Well now, it’s a Friday afternoon and I’m composing my first ever blog! I went on a Blogging for Business seminar this week and found out lots of things about linking blogs to Twitter and Linked In etc. Hmm!

I’d like to ask readers what they feel about business advisers and consultants. It’s the business I’m in and in these times of economic difficulty, the engagement of an adviser or consultant seems to be one of the earliest things a business owner will forego. Why is this? Poor experience in the past? No spare cash to invest in such a thing? Maybe both of these and probably lots more! I do invite you to share your thoughts on this question.

Any worthwhile consultant should be able to offer you as a business owner or manager the following:

• A snapshot analysis of the state of the business at a particular time
• The opportunity to discuss confidentially any pressing issues
• The opportunity to reflect with an independent party any imminent changes proposed to the business
• The opportunity to increase bottom line performance

From my perspective, business consultants are like every other group of workers. There are great ones, good ones, average ones and downright poor ones. So if you are thinking about engaging some kind of adviser, what are the qualities you should look for?

Industry experience?

Unless the business is so specialised and niche that it has unique issues, then probably not. Most companies experience broadly similar issues and concerns – in their particular context, of course. Your consultant should be able to bring to bear previous experience gained in many different sectors.

Expert knowledge?

There are broadly two categories of consultants. Some are very clearly specialists in their own fields e g Finance but may not claim to know a great deal about HR or Marketing, say. These people operate vertically, drilling down into great detail. The second category might describe themselves as Generalists, i e they operate horizontally, knowing sufficient about most parts of business to be able to offer good and proper solutions. However, if there is a need for specialist intervention, the generalist must be prepared to bring one to the consulting relationship.

Ethics.

Any consultant you contract with must agree complete client confidentiality and to operate within the bounds of his/her competence. This is where the introduction of specialists can be so important.