Off Season is Perfect Time for a Consultant's Help

With the year winding down, it’s time for many of you to reflect upon how your business has done this year and how you see it doing in the future.

It’s the “off season” and the ideal time to bring in a business consultant for an unbiased, non-affiliated view of how your company is operating and how it can do things more effectively and more efficiently.

Advice That Can Pay for Itself

Of course, professional input and advice comes with a price—you didn’t think people were offering their expertise for free, did you? And, on the surface, the price might appear to be somewhat steep.

A cost of $1,500-2,000 for a day’s services from one of these industry experts might have you thinking, “There’s got to be a cheaper way to do this.”

But wait. Think about things for a minute. And put the cost of this invaluable input in proper perspective. With a good consultant, their fees may not really cost you anything. How’s that? Because the input they give should help to generate enough money in savings for your company that will more than make up for the fees you pay them.

The Green Industry is currently served by a large group of consultants and advisors who have amassed years of experience concentrating specifically on landscape and irrigation. Some are specialists in dealing with finances, while others concentrate on account management. And there are those whose area of expertise include job costing, sales, marketing, and account management…to name but a few.

Simply put, there is an expert out there, skilled in your particular area of need, ready to help you improve your operations.

When Should You Seek Out a Consultant?

There are no hard and fast rules, but most companies typically search out help when they want to make improvements to the way their company is doing something. Other companies look for outside help when things are even more desperate—when something has gone wrong and they need to fix the situation in a hurry.

But there is nothing that says a company can’t enlist the assistance of a consultant to use their advice before things go wrong. In fact, many of the most profitable, well-run companies regularly work with consultants in an effort to do things more effectively and to improve the firm’s performance (perhaps that’s why they are profitable, well-run companies).

Demand for consultants continues to increase. When things are not going well, companies want to find out why and fix it. And, when things are good, they want to find out what they can do to make things even better.

Don’t You Need to Be Big to Hire a Consultant?

With fees ranging up to $2,000 per day (plus expenses), the cost can be steep. But you have to ask yourself, “Is that a fee my company can afford not to pay?”

Many small business owners who hire a consultant view the decision as part of the process of going forward to avoid going backward. They view it as a price they have to pay to avoid the cost of a possible alternative—a business that is failing to be profitable or, worse yet, failing altogether.

Plus, if a small company has the intention to become a bigger one, you can’t think small. And thinking that you can’t use the assistance of a knowledgeable consultant simply because your company isn’t “big” is the kind of small-minded thinking that can hamper your growth potential.

How Do You Choose a Consultant?

This, too, is an unscientific process. Do you prefer to be sold, seeing someone’s presentation of what they have done for others? Or do you prefer a referral, the recommendation of others (whom you trust) who tout the virtues of what so-and-so did to help them?

Either way you choose, the consultant will probably ask you for detailed financial information about your company, as well as background on your management, marketing, sales, and operations. After digesting that, they will want to set up a meeting with your management and/or key employees to discuss an initial plan.

So you’ve got their input. Is that it? It shouldn’t be. A good consultant will follow up to see how their advice is working (or not). They will track their progress and make adjustments to their plan. Depending upon your situation, it could well develop into a long-term, ongoing, fee-based relationship. Something along the lines of visiting your doctor for a physical and any needed in-between visits.

And, as a business owner, don’t you want your company to be as healthy as it can be?