Get your money's worth

Consultants can be a valuable business resource; however, when deciding to use a consultant, small business owners need to follow some simple rules or they could be paying a lot and not getting much in return.

Like most industries, the security industry uses consultants. Consultants assist business in marketing, management support, sales and many other areas including business reports and tender submissions.

There are consultants for just about everything and it seems that everyone is a consultant these days. That is not a criticism of consultants, as they are, and can be, a valuable resource. A good consultant will know the industry and know what impacts the business. A good consultant will help business owners develop the right skills and strategies to grow and succeed. The wrong consultant will only be interested in money.

A few questions that business owners need to ask themselves are: What do you want to do? Where do you want to be? Do you need a consultant? If you don’t know where you want to be, how will you know when you get there? Your consultant should help you develop your goals and a strategy for achieving them. Your consultant could be your industry association, with specialist advice at little or no cost to you.

The best small business consultants have industry-specific expertise. Good consultants ask questions to find out what you know and what you will need to learn in order to achieve your goals. Having a good specialist consultant can be cheaper than employing people to do that work.

Good consultants don’t know everything! But they know how to find the answers. If they’ve been in business a while, they should be able to produce references or client testimonials. It is always better to choose someone referred to you by someone you trust. Good consultants will be happy for you to investigate their credentials and expect to prove their capabilities.

Good consultants shouldn’t do it all for you. They show you what to do and how to do it and keep close until you are capable of doing it on your own. If you don’t feel totally comfortable with your consultant, don’t use them. They should be there when you need them.

A good consultant will be happy to commit to writing what you have agreed. Include all of the items you think are relevant with terms favourable to both of you. Don’t be put off by the term contract. A contract is an agreement between the parties and although agreements can be verbal, a verbal agreement is not recommended.

Confirm the arrangement in writing. This can take the form of a statement of work (SOW). The SOW should identify clear, attainable and measurable goals, a schedule of milestones, confirmation of rates, billing agreement and terms. The SOW should also include communication protocols. Although ideally it’s nice to see the ink on the paper, agreements can be exchanged and confirmed in a variety of ways including email.

Remember, when you engage a consultant you are the client. You are entitled to receive the service and the agreed outcome