Many of today’s business consulting firms take the approach of putting their client’s needs first throughout all of their endeavors. Helping businesses to know what they can do to grow.
For example, William Smith worked as everything from an intern to President and CEO of Royal Cup Coffee and Tea before founding Double Iron Consulting, giving him tons of experience to draw upon as he helps small businesses with everything from leadership development to management transitions.
Please continue reading to learn more about how a business consulting firm could help your company.
1. What Value Can a Business Consultant Provide?
Nobody knows your organization better than you do, but sometimes that can work to your disadvantage. You might get so absorbed in the details that you forget to look at the broader picture or you become so engrossed in this quarter’s sales goals that you fail to consider their impact on your staff.
A knowledgeable outside perspective can help you spot opportunities you would’ve missed on your own, adopt any best practices that your competitors may be using to get ahead, and give you somebody unbiased to bounce ideas off.
2. Will a Consultant Run My Company for Me?
No, a consultant will not run your company for you, or at least a good one won’t. Business consulting firms collaborate with their clients, combining their broad knowledge base with their client’s command of their unique circumstances to produce results that neither could achieve on their own.
Industry experts recommend inviting your consultant on-site and into your day-to-day business to review your operations and create a set communication schedule to ensure everyone is on the same page.
3. What Should Business Owners Do First?
Clear goals should drive your relationship with your consultant, so you must figure out what you are trying to achieve before interviewing anybody. For instance, you might be looking for fresh marketing ideas to help your company reach a broader audience or you may want to provide the one-on-one leadership development training a promising young employee needs to reach their full potential.
Once you know what you are looking for, you need to communicate it in a language that potential consultants can understand. This is not the time for ambiguous word choices or dancing around the matter at hand.
William Smith, former president and CEO of Royal Cup Coffee, excels at helping organizations set goals and breaking those goals into manageable steps, making even the most ambitious plans feel attainable. If that sounds like something your organization could use, Double Iron Consulting could be the right fit.
4. What Makes Experience so Important in Business Consulting?
Consultants have to draw on their personal expertise to help their clients. Formal education can be part of this, but the best consultants combine it with firsthand experience in several different roles that help them better understand the entire organization’s needs.
For example, William Smith began his professional life as an intern for his family’s Royal Cup Coffee company in the 1980s, gaining practical experience in fields such as running delivery routes and taking sales calls. As a result, he can relate to the people on the ground who need to get the job done. William Smith spent the 1990s gaining sales experience, helping him identify with channel partners who may be affiliated with an organization.
William Smith spent the 2000s accumulating management experience in areas such as supply chains, ultimately becoming the President and CEO of Royal Cup Coffee in 2014. William Smith became an executive and can help business owners manage infrastructure projects or roll out new marketing plans. Still, William Smith’s experiences before that are just as crucial to the success of Double Iron Consulting and its clients.
5. What if My Organization Is Undergoing a Difficult Leadership Change?
Entrepreneurs like to think of their businesses as their babies, and the comparison is especially true when it’s time to let them fly on their own. William Smith has firsthand experience in this area. William, his family, and the board made the difficult and strategic decision to move forward with promoting a new CEO of Royal Cup Coffee and turning control over to a non-family, professional executive team in 2020.
Smith remains on the Royal Cup Coffee Board of Directors. Giving up his day-to-day responsibilities as CEO allowed him to found Double Iron Consulting and share what he’s learned with small business owners. Leaving the day-to-day responsibilities of the family business of Royal Cup Coffee was hard, but he found a new passion in doing so.
6. Is It Okay to Talk About Money Early On?
Consultants have to provide value to their clients for the money they are paid, but this can be difficult to quantify as value is often subjective. The best way to approach it is to be up-front with your budget situation and encourage potential consultants to follow your example. If a given firm prices itself out of feasibility, just move on to the next one.
Double Iron Consulting prides itself on having open conversations with clients and potential clients alike, so you won’t have to worry about hidden fees or unfair billing practices.
7. How Can I Tell if Double Iron Consulting Meets My Organization’s Needs?
Picking the right consultant is challenging, but you can do it if you understand what you want to get out of the relationship. If you’re interested in learning more about Double Iron Consulting, you can contact the company through their website.
