Help wanted - includes related articles on small business consultants - B.E. Report on Small Business

Black Enterprise, Feb, 1992 by Wiley M. Woodard

Small business owners can't be expected to know everything there is to know about running a business. Enter management consultants.

If you asked Wendy Labat eight years ago for advice on starting a business, she would have said "take the plunge first and work out the details later." Ask her that same question today and Labat wouldn't even think of taking that fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants approach. Today Labat advises: "Work out the details of your business plan early on with the help of a small business consultant."

Why the dramatic about-face? Labat, president of Southern Belk Business Systems Inc., an office equipment distributor in Newman, Ga., says the reason is really quite simple. After hanging her shingle in 1984, Labat quickly realized that she wasn't a Jane-of-all-trades. Says she: "Small business owners are often naive, and think they know everything there is to know about running a business. But that's not necessarily true."

When Labat realized that she needed outside help, she hired consultant Ivory Dorsey to evaluate Southern Belk's internal structure. Dorsey, who is president of Golden Eagle Business Services Inc., an Atlanta-based consulting firm, analyzed Labat's operation and suggested that she contract out jobs, such as accounting and packaging, to free up her four-employee staff for other tasks. "Ivory noticed that many of my efforts were counterproductive," says Labat, who has also worked with consultants in the areas of advertising, market research, office automation and brochure design.

The move to hire experts in their fields was a wise one for the 34-year-old Labat. Southern Belk's sales mushroomed from $60,000 in 1985 to $800,000 in 1991. Labat credits the company's increase in sales directly to her work with the advisers she hired. "Before I started working with consultants, I was doing the same things and achieving very little results," she recalls.

"Had I worked with them earlier," she candidly asserts, "I could have positioned myself better to be where I wanted to be. Before then, I found that I just landed wherever I fell."

Consultants To The Rescue

Labat's story underscores the point that those small business owners who supplement their experience and expertise with that of a consultant will find themselves better positioned for success and long-term growth. More of today's entrepreneurs are finding that hiring the appropriate consultant can often help them reduce--and more importantly--avoid the problems that plague many business owners. For instance, depending on their field of expertise, consultants can provide technical assistance, identify new markets, develop cost-cutting measures and challenge old procedures.

As small businesses continue to struggle in a recovering economy, the role of consultants has taken on even greater importance. "Small business owners can't be expected to have all the expertise that they need to run a business," says John J. Clark, president of Clark & Associates, a marketing and management firm in Pittsburgh. "The decision comes down to, do you hire somebody and affect your payroll, taxes and profit potential, or do you pay a consultant, who's there for the short term?" Adds James H. Lowry, president of Chicago-based James H. Lowry & Associates: "Most small businesses could benefit from the services of a consultant. The average entrepreneur has so much to do that there's a tendency for them to get buried in details."

When Do You Need Help?

How do you determine whether you need outside help? Although there are no hard and fast rules, Clark says that you should consider hiring a consultant "when you have a major decision that requires you to commit a substantial amount of resources."

Clark also recommends that you ask yourself the following questions: * Do you feel that things could be better, but you're unsure of what action to take? * Have your efforts to date proved unable to produce long-term improvements for

your business? * Do you require an independent third-party opinion to confirm a decision or provide an alternative?

If you answer "yes" to any of these questions, start shopping for an expert in the area (such as desktop publishing) where you need advice. Check with business associates, friends and fellow entrepreneurs for leads. If that doesn't work, contact major consultant associations, trade associations or the Yellow Pages. (See sidebar, "Where To Go For Help.")

The key is to define your needs. But before you hire a consultant, decide which problems he or she will address. Assess your company's strengths and weaknesses to determine what the problems are. In some cases, a problem might be elusive and impossible to define before the consultant is hired. In that case, it might be helpful to work with one who uses a "process approach." The ultimate goal is to develop a kind of critical, evaluative thinking so that you can solve the problem yourself.

Once you've defined your company problems and you're able to communicate them thoroughly, clearly and candidly, then you're ready to screen potential consultants. Here are some points you want to consider during your first meeting: * Does the consultant understand the key issues involved? * Does she have enough experience in handling similar situations? * Has a personal rapport been established? * Does she project a sense of empathy? * Did she focus questions on your problem?