The business adviser – what an exemplary working relationship with a company looks like
The terms “business adviser”, “business consultant” and “business mentor” have negative associations for many of the people who run companies. Partly with good reason, since the quality of the services provided by consulting firms varies. The belief that a business adviser does not really help the client, and is expensive, is so strong that many companies conclude they are condemned to deal on their own with the problems or opportunities the market brings. And yet an outside look at a company by an experienced business adviser or mentor is very helpful in raising its profitability, in both the short and the longer term. It is a real pity when companies do not use such support, given that the measurable benefits of working together always significantly outweigh the costs.
To change your belief that working with a business adviser supposedly brings no benefit, I describe below how a company works with me under my model approach, which I have personally applied to more than 230 businesses that I have helped over the past 13 years.
The phases of working with a business adviser
Signing the contract with the business adviser
Working with a business adviser begins with a free initial conversation, in person or online, in which the client describes their situation and their own preliminary diagnosis of their problems. On the basis of the discussion with the consultant, the parties agree a preliminary scope of work and the terms of the contract, or decide not to work together.
The contract between the consulting firm and the client must set out the objectives flexibly and the terms of cooperation precisely, and must guarantee the confidentiality of information about the client. The scope of work is very often widened during the life of the contract if the adviser takes a holistic approach to the client. The reason is that the company takes too narrow a view of its problems and its opportunities, which almost always comes to light while the contract is being carried out.
I most often work with clients who have come round, within themselves, to the need for change and do not want to remain stuck in a painful, uncomfortable status quo. Sometimes I go into companies where I am seen as the last hope of a change for the better.
I do not want to work with companies that violate the values I hold and knowingly practise a master-and-serf style of management.
The diagnosis phase
The aim of this phase is to get to know the client company and its industry “inside out”. My experience tells me that any company, and the particular features of any industry, can be learned relatively quickly if the adviser has varied, valuable and up-to-date experience of managing in person and of helping other companies, can analyse data, and inspires trust by showing the genuine sincerity of their intention to help and by knowing how to ask the right questions.
I treat helping companies not only as a way of earning money (I make no secret of that) but also as a mission to help others, the fulfilment of which gives me great satisfaction. The longer I live, the more important the latter becomes to me.
An adviser must approach a company holistically, that is, understand the interdependencies within it, “joining the dots” into a whole. Any attempt to “sell” particular solutions with which the adviser happens to be comfortable as the best possible ones distorts their objective view of the client. I never do that.
The business adviser (I) diagnoses the situation, starting with the financial and sales data supplied by the company. “Numbers never lie”, unless they have been deliberately falsified. A great many things come to light at this stage, including some that surprise the managers.
I then hold conversations with competent representatives of the company, initially with the board or the owners, and then working down to lower levels of management and even to entry-level positions.
The anonymous surveys I carry out in the company are very helpful in establishing the state of affairs, because they make it possible to obtain information about the business quickly, from different levels and points of view. If the company’s board does not want to use such feedback, that is a red light for further work with the consultant, because it shows that those in command are fixated on their own theories about the company’s problems and are not open to receiving feedback.
It is also worth looking at how the company presents itself on the market, online and offline. If, for example, its website and social media profiles are unpolished and generate little traffic and conversion, and even its best shops or customer-facing outlets leave a lot to be desired, then it is clear that, from the point of view of the company’s end customers, something is wrong.
A business adviser’s diagnosis covers tactical and strategic activities, products and services, the organisation, job responsibilities, systems and processes, cooperation between functional and project departments, the knowledge accumulated in the company, and the many-layered level of motivation in the company, which sets the cogs of the corporate machine in motion and speeds them up.
Creating the action plan
On the basis of the diagnosis of the company, I draw up a preliminary action plan, which usually contains thirty-odd points and covers every aspect of how the client operates. It is the basis for setting priorities for the individual issues, and for assigning a single person responsible and a deadline to each point of the action plan.
Some of the points in the plan concern current (tactical) activities, which can be implemented straight away or relatively quickly, even during the first consultation.
Almost always there are also many issues of a strategic nature, including preparing the company’s strategy itself, which most Polish companies do not have, even in a simplified form.
This phase also involves creative work, in which I devise novel solutions that combine the company’s experience to date, my own experience of the market and ideas that arise in my head and have never been considered in the company. Sometimes these radical ideas come from the client, and I merely develop them creatively or check whether they can realistically be implemented. As a business adviser I have learned that even crazy ideas must never be rejected out of hand, because genuine innovations are usually ridiculed and dismissed at first by those around them. I also know that my clients’ minds hold many interesting solutions that blossom once they are spoken aloud in front of me. It is important to come to our consulting meetings with an open mind. It often happens that I have a plan for the day’s consulting, but the discussion with the client overturns it completely, to the benefit of our work together. We set out together on a road whose end is sometimes a surprise to both sides.
Carrying out the action plan
The action plan agreed between the adviser and the company is implemented in line with the approved priorities. This can be done without the consultant, but most often the client asks me to help, because employees and boards find it very hard to break away from day-to-day business and concentrate on the necessary changes. They cannot free up time that is fully taken up by routine activities. Nor do they have the skills to carry change through consistently, to break existing habits and routines, to discover new possibilities and so on.
My aim is to carry out the changes as quickly as possible, because companies’ initial enthusiasm for reform fades with time, or the change does not go far enough to pass the critical mass of benefit. I also work towards a situation in which responsibility for the reforms passes entirely to the company. That is cheaper and better for the company than constantly relying on outside support. The action plan belongs to the company, not to its adviser.
If I spot an opportunity for the client to gain a large financial benefit straight away, I tell them about it openly within my working hours; I do not try to extract some additional benefit, such as a percentage of the extra profit from the implementation. It does not pay to be too clever and too cunning. This philosophy as a business adviser has served me well in life, and I stick to it.
After a phase of intensive joint work in the first one to three months, many projects move into a phase of occasional support from me, because the company is managing them well on its own. This shows in its results, which are scrupulously monitored by those in command.
It also happens that, after a few hours of initial consultation, the client already knows what to do and implements the changes independently. I am then glad that I was able to help quickly and that the client is satisfied. Many clients book this kind of consultation with me online.
The last group are clients who, despite strong suggestions from me, decide to do things their own way and take no account of them. That is their absolute right, although it saddens me, some time later, to say “I told you so” and to see their business gradually fading or failing to grow. I am not always 100% right, but in some cases, unfortunately, I am. I have seen too many difficult situations, I have enough imagination when it comes to cause and effect, and I often know how things will end for a client who knows it all.
Returning to occasional cooperation
Experience shows that not all changes can be implemented 100%, and some of them tend to slip back partially, though usually not to where things started. There are also solutions that work lastingly and are a source of great satisfaction to me. It also happens that a client has new ideas and asks me for a quick consultation on whether they are good enough, and what should be added or anticipated. My support may then amount to a few hours a month. That is why, when the contract is signed, I suggest giving it a long-term framework character, so that it does not have to be concluded afresh each time.
My clients join the ecosystem of my business network; if they are really good, I recommend them to other companies with a clear conscience. Sometimes they end up working directly with one another. As I serve clients in more than 50 sectors, in most cases I can suggest other, friendly companies that will meet their needs competitively and to a high standard of quality.
Looking to work with a business adviser?
I am in regular contact with many clients. I like to follow their progress and to hear that I have helped their development in some way. It gives my ego a small boost, but it also makes me feel that what I do has meaning. It is a wonderful feeling.
I look forward to working with you!