One of the services related to professional entrepreneurs or companies is consultancy, which It is also one of the most appreciated for the results obtained.
But what is a consultancy? what types exist? What is it for? All this and much more is what we are going to talk about next.
Counseling: what is it
A consultancy is actually a service that is offered to both professionals and companies. It consists of a team, or a professional, offering a series of recommendations, advice and suggestions to these entrepreneurs. or companies based on the experience you have.
An example of this could be a professional specialized in the area of technology who advises a company that has just started in the sector. By having a kind of extra help from a person who already understands that sector, the results that this company would obtain would be much greater than if it did it without any help.
Most of the consultancies that are carried out are always related to the function of advising, controlling and supervising all economic activity in the field in which they are requested.
Difference between advice and management
It is common that, when the words management and advice are heard, they are related to each other. But, actually they are not the same.
A consultancy, and therefore an adviser, Its function is to provide information, suggestions, advice… But is not responsible for managing or processing these suggestions or steps to be taken.
Instead, a manager if he takes that step forward. In other words, it is in charge not only of advising what that professional or company should do, but also of carrying it out, making sure that everything is done as it should be.
Objective of the consultancy
Now that you know what a consultancy is, you will realize that the objective of this is not to question the decisions that professionals or companies have made. The first thing they carry out is a collaborative relationship, that is, they need to know what the current situation of the company is or of the professional to be able to act and know the problems they face. Once that first sharing must develop a series of proposals to solve the problems. However, this does not mean that you have to follow everything that an advisory specifies, but rather that are recommendations to improve that business and it is up to the client to execute it or not.
If after the meeting in which the different suggestions are presented, these are carried out, the advisor must ensure that they obtain the expected results and, if not, modify actions to achieve the goal.
Advantages and disadvantages
Once you understand what a consultancy is, the advantages it offers are also easy to intuit.
The central point of a consultancy is the growth of that professional or of the company itself. The advisor is a person who brings experience and knowledge of the sector and this is always higher than what any company could contribute, hence there are greater benefits.
Another advantage of consulting is the fact that the situation is analyzed from the outside and always at an objective level. By having extensive knowledge of the market, of other companies, and of the sector in general you can help in a much more efficient way than focused solely on business.
But not always everything is good because among the disadvantages that you can find is the fact that the work of an advisor is limited to providing recommendations. But it is the person in charge of the company who will decide whether to follow that advice or discard it. The fact that the advisor is not directly involved in the company also comes into play. and this can clash with the way entrepreneurs see their business. If among the recommendations offered by a consultancy some do not match the philosophy of the company, no matter how good they are, they will not be carried out.
Finally, another of the disadvantages of consultancies is the fact that they do not carry out all the procedures that should be done. In other words, we would return to the difference between a consultancy and an agency where it is the latter that does give recommendations in addition to carrying out the procedures to carry out those suggestions once they are accepted.
Types of advice
The work of a consultancy can be quite varied, so much so that it leads to classifying the types of consultancy by area of work. Thus, we can find:
- Financial advice. It is the best known and the one that practically every professional and company requests to keep the accounts of the business and advise you on new fronts, optimizations...
- Accountant. As its name indicates, it would be in charge of keeping the accounting of a company or business.
- Labor Law. The mission in this case would be to perform functions related to human resources.
- Administrative. Its function is to prioritize, organize, file... all the documents related to the company or professional with whom you work.
- Fiscal. He is in charge of advising on compliance with tax obligations.
- Computer consultancy. It is one of the most innovative and the objective to be met is related to advising companies in terms of technological devices to help greater productivity and business efficiency.
- Legal. They are in charge of solving legal problems.
How to choose a consultancy
Choosing a consultancy is not an easy thing to do. And there are many aspects that must be taken into account. Among them the most important are:
- Confidence. You must bear in mind that the person who will thoroughly analyze your business has to be someone you really trust because they will tell you the things that are good and all those that are bad and that could be improved. This is not always received positively, but if you have full confidence in that communication professional, it will be better and you will also understand the point of view offered.
- Personalization of the service. Not all companies or all professionals are the same. Even when they work in the same sector, each company is a world and the needs they may have are very different between them. Therefore, having a consultancy that personalizes your service can improve the results you want to obtain.
- References. Having testimonials from other clients or friends, positive opinions and even a good reputation and presence in the media helps to trust that advice more than another whose opinions are negative or nobody knows about it.
Now that you have discovered what a consultancy is, and all that it implies, it is up to you to decide if that is what you are looking for or if it is something else. Do you have doubts? Tell us.