Being a Small Business owner is about 20 jobs in one. When you can’t afford to employ new talent to focus on particular jobs, you have to be directly involved with almost every decision. There are so many boxes to tick and jobs to do.
What consultants can do is come in and solve a problem or provide you with the steps you need to move forward. You may have hit a wall and want some clarity on how to grow; there’s so much noise surrounding you when you have to be everything to everyone. I know because I’m a small business owner myself, as well as a consultant. I’m in the thick of it every single day and regularly meeting those metaphorical walls. You’d be astounded at how often I forget to take my own advice whilst trying to ensure my business survives, and I’m pretty passionate about the advice that I give out. I believe in it. But as all consultants must to, I read; and when I read I learn. I might come across a single sentence which acts as the consultant for me. It brings me clarity and triggers action.
Clarity for you may come in the form of an action plan. The decision to become a more sustainable business seems an overwhelming one at first and the more you delve into it, the more possibilities there are. With your workload already spilling over, having someone to organise all of those possibilities into a box tailored specially for your company will allow you to move forward much quicker and to achieve everything you want in the most cost effective way. In order to achieve an ambitious target, especially within a company with a few other people or even 100 other people; you need a plan with plenty of measurable steps. Then every cog in the machine must be on the same page and working in tandem with each other. A consultant will not only provide strategy to help you move towards greater sustainability but will instil a sustainable culture throughout your workforce. You can’t force sustainability folks. If your workforce doesn’t believe in it or other shareholders can’t see the benefits, you’re fighting a losing battle.
Maybe you’re not ready to commit to such a journey but you’re curious to understand just how much of an impact you could make through being more responsible? Keeping a fresh perspective on how to navigate your company forwards and watching over changing trends is almost impossible when you’re also bogged down with the rest of the tasks required of a small business owner. I think we can all agree that sometimes, a fresh perspective from someone external to daily operations, can inspire and jumpstart the machine to move faster again.
You may want your company to hold the reputation of being sustainable; or maybe you can see the economy changing, and understand the market will push you there anyway. Bringing in a Sustainability Consultant will allow you to access years of experience as well as the resources for you to achieve that for the least amount of money and within the shortest time period possible. It also means you don’t have to commit to full-time employees.
Here are just a few reasons you may want to hire a Sustainability Consultant, based on the top 10 reasons other organisations pay for consultancy .
To access expertise. You know you want to become a sustainable brand and build that reputation but you don’t know how to get there? You get a huge sense of imposter syndrome whenever you consider going down that road. Remember, bringing in a consultant can be whatever you want it to be. It can include education for yourself and your team so that you’re better equipped to be part of the conversation in the future.
You need someone to identify the problems in your business and outline a strategy to overcome them. Sometimes it’s difficult to identify the problems lurking in your daily operations, those elements of daily life that are holding you back. Especially if you created those problems in the first place. Having an outside perspective with no emotional attachment to provide non-bias, factual information but in an empathetic way, could be a game-changer for you.
To supplement your staff, without taking on a full-time employee. You may not be able to afford a full-time member of staff to tackle sustainability for you. Using a consultant, you’re able to tailor their services around your available time, budget, and how soon you want to achieve your objectives.
To inspire. Business is every bit like a marriage. It’s easy to get bogged down/in a rut. When you try to take on too much, you cease to be as open-minded as you once were. How can you expect to keep your business fresh, on-trend and agile if you’re trying to do everything yourself? There are only 24 hours in a day folks. Water your garden, freshen things up, welcome positive influence. The companies that get complacent and stagnate or almost always the ones to fail.
Hire for Sustainability. If you want to grow the team, every applicant considered should have sustainability skills, experience, deep interest or qualifications. The whole team should be working towards the same north star. A consultant will help to build this company wide culture and assist throughout the application process.
You may not have a business but you’re planning one. You have some great ideas and you’re desperate to explore starting a new business focused around sustainable values. At this time, budget is often limited but the value you can get from hiring a consultant is likely to be invaluable. It’ll allow you to move at a faster pace, in the right way and to have a support network in place during the process. It’s easy to forget that consultants can often bring their contacts to the table.