Ready for a flight?


We live in interesting times, especially for small businesses. Consider that, in just less than 10 years, businesses have had to adapt to entirely new marketing channels through Internet as social networks, decide how to invest in and utilize new technologies, and compete on a local and now on a global stage — things that were barely imaginable to just a half generation ago. The small business yesterday is the new big online business today.
Obviously the rapid changes and growth is that no single
small business owner, manager or any employee, for that matter — can be an expert in everything.
Qualified consultants are potentially able to address some of the biggest challenges small businesses face today. Bringing a consultant on-board helps managers add the expertise and skills they need to address specific issues at particular times, and can provide the best possible outcomes.
Where consultants can help:

How to predict the sector/market trends?

You need a subject matter expert in your sector and someone experienced in developing Business Strategy. Again go back to data-information-knowledge-wisdom model to be able to predict customer trends, market trends, globalisation or localisation. All of that is crucial to a changing economic climate, but not every small business manager has Oracle’s predictive powers. Bringing in a consultant trained in reading and predicting those all-important trends could be the difference between a success and a failure.

Manage your finances wisely

Expectedly managers have to be great at the big picture and disruptive thinking. However small business managers are usually business owners and they have significant expertise in their technical domain. Unless the domain is not within the finance/accountancy, they are less good with things like cash flow, profit margins, reducing costs, financing, etc. Small and medium businesses may not require a full-time CFO, but would do better to employ a part-time financial consultant who can step into the role as needed.

Monitor – Control – Manage your business

The world around us is full of events. We do not pay attention to almost all of them. We take care only to meaningful ones. In order to measure performance we have to define what we have to measure, how to measure it, what instruments and tools we have to have. Using a meaningful set of rounded performance indicators that provide the business with insights about how well it is performing is key. Most people know barely how to develop KPIs, how to avoid the key pitfalls and how to best communicate metrics so that they inform decision-making. In most cases small businesses rely on overly simple or even assumption of indicators that just clog up the reporting channels.

Information Technologies

As technologies change practically at the speed of light, it’s vital for companies to innovate or be left behind — but many managers started their careers and businesses before many of these technologies even existed! IT consultants can be vital for converting Business Strategy to a IT Strategy, (re)design of IT Services road-map, unlock competitive advantages by integrating new technologies, in particular mobile, app development, and cloud computing.

Big data

Your grandma’s generation certainly didn’t have to deal with petabytes of data or worry about what to do with it. 90% of the world’s data was created in the past two years and managing, keeping safe and extracting insights from the ever-increasing amounts of data your business produces needs to be in the hands of a qualified professional who can help you get the most return from that data. You have to be able not just to collect, but to apply data mining, business intelligence, performance management, predictive analysis and risk management. This will increase the revenue/profit from existing customers by up-selling and cross-selling, plus will uncover new market places and opportunities.

Talent factor

Again, a small or medium-sized business might not need full-time human resources or recruiting staff, but during peak growth periods, finding the right people and developing the right skills and competencies is the key to a sustainable future. Look much more for a passion and starve to learn rather than experience, skills and knowledge. Everything is possible with ambition and passion. Bringing in a consultant with the expertise to find exactly the workers you need would be a wise investment.

Regulation and compliance

As markets and technologies shift, so do rules and regulations. Depending on your sector, it can make much more sense to bring in a consultant to help with these areas rather than trying to understand the complexities yourself — and risk fines or worse for non-compliance.

Why customer is a king?

In a world of instant gratification, customers expect instant customer service — and can take to the web to share their displeasure at less than satisfactory service just as quickly. You have to be quick in responses and here consultants and technologies can help

Maintaining reputation

Once built your business credibility is like a live creature. You have to take care not just to show testimonials and certificates from third party organisations, but to allow positive word of mouth to flow amongst you prospective customers. Experienced reputation consultant can help you to manage this for you.

Ride the wave of changes

Early adopter or late to the game? What is the right time to embrace change and when to stay the course? Rarely everything new is better, yet eschewing every change runs the risk of becoming obsolete and I have bad experience with that. Definitely this should not be stopper. A professional outside opinion can facilitate the informed decision and will make all the difference.
I have started the post with our life in interesting times. They are quick and stormy due to a constant change for the foreseeable future: change is the new normal. Preparing for the changes and extracting the real value can be achieved by investing in the right kind of advice is the best way to meet these challenges head on.
Do you have your very trusted advisor?