at all the moving parts of a business and how changes to one department will affect another as part of their evaluation. If the collaboration between consultant and client has been effective, there should be no real surprises in the evaluation that would lead to resistance upon implementation. A client that remains involved with a strategy consultant through the evaluation phase will have valuable insight into what recommendations are most likely to be accepted by the organization and thus implemented.
Implementation
Although the implementation phase is mainly the responsibility of the organization's leaders, the job of the strategy consultant is not complete upon providing recommended actions. Businesses have little use for reports and recommendations alone. When business owners work closely with a strategy consultant, they will find it easier to make changes they have had a hand in planning.
The role of the strategic business consultant shifts again at this phase. Their participation in implementing change does not diminish the owner's and manager's roles. Rather, they focus on the discussion of action taken, the progress made, and ensuring the involvement of team members. The strategy consultant keeps business leaders accountable for their actions and increases the chances of long-term success.
Strategic Business Consulting Services from Coachwell
At Coachwell, we care about creating customized solutions that cater to the needs of each individual client. With our strategic business consulting services, we will get to know you and the specific issues your business is facing. Then, we collaborate with you to identify the best solutions. But we will not stop there. We will help keep you accountable for the actions that will help your business grow while addressing your needs as an individual. That is part of what we call our holistic approach. Get started with Coachwell by scheduling a discovery call today!
