How to find a business advisor or consultant

As entrepreneurs we must accept that we do not know everything, and that sometimes we need to turn to other people for advice or help to grow our business advisor or solve a problem for which we cannot find a solution.

In these cases, we can choose to turn to friends or acquaintances who have the necessary knowledge and experience, and who are willing to help us; But when we do not know anyone who meets these requirements, it is necessary to resort to the services of a business advisor or consultant.

Let’s see below what are the necessary steps to get a business advisor or consultant:

1. Determine the need for advice or consulting

The first step is to determine the need for advice or consulting, that is, to determine the reason why we will need the services of a business advisor or consultant.

Some of the cases where we might need an advisor or consultant could be: when we need someone to advise us, guide, advise or help us start a new business, enter a new market, improve the efficiency of our processes, increase sales of our business, etc.

2. Find advisors or consultants

Once we have determined the need for advice or consultancy, we go on to look for business advisors or consultants.

Some of the sources that we could go to to find an advisor or consultant are: other businessmen who can recommend one to us, organizations dedicated to supporting companies such as chambers of commerce, newspapers, magazines and business publications, Internet (search engines , classified ad sites, directories and forums), the yellow pages, etc.

3. Select an advisor or consultant

Once we have looked for business advisors or consultants, we go on to evaluate them and then select the advisor or consultant with whom we are going to work.

Some of the factors or criteria that we could take into account when evaluating and selecting an advisor or consultant are:

• Your specialty : the area in which you specialize.
• Their academic training : their studies, their degrees, their diplomas.
• Your experience : your experience in consultancies or consultancies similar to the ones we need.
• Your customers : the companies to which you have provided or provide your services.
• Your references : the opinion that your clients have about your services.
• Your reputation or image : the recognition you have from professional or business associations or circles.
• Their competence or capacity : the degree of understanding they have of the problem, the level of knowledge they have of the subject, their work team.
• Your degree of commitment : the degree of interest you have in understanding the problem and helping us.
• His honesty : the trust that inspires us.
• The cost of their services : their fees.

To obtain information on some of these factors, we may request a pre-hire interview. The greater the degree of difficulty of the problem, the more time we must take in this evaluation and selection process.

4. Hire an advisor or consultant

Once we have selected the advisor or business consultant with whom we are going to work, we proceed with their hiring.

Some of the elements that should be included in the contract are: the parties involved, the type of advice, the cost of the service, the time that the service will last, the work schedule, the work areas, and the resources that will be used.

5. Collaborate with the advisor or consultant

Once we have hired the business advisor or consultant, we proceed to collaborate with him so that he can do his job in the best way.

Some of the things that we could do to collaborate with him and thus facilitate his work are: help him to clearly define the problem, provide him with the information he needs, do what he asks us, and talk to our workers so that they also collaborate.

6. Put into practice the advice given by the advisor or consultant

Finally, once we have collaborated with the business advisor or consultant, we proceed to put into practice the advice they have given us.

The advisor or consultant could tell us what actions we should take, what measures we should take, what strategies we should apply; but in the case of the consultant, in addition to advising us, the usual thing is that they also directly help us to put their advice into practice.

 

 

 

 

Posted by: Abdul Rimaaz