What does a business consultant do? Good question! Business consulting services vary from person to person—and consulting agency to agency. Consulting is also tailored to your company depending on its stage, priorities, challenges, and needs.
That being said, most business consultants help companies with overarching issues to nitty gritty tasks—from improving communication and ironing out logistics, to organizing ideas and executing them properly. In short, we get shit done!
If you want to hire a business consultant for your start-up, small business, or women-owned business, here’s what you need to know.
What a Business Consultant Does—And Why You Should Hire a Consultant for Your Small Business
Business consultants are a company’s maestro. Sure, we know how to play all of the instruments and read the music. But, we also help the symphony play together beautifully. Because every consultancy has its strengths and focus, the following list covers the business consulting offerings Charm School brings to the table!
1. Improve Communication
What does a business consultant do? First and foremost, they should work to improve communication. At Charm Schoo, we’re hyper organized and prefer to over-communicate. That way, nothing is lost in translation.
If your business has issues with details, tense communication between team members, or other communication lapses, we can help! It may be a simple solution like implementing a project management system like Asana or Slack to consolidate conversations. Or, we may aggregate all of the details and help organize tasks and to-dos for assignment. Whatever your communication issue, a business consulting agency like ours will fix it.
2. Logistics
General Omar Bradley famously said, “Amateurs talk strategy. Professionals talk logistics.”
You can have the best business idea, culture, and mission in the world and fail to thrive due to a lapse in logistics.
A business consultant spots bottlenecks and inefficiencies in your logistics that prevent your business from firing on all cylinders. Of course, a great business consulting agency like Charm School will also provide strategies and solutions to solve logistical problems.
3. Provide Unbiased Advice
Sometimes, you’re too close to your own business to make objective decisions. There may also be too many cooks in the kitchen when it comes to decision making. Business consultants are experts in business, communication, logistics, and marketing. Plus, we’re removed from the emotional side of your business, so it’s easier for us to see opportunities, present options, and help business owners make the best informed decisions.
4. Offer Expertise
Nobody expects a business owner to be a one man or one woman band. You can’t possibly wear all of the hats all of the time—or want to. We’re experts in all things business development, digital marketing, current trends and best practices, and marketing technology. We bring that knowledge to the table so you can focus on actually running your business.
5. Spot Problems and Fix Them
Because business consultants come with an impartial view, we’re able to more easily spot problems and fix them within your organization. For instance, it may be hard to see that an employee you love isn’t the best at their particular role—causing you to lose time and money. Business consultants diplomatically identify these issues and present solutions for improvement.
6. Develop a Business Name or Brand Name
Business consultants don’t just help with overarching goals and challenges. Our 100% women-owned branding agency is also skilled in brand identity and helping brands develop a business name, tag line, and branding kit.
Often times, business owners and entrepreneurs have tons of ideas. But when it comes time to bring those ideas to life in typography and a logo, there’s a disconnect. Charm School can help you business develop a business name, design a logo, brand style guide, and everything you need to visually represent your business!
Of course, we can also help steer you in the right direction when it comes to the legal registration of your business name, too.
7. Secure Start-up Funding
Start-up consulting is beneficial in so many ways. One of those is navigating the complex and laborious process of getting funding. A business funding consultant will know where you should go to get the capital you need to launch your business.
8. Prioritize and Execute
In business, there’s always something that needs to be done. But without an infinite budget, prioritizing is key! What a business consultant does is help make lasting change and remain objective while prioritizing what’s most important.
For instance, this could be something widespread like company organization and role definition. Or, it could be something more granular like prioritizing your digital marketing strategy by channel.
9. Market Research and Competitive Analysis
If your business is waning or you want to make sure you have a viable product before launch, market research and competitive analysis will help. Business consultants can help facilitate all of the above so you know where you stand among customers and supply/demand.
10. Digital Marketing Consulting
Can a business consultant help with digital marketing strategy? If you’re working with Charm School, then yes! Digital marketing business consulting melds into our business consulting arsenal. Whether you need assistance with social media marketing, content, SEO, email marketing, or video content, we can show you the ropes.
11. Train Staff
It’s always cheaper to train your staff than hire new people. Plus, training and growing people within a company can help it thrive! Professional development fosters loyalty, pride, and collective buy-in from your entire staff. They’ll feel valued and appreciate the ability to grow within your company.
Of course, we’ll be able to identify strengths within your staff and where you need to hire, with particular expertise, to round out your team.
12. Help Businesses Operate at Their Best
A business consultant is here to help you dot your i’s, cross your t’s, and run a super tight ship. We’ll enable your business to operate as best as it can to maximize profits, evolve over time, and stay ahead of the competition.
How Much Does It Cost to Hire Business Consultant?
The average cost of a business consultant falls anywhere from $100–500 per hour. In fact, you may even find that hiring a business consultant saves your business money. Why? By avoiding pitfalls that lead to inefficiencies, needless or overspending, or costly mistakes. It’s always cheaper to do it right the first time than do it over.
As a “Goldilocks Agency,” you’ll find Charm School Digital Marketing offers affordable business consulting for small businesses. We can help run the whole show or step in here and there, as needed, as budget allows. You’ll find that we always put the horse before the cart to help your business spend its budget wisely.
Who can a business consultant help?
Any and every brand in every industry! Whether you’re looking for a medical business consultant or a marketing consultant for small business, women-owned start-up, or health and wellness brand, a consultant can help—period. Whether you’re looking for a start-up business consultant, women-owned business consultant, small business consulting—you name it—you can benefit from professional guidance and support.
Is it worth hiring a small business consultant?
Yes! We truly are the Mary Poppins’ for your business; bringing spoonfuls of sugar, magic, and some whimsy to your day-to-day grind. All so that your business is “practically perfect in every way!”
Signs It’s Time to Hire a Business Consultant
If you meet any of the following criteria, it may be time to hire a business consultant!
- You’re starting a new business
- It’s time to rebrand or brand your business with a new logo and style guide
- You’re launching a new product or service
- Your established business is losing business
- You’ve recently hired new leadership or executive level staffing
- Business communication is tense or chaotic
- Everyone disagrees, or you need an unbiased opinion
- You feel disorganized or without a marketing strategy
- You can’t make decisions, or decisions take too long
- You don’t have a digital marketing strategy
- You’re out of your comfort zone and don’t have marketing expertise
- You don’t know where to go from here
Charm School exists to help you become the best in your class and school the competition. We’re only an email away and would love to talk to you about how our business consulting can make your business dreams come true!
