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What do business consultants do?

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The core of business consulting is to solve problems. Client problems statements can vary in terms of what is known and how well-articulated they are.
 
For example, some problem statements consultant may face are:
a) How much should I bid for wireless spectrum in the top 25 metro areas in the United States in X, Y, and Z auctions?
b) How can I leverage the data I am collecting already and launch a business in this adjacent market?
c) How should I link my customer relationship management system more closely with my web presence and accounting system?
d) I need to reduce my customer response times and cost structure for services. What options do I have, what should I do, and can you help me make the changes?
 
For the problem statements above, each problem statement focuses a little bit different in terms of weight on analysis, strategy development, incubation, and execution required.
 
You will find consultants that tend to focus more on analysis and strategy versus execution. Some consultants will be more generalists than specialists.
 
For example, a consulting firm that is a specialist firm on execution may be able to provide very specialized support for link CRM system XYZ with accounting system ABC (e.g., problem statement "c"). Or a consulting firm that specializes in the wireless space and asset valuation may be able to help with problem statement "a" and analysis and strategy.
 
Problem statement "b" may require more heavy lifting on analysis and strategy development. Here you may need a more generalist consulting firm that can help with analysis of current data, market research of opportunities, general management and strategy development (for competitive and operational analysis), and project management (to help coordinate and glue everything together).
 
So to recap, consultants are often asked to address problems. These problem statements have to be refined over time (I have a post here on refining problems statements - Articulating and Rearticulating Problem Statements ). The problem solving method requires solution approach that needs to be laid out and managed from a project perspective. The specific resources required for solving will require a combination of generalists and specialists. Depending on the size of the problem, the role of generalists and specialists may be fulfilled by one or more people.
 
Now there is a separate question about why companies hire consultants. Here are some examples of why companies hire consultants:
a) do not have expertise in-house or do not address problems with same regularity as consulting firm
b) have limited bandwidth because they are focused on running an existing business
c) need a third-party for an independent view or because of political reasons
d) bring outside perspecitves to client
e) projects change too much and cannot assign internal resources
 
Credit: Steve Shu, Author of Inside Nudging
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