What type of consultant is best for a medium size business?

An industry specific consultant for a macro problem is not the answer.

Most Owners and Managers look for a consultant that has had years of experience in their industry.

I have found this to be the wrong decision for the following reasons:

• The apparent problem in a company is seldom the real problem.
• Industry specific business consultants tend to look at a business that they themselves have been part of for years, and zoom in on the apparent technical flaw.  They could miss the real issue entirely because of this.
• The real major problem seldom turns out to be a systems, technical, procedural or even an industry specific problem.

This real problem is often related to one of the following:

• An unforeseen environmental change that has affected the business.
• A particular philosophy or direction blindly pursued by someone.
• The inability to see beyond one’s technical skill set.
• A group think situation that has developed within the company.
• Poor financial management.

In most cases a company problem is predominantly people related.  Someone overlooked something or did not handle it effectively.

You often hear that a company’s strategy has failed.  It’s usually the implementation that is poor and not the strategy, once again a people and not necessarily a skill related problem.

An effective business consultant for a small or medium size company is someone that has been in business for a while, has good business savvy, and works for himself or a small firm.

The consultant you pick must have excellent listening, analytical and diagnostic skills combined with some business operational experience.

The ability to simplify complex concepts is a definite requirement too.

If your consultant “takes ownership” of your problem, you have hit the jackpot.  Nothing is more gratifying to a business owner than to be able to interact at a high level with an ally that has the interests of the business at heart.

It takes years to become a really good consultant.  Linking up with a credible advisor is probably one of the smartest thing you could do.