Why Do I Need A Startup Consultancy For My Business in 2022?

A startup business consultant assists you in easy decision-making and risk management strategies to help sustain your business.

Starting up a business brings along a lot of hard work and hassle for entrepreneurs. But, the most important and nerve-wracking factor that comes along is the “risk.”

What if the business fails, what if I am not able to handle the finances, what if my idea does not do well in the market, and the list of these “what ifs” can go on and on.

So, what’s the solution?

With nearly 62% of US billionaires being self-made and entrepreneurs, the fact that nearly 22.5% of businesses go down the drain in their first year is inevitable.

That’s when startup consultants and consulting firms come into the picture. In times like these, hiring business consultants to work alongside your team can bring about greater ideas and positive approaches to the table for the greater good.

Now that we have a basic understanding of startup business consultants and how effective startup consulting services can be for a business, let’s take a look at the details about what a startup business is, how to find new business consultants that are right for you, and how that can help your startup earn its place in the market.

What is a Startup Business

Now, if you’re an entrepreneur who already owns a startup, this might not be important for you. But it could be essential for a few of our other readers who are here for greater insight into what a startup is.

Keeping it short and simple, a Startup is usually a business that works in constant uncertainty and has very limited resources at its disposal. A major reason for the uncertainty comes down to the reason that it is new, might still be looking for its product-market suitability, and would be running out of ideas.

And that’s exactly where the need to have a business startup consultant arises. As the business has plenty of things to deal with while keeping an eye on the investments and managing their target audience – receiving unbiased, honest, and productive advice can ease the process.

What are Startup Consultant Services?

A startup consultancy firm or a startup consultant is the external people that are included in the team for a short time and help you drive your business.

Confused? Don’t be.

When a startup collaborates with business consultants, they employ people to provide greater expertise and deeper insight into aspects that help them grow. Whether financial aspects, resource management, business objectives, or market analysis, startup consultants help businesses have a practical approach and make effective decisions.

So, for instance, a business is having a tough time deciding which market to invest in or how it can optimize and manage its workflow. When talking about consulting a startup business, there goes a lot and everything that could help a business manage its stability and growth. But how? Read below.

Why Startup Consulting Services

Business startup entrepreneurs think more critically, act more logically, and make decisions on the right track. In that case, hiring an external resource to guide you about your business functioning and areas of investment might seem unnecessary.

An important question that arises in relation to collaborating with consultancy services providers is that whether it is worth the extra money? Well, the answer is simple. Yes, it does.

Good business consultancy services can help you manage your workloads, financial and managerial decisions, and workflow management more streamlined and systematic. To say that a business startup consultant observes and analyzes stuff from both owner and user’s perspectives won’t be wrong.

And as far as the extra investment is considered, well, there are several ways you can look into it.

An interesting scenario of hiring consulting services for startups can be if you are just starting in business and cash flow is tight. Still, if you need a consultant, consider bartering your services. It helps you in building greater collaborations with other businesses, expand your professional network, and employs a professional approach at work.

All The Reasons To NOT Hire a Startup Consultant Service

When you start your business, there’s a lot already at stake. The probability of you being new to the market (unless you have already sold your previous startup successfully) hits differently and so bad that you start questioning your decision.

However, when you move on and finally find a business consultant and hire them for expert advice, you want it to be as productive as anything. But what if it all goes in vain?

The chances of hiring consulting services that lead you nowhere, comes down to how well-experienced they are. So, when I talk about not hiring startup consultancy services, I mean that you should not just hire “any” consultancy services but rather always go for an experienced one.

Another important reason you should always prefer an experienced and well-sought consultant over any startup consultancy services is their resources. Any professional and skilled service would always have plenty of resources and tools to provide you greater useful insights to help you optimize your business objectives and plans.

Now, how can you tell if the consultants you are planning to hire are professionals or experts in their field, or not? Their company profiles. And if you are missing out, LinkedIn can be the best source to walk you through the company profile of any business.

But when we talk about experienced, professional skills, and resources, it is unlikely to say that they are very few well-experienced consulting companies. To name a few, McKinsey and Company, BCG, And Deloitte Consulting LLP. However, they would cost you nothing less than a kidney.

According to Statista, the consultancy market supposedly expected to cross $132 US Billion in 2020 couldn’t make it beyond $64.6 US Billion, all thanks to the pandemic.

This brings us to another important aspect to consider when hiring a startup consulting service which is to avoid Theorists. What I mean here is people or companies whose suggestions and ideas are more inclined towards theoretical aspects of a business rather than practical.

Hiring consultants has only got to do with the experience, knowledge, and time spent in the industry. Therefore, with a significant lack of skilled consultation companies, settling for something that does not have a practical reason for what they say doesn’t seem like a good decision.

So, on the basis of this, we can say that hiring consultancy services comes down to two peculiar aspects, which are a must-have for any business collaboration;

• Companies having years of experience and relevant knowledge in their field
• Plenty of resources to work with reduced the level of uncertainty

How to Start Consultancy Services For Your Business

After evaluating and understanding whom to hire and what metrics we should look at when hiring a consultancy service, let’s see how you can do it.

First things first, it requires you to specify what kind of services you require. As the consultancy service industry is new and growing, there are several companies that offer specialized consultancy services such as IT, management, finance, and so on.

The second step is to choose your startup consultants. Now the next thing I say might intrigue you, but an ideal startup consultancy service to choose would be a startup company that once failed.

Yes, you read it right.

A famous America Businessman and author, Robert T Kiyosaki, once said, “Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.” The quote holds true in this scenario.

This is a universal fact that most startups fail, despite the amazing idea and excessive planning at work. The reason, because these startups somehow lack management in one or other essential areas.

You might not believe it, but research highlights that nearly 90% of startups eventually fail. While 10% of these startups fail within their first year, 70% go down the drain in the next two through five years.

One of the major reasons these new business ventures fail comes from a lack of effective market research and reading customer requirements – accounting for 42% of startup failure. Among other key reasons, conflicts between the founding team and growing market competition resulted in 23% and 19% of startup failures, respectively.

The list of reasons could go long and may vary from situation to situation. From the wrong implementation of ideas and coordination in the team to the lack of resources and funding, various factors come along.

I don’t mean to scare you, but I am trying here to make a point: it is completely fine and pretty much normal if a startup fails. Failures being very common in this startup industry to signify that startup founders are ambitious, smart, and competent people – just like you – who intend to do big in their relevant fields.

What makes them more knowledgeable and skilled is the years of experience they gain. And that’s how the quote by Kiyosaki seems to fit in this situation. The business startup founders may have lost pretty at managing their ventures. Still, they have certainly learned a lot during the process.

These are actually the people who eventually startup providing consulting services to the business by monetizing their experience and skills. While others tend to help you with your business as freelance mentors, collaborating with the former can help you drive through major business aspects systematically.

Plus, given that you are a small business or startup, hiring a consulting service does not require you a lot of investment.

Let’s look at the three basic ways you can differentiate between a consultant and mentor and choose the right people to guide you through your startup journey. Although I have mentioned it earlier, LinkedIn may still sometimes lack the complete picture of how well sorted a consultancy service is. So, let’s see what you can do to make sure you end up with the right people.

Pro-Tip: of all the important aspects and methods you can choose your right consultant, it comes down to one basic and most essential factor – communication. Make sure you communicate well with the consultants generously before finalizing anything.

1.     Evaluate Their External Skills

Companies that offer consulting services to startup always have one or more of the below-mentioned qualities in-store;

• Better skills in understanding what your queries are
• New and intricate ideas for your business
• An effective and productive plan to cater to all the aspects relevant to you
• Years of experience and a strong portfolio

All this helps evaluate and understand the consulting company’s strategies, work ethics, and track record. Among several strategies, YouTube videos, Quora threads, or blogs published by the company also help evaluate its skillset and proficiency.

While these are only some ways to evaluate how well-sought the company is, the general idea is to dig deeper and learn more about the company on every level.

2.     Know More About them

Ask questions to the consultant – ask them about their startups, how and why they started, how well they did, what problems they solved, how successful they were, and so on.

The more they tell you about their professional experiences and previous work, the more it helps you filtering out who could be the right person for your startup. When you ask them about their previous collaborations, make sure to evaluate “what they think was stopping them from being at the top.”

When you ask questions and talk with the consultant about their work, it does two important things. Firstly, it signifies you as a competent, professional, and thoughtful person who is very much interested in growing big.

The second and most important thing helps you understand how far they have been, how considerate they are towards their work, and how honest and concrete they can be with you. The answers to these questions would certainly narrow your list down to the very selective ones.

3.     Tell Them What You Are Looking For

When it comes to communicating with the consultants before collaborating with them, it includes asking them about their working experience and ideologies. Rather it also caters to letting them know what you are looking for and what you expect from a consultation service.

When you are in conversation with a consultation service, what usually happens is asking you about your nature of work, what you plan to do, your idea, etc. And once they get the idea, they try to give you a glimpse of what they have in store for you.

This is when you can evaluate and assist that whether the consultant you are in conversation with is the right choice for your business or not.

4.     Choose Someone Who offers More Than Just Consultancy Services

Now, this one is definitely an additional factor, but very important. Getting in touch with people and companies who might not offer any consultancy but are highly skilled at what they do can help you optimize your business idea in numerous manners.

With years of experience in their field, they can develop valuable insights and ideas to help you grow and stabilize your startup business to a maximum level. You can ask them to be your mentor in finance and resource management, guide you through your IT-related queries, or ask for their help developing a robust marketing strategy.

Many companies may not have enough time or business policies that led them to collaborate with you. However, teaming up with companies that offer outsourcing services for developing an app can bring along several perks and benefits.

Summing Up,

Hiring consultation services for your new business startup can be a very good idea, but it can be great to hire the right service provider. As your startup puts a lot at stake for you, choosing a service must be a crucial aspect of your business.

You must look into several things and evaluate when you wish to hire a consulting service for your business. Make sure to choose wisely!