A consulting firm is a company comprised of industry experts who offer professional advice, guidance, and practical solutions to companies that have problems they cannot resolve internally. All businesses are bound to have issues, and consulting firms are hired to solve them. Let's take a look at what a consulting firm does and how it can help you. McKinsey, one of the major management consulting firms, provides an example of their services: “We partner with leading companies and non-profit organizations to help them solve their most complex and mission-critical challenges.
We draw on our fundamental experience in key areas such as strategy, operations, organization, technology, digital, and analytics to help our clients achieve lasting impact.” When companies are faced with mission-critical challenges or problems that require expertise, an efficient way to solve the problem may be to hire a consulting firm. For instance, consider the scenario of a large consumer electronics manufacturer that has decided to merge with a competitor of similar size. Neither of them has ever attempted a merger of this magnitude, so neither has the muscle memory or internal experience to perform with confidence. Companies may be able to do it on their own, but given how much is at stake, they want to execute with confidence, and therefore taking advantage of the experience of a consulting firm makes sense.
Consulting firms can also provide an objective opinion from third parties on an important decision being made by a company. Business owners may have blind spots or certain biases, so having an outside voice will help them face and deal with them objectively. In addition, consulting firms can provide an objective view of the best practices in the industry, taking advantage of their broader scope of how other companies have addressed similar problems. The last common case is that the company has a pressing problem.
Since all of its current teams and people are linked to ongoing projects, the company needs an injection of intelligent people and brains to address the problem at hand. Some companies are even designed to operate this way; for example, private equity firms often rely on management consulting firms to help them with specific aspects of due diligence when seeking to make an acquisition. Now that we know a little more about the type of clients that hire consulting firms and the types of problems that drive them to hire a consulting firm, let's look at what consultants do. A consultant is an expert in her field who provides advice and guidance to companies and individuals on a short or part-time basis to address specific issues. Management consultants provide expensive and professional advice to organizations to improve their overall performance through better “management” which includes strategy, governance, operation, organization, finance and marketing.
A marketing consultant advises clients on marketing and advertising strategies for a specific part of the company such as brand image or products. If you are considering becoming a consultant yourself, consider taking courses such as accounting, statistics or communications to improve your analysis, problem-solving and interpersonal skills that can be applied in any consulting position. An information consultant can test the company's current systems to see how efficient they are while financial or investment consultants provide instructions on how to best use a company's financial resources. The largest consulting firms such as McKinsey, BCG, Bain or the consulting firms of the 4 big accounting firms are very selective with their candidates; in MBB firms, the acceptance rate is even lower than 1%. Even small boutiques need to keep their standards high to maintain the quality of their work and their reputation. Understanding what a consulting firm is and how it works can help you decide if this is the right field for you. Consulting firms are companies that sell professional advice to companies and organizations to help them solve problems.
A management analyst or business consultant can evaluate a business and make recommendations. In conclusion, consulting firms provide invaluable services for businesses looking for solutions for mission-critical challenges or problems that require expertise. They can also provide an objective opinion from third parties on important decisions being made by a company as well as offer an objective view of best practices in the industry. Additionally, they can provide an injection of intelligent people and brains when companies have pressing problems. Consultants are experts in their field who provide advice and guidance on short or part-time basis for specific issues.
If you're considering becoming a consultant yourself, consider taking courses such as accounting, statistics or communications to improve your analysis skills.
