When does Hiring a Freelance Consultant Makes Sense for Your Company
It’s so easy to find top freelance consultants these days. The best freelance platform are only a few clicks away and could connect you with a top consultant in a matter of days. However, does it really make sense to hire a consultant?
Several companies hesitate to hire consultants even when they know they should. No, it’s not always because of the budget. Sometimes, senior management might be reluctant to accept an outsider’s perspective on internal issues, and sometimes, decision-makers simply fear change and want things to be the way they are.
There might be some other reasons too. Indeed, it’s a tough decision. So, to make things easy for you, we’ll discuss some business situations in which it most certainly is the right choice to hire a consultant.
1. You Want Someone to Share the Workload Temporarily
Small to medium-sized businesses might often come to a point where everybody is doing everything. There might be situations in which the business development manager ends up creating the social media and SEO strategy instead of communicating with potential customers. The account manager ends up doing a SWOT analysis of a competitor’s company. As a result, there’s chaos in the company because the team members are barely doing the tasks mentioned in their job descriptions.
On the other hand, hiring permanent employees for every different project is not always possible. And even if it is, it’s probably not the best thing to do. That’s when companies need to approach the best freelance platform and hire a consultant. Hiring a freelance consultant for temporary projects is the best way to save time and money. Just like a recruitment agency can connect you with a full-time employee, an online consulting marketplace can find you the best consultant for your business. When you do this, your employees can be awesome in their own areas of expertise, and the consultant can focus on the tasks they’ve done multiple times with various companies. Sounds like a win-win for both of you.
2. Your Organization Lacks the Right Expertise
Now, let’s assume that your employees are doing exactly what’s mentioned in their job description and you don’t want them to do anything they aren’t experienced with. However, you still need to fill a skill gap. When this happens, hiring a freelance consultant might be your only option. Usually, consultants are experts in a particular niche. They are aware of all the ins and outs, and the best practices in their line of work. This means that when a business engages with them, even the team will get the opportunity to upskill themselves. It certainly will benefit the company long after the consultant is gone.
For example, if your team is frustrated and inefficient because your business is still using timesheets, a consultant can recommend the best agile project management software. He can train your staff on how to use it. By doing this, your employees will be able to measure the magnitude of a task by using a point system - not those dreaded timesheets in which an employee has to log every minute of their activity, which, honestly, is very frustrating and an outdated system.
3. You Need an External Expertise on Your Company’s Internal Situation
SMEs usually have a small, tightly-knit group of people working for them. It’s like having a family in the office. It’s cute, but it also comes with a downside. You’d think that your company is moving forward but it might be anchored at the same spot. You wouldn’t realize that because the company lacks an independent, third-party perspective. When your business is stuck in the same position and you wonder why your competitors are closing a new deal every week, it’s probably best to visit the best freelance platform you can find and initiate the process of hiring a freelance consultant.
Only a consultant can examine your situation from an unbiased, outsider perspective because consultants are not employees. They’ll only work with you on a temporary basis. This ensures that the consultant’s feedback doesn’t turn into office politics - which is very common if a new permanent employee, who’s hired to provide a fresh perspective on things, gives honest feedback on the company’s existing processes and policies.
4. Your Business Needs a Professional Problem Solver
What would you do when your company’s churn rate goes from 4% to 20% in three months? And what happens if your new product, that you thought would sell like crazy, has a cheaper competitor all of a sudden? Solving a problem requires problem solvers - and that’s what consultants are there for. Luckily, it’s easy to find these ‘problem solvers’ in this day and age by visiting an online consulting marketplace. If you don’t want to engage with consulting firms, you can hire independent consultants using the best freelance platform in your area.
A consultant’s brain is used to find solutions for the most challenging business problems. When your organization is facing a challenge like never before, you should explain your problem to someone at an online consulting marketplace, so they can find you a consultant who has successfully solved a similar problem before. The consultant might already be well-versed with the issues that are making you anxious right now. So why handle difficult business-related issues alone when there’s help available?
5. You’re About to Make a Major Business Decision
This one’s similar to the previous point but slightly different. You don’t have to hire a consultant only when there’s a serious problem in your business. Sometimes, it’s wise to bring a consultant on board way before the problem can even occur. As the saying goes: “Prevention is better than cure.” It’s better to get a top consultant from the best freelance platform before making an important business decision.
For example, if your company is merging with another company and you ‘kind of’ know what you’re doing, then it’s probably best to spend a little extra coin and get a management consultant to examine your situation and recommend best practices. Remember the term ‘kind of’ here - when you’re ‘kind of’ comfortable doing something, and not 100% confident, that’s when costly mistakes can occur. Whether you’re expanding into a new market or restructuring your company, it’s far better to take an expert’s advice to avoid potential pitfalls.
After all, the easiest problems are the ones that are not allowed to occur in the first place. It’s completely fine to not have in-house expertise for every business-related issue. And it’s also fine if you ‘kind of’ know what you’re doing. However, willfully taking a major step without discussing it with someone who has helped dozens of businesses with the same step is not a smart move.
Conclusion
Hope that you are aware of the scenarios in which hiring a consultant is a smart choice. A business can only truly understand the value of a consultant after engaging with one. Not only could you reach your business objectives efficiently, but you could also avoid some business blunders by not committing mistakes that others have. However, the key here is to approach a credible freelance platform to find the right consultant.
