Consulting profession. Who is the consultant? Features of the profession. Types of consultants. Career steps and prospects

Allows you to choose the one you like. However, there are those where even a beginner, with a certain approach and diligence, can start making a career. One of these is a consultant who is it, what requirements and opportunities you can get - read on.

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Features of the profession

The provision of advisory services allows a person to solve a number of problems related to the explanation of not only certain terms and designations, but also various characteristics of goods.
It is for this reason that a consultant is a person who is a professional in a particular industry and provides consulting services in this particular field of activity.

Today, the labor market is especially in demand for specialists with a certain level of training and who are able to provide consulting services on various issues.

The profession of a consultant is divided into 2 main types :

providing services at the internal level, when being an employee of the organization, a specialist can consult not only his colleagues, but also clients who seek help;
providing services at the external level. Most often, this will be an individual entrepreneur providing advisory services using a special agency.

Let's look at the main areas in which professional consultants can work.

Shop assistant

One of the most demanded professions in the labor market is a sales assistant. Its main task is to correctly tell about the product, and in such a way that it is immediately purchased.

Like many, the specialty of a sales consultant provides specialists with career opportunities. However, for this it will be necessary to show maximum diligence and energy. Only in this case, he will succeed on a rather difficult path to the top.

Career growth will take place in several stages:

the entry level will be a simple salesperson providing advisory services;
senior sales consultant;
shift leader;
store or salon manager.

With great effort, nothing is impossible.

Financial Consultant

The provision of advisory services related to finance is always in demand and requires a specialist to have deep knowledge in this industry. This consultant is contacted at those moments when it becomes necessary to make transactions, assess the financial condition, develop a strategy, choose an object for investment, and resolve the issue of buying and selling.
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At the same time, the specialist is required to be a professional in the field of finance. Constantly monitor the changes taking place in the stock market, study and understand changes in legislation, analyze the financial situation in the country and abroad, always be aware of all the opportunities for successful investment, and much more.

Modern business cannot carry out its activities without knowledge of tax laws. It is for this reason that the services of a tax consultant will always be in demand.

Only they will be able to obtain detailed information regarding the problems that arise with taxation. In order to be in demand, specialists study not only tax issues. But also tax law.

Business consultant

For those who are planning to start their own business or are already an entrepreneur, it can be important to get qualified advice on running a business.

This includes questions such as:

competent and correct preparation of a business plan;
personnel certification;
audit control;
carrying out company registration;

These and many other questions can be solved by specialists who have chosen the main profession of a consultant who it is, the main requirements were covered in this article.

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Business consultants provide consulting services to various firms and entrepreneurs on a variety of issues. Most often, they work within the framework of a narrow specialization: drawing up a business plan, conducting an audit, personnel certification, market research, company registration, etc. The task of business consultants is to recognize the problem and offer a concrete solution. They help the head of the enterprise to study the state of affairs, conduct the necessary analysis of the situation, understand the nuances of the problem that has arisen and make the right decisions.

Places of work

Typically, business consultants are employed by consulting companies. They may also work for law firms, advertising agencies, and other B2B companies.

History of the profession

Professional business consultants appeared at the beginning of the 20th century, but consulting began to develop intensively only after the war, becoming widespread in the 70-80s in Japan, Great Britain, the USA and Europe.

Russian consulting emerged only in the 90s of the last century and is now in the stage of active growth. The profession of a business consultant is becoming more and more complex, popular and in demand.

Responsibilities of a business consultant

The main task of a specialist has three steps: to study the situation - to find problems - to offer specific solutions to these problems. In the future, the consultant can accompany the project until its successful completion.

Job responsibilities of a business consultant may look like this:

pre-project research and analysis of the company's activities;
description of business processes;
development of corporate regulations, instructions, terms of reference and various accompanying documentation;
project support;
conducting business trainings and consulting project participants.

Requirements for a business consultant

The most important requirement for a business consultant is to be well versed in their field of consulting.

The main requirements may be:

higher education in law or economics;
PC fluency;
negotiation skills (often at the level of top executives of companies);
ability to analyze, model and build business processes;
ability to create instructions, technical specifications and other documentation.

Sometimes you may need:

experience in implementing software and automating the activities of companies;
training experience;
knowledge of English;
team leadership experience.

business consultant resume template

How to become a business consultant

No school has a program called "business consultant". To become a business consultant, you need to graduate from the Faculty of Law or Economics of a university and gain extensive practical experience in the relevant field of activity.

business consultant salary

The level of income of a business consultant on the degree of his professionalism. He can receive from 30,000 to 400,000 rubles a month, depending on the project that the specialist is leading. Experienced business consultants are highly valued and earn a lot.

First steps in consulting

I regularly receive letters with a single question: " How can I become a business consultant? Where to begin?".

Phew... how tired I am of answering such questions... Especially when they come from people aged 20+. Friends, I'll tell you straight: the desire to become a business consultant at such a young age is a pathology. Which should be treated with electricity :) Let me explain.

All over the world (but not in Russia) consulting is " gray hair profession". People go there who ALREADY have something for their souls, have some kind of solid life and professional experience. These are people who have ALREADY achieved success in some profession, made a career, implemented many projects, achieved significant results in society and status.

WHERE exactly people come to consulting (from business, from science, from sports, etc.) - this is no longer so important. It is important to understand two fundamental things:

1. Consulting is separate, NEW (in relation to past successes and life experience) sphere of professional activity. They have their own competencies, skills, tools, principles of work, etc. etc.

Consulting needs to be learned, and you need to work hard to constantly improve your skills and abilities related specifically to consulting. This is what I mean by simply "going" into consulting - anyone can. The entry thresholds for this business are fantastically low (it’s even more difficult to open a hairdressing salon)))). But only a few become professionals in consulting.

2. There are many things in the world that cannot be implemented directly. If only because these are "fuzzy concepts" - no one fully knows and is not sure what it really is :)

An example of such a fuzzy concept is "happiness". Who knows what it actually is, and how to get it with a guarantee ... For example, right now, after reading these lines, can you snap your fingers (pull a hair out of your beard, press a button, etc.) and become happy?

I repeat - there are many things that are a certain side effect, uncontrollable our ongoing activity/activities. If you strive for happiness by attacking it head-on, you will, at best, become an unfortunate drug addict. But if you live a productive, interesting life filled with meaning and emotions, doing what you love, communicating with good people, happiness will find you :)

The same story with consulting... A person who dreams "on the forehead" of becoming a business consultant (business coach) is a preoccupied maniac :) But then what is consulting a by-product of WHAT?

Consulting is HELPING PROFESSION. Those. this is a by-product of your sincere and constant desire to help other people. Think about it! It is important not to confuse some fundamental things here! For example...

Consulting is NOT a desire teach/teach others. If you want to teach, go into pedagogy and torment shkolota :) In business consulting, it is still unknown who teaches whom :)) If you like the role of a mentor / guru, then it’s better to skip consulting (until you have done a lot of bad things).

Consulting is NOT a desire show off in front of the public. If you want to show off in front of large audiences, go to the Petrosians :) Of course, business clowns ( oh sorry, motivational speakers :))) is in fashion today, but on this path one must at least have acting talent (to become a "consultant"))).

I repeat: consulting is a sincere desire help other people in their work, in achieving THEIR GOALS. Of course, you can help in different ways. Familiar story: Do you want to help? Get close, take a shovel, and dig!" :))) Here you need a very clear understanding of the subject of your activity and your strengths ( unique competencies, with the help of which you can really provide valuable assistance to the client).

About myself beloved :) I know exactly what I have two unique competencies. First, I am a professional psychologist. Second, I researcher, analyst, scientist. Subject of my activity- people (more precisely, their psyche) and information. I also know how to use a shovel, but using my competence to dig is not the best idea :) It's like hammering nails with a microscope.

I started helping others as a psychologist. People asked for advice on a variety of issues, including many related to business: How to resolve conflict in the workplace? How to motivate your own employees? How to develop a new product so that it is attractive to customers? How to train new employees? etc. etc. I just helped in solving these issues, for many years without even thinking that I was actually doing business consulting :)

The same story is with scientific competencies. I will give just one example from many years ago ( then I was still working as a university teacher, and there was no inscription "business consultant" on my business card))). A familiar businessman in a private conversation complained that he had a "crisis in sales." He has several stores, but recently he found new suppliers, greatly changed the assortment, and indeed "the whole concept of sales." Then sales crashed...

I began to ask questions in order to understand the situation, began to jointly discuss the causes and consequences of the crisis. We came to the conclusion that some marketing actions are needed to convey a new concept of sales to customers. It also turned out that the company has a marketer, and there is a luxurious client base. "Luxury" because customers were periodically interviewed, and the database contained a lot of useful high-quality information. For example, incl. how customers reacted to those marketing actions that were previously carried out. There was so much information the client base contained almost 3 thousand IDs), that it was just some kind of Big Data))))

My eyes immediately lit up: "And let's make customer segmentation based on these very data! And we will do it on the basis of all the data at our disposal, using some methods of statistical analysis." The head "gave the go-ahead"; I did a cluster analysis; together with a marketer for each cluster-segment, we proposed ideas for promoting a new sales concept and a new assortment; after which they rushed to translate these very ideas into practice ...

For those eager to become consultants:) I emphasize: 1) I just tried to help in solving an urgent problem; 2) I tried to help with the help of those competencies/tools that I am fluent in (in this case, multivariate statistical analysis); 3) then I didn't think that I was a "business consultant" :))) I rather solved a research problem. As a result of the research, I obtained some new knowledge (a detailed description of client segments), and transferred this knowledge to those who have already used it in practice.

By the way (again for beginners;)) I will say that I did this research for free then. I was just wondering what would come of it - purely cognitive interest. In addition, I was not at all sure whether the knowledge gained about customer segments would help the company out of the crisis. Knowledge helped :) But I received gratitude (in the form of money))) from the head of the company almost a year later - when it was already clearly clear that this information was useful to them.

Speaking of today when my business card already says "business consultant"))), then things get more complicated. There are types of work for which I undertake only for decent money, only on an advance payment, and I also show off at the same time))) For example, like the statistical analysis of the company's client base described above. It's just that this competence has been honed by me for many years, and with a 99% guarantee I know that the information extracted as a result of the analysis will be useful for the customer.

But despite this, principle remains unchanged: First the desire to help, then everything else". That is why among my projects there are a lot of free ones or those that I do for a penny. These are projects where I am not sure about the sufficiency of my competencies, or about the usefulness of the result for the customer ( which, by the way, I always honestly warn). This is incl. charitable projects. These are projects in which I develop myself, and where the very interaction with interesting and smart people is much more important than the money received. These are projects where not only I help (unilaterally), but where genuine cooperation and mutual assistance arises...

Why am I writing all this? Here comes another one of these days a letter asking "How do I become a consultant?". And it has a lot more clarifications: How much should a consultant earn? What should be the rates for services? Do I need to register an IP? Etc. etc. Maybe these questions are important ... But in my understanding, these are all minor trifles.

The main thing - do you want to help other people in their business? Can you really do this (help = temporarily forget about your life and your interests, and live the interests and goals of the client)?

Do you have some valuable competencies(and are you working on continually building them up) through which you can help others?

Answer positively to these questions - you can take a chance, poke your head into consulting :)

Suppose you read everything and I didn't dissuade you... Those. still itching to become a business consultant :) And still I want to get specific advice ... Get it!

Here is some concrete advice for you: in my opinion, there is 4 types of professional competencies of a business consultant, and you can start "becoming a business consultant" by working through any of them.

1.Industry competencies. In what real business, in what field of activity do you understand best? In retail? In the oil trade? In internet marketing? In the restaurant business? (etc.)

What industry have you ALREADY worked in before? In what industry during your career have you achieved maximum results, implemented outstanding projects? In what industry do you have a unique "author's", innovative experience?

Even if you have no real work experience in the industry you are interested in, how do you rate your "industry outlook"? Are you able to communicate with industry professionals in the same language? Are you able to maintain professional topics of conversation at such a level that you can easily be taken for "one's own"?

2.System competencies. Any business consists of typical subsystems (typical business processes): strategic and operational management; marketing; production; personnel management; quality management; financial management, etc. etc.

What systemic competence (and, importantly: developed to a very high standard) do you possess? Maybe you are well versed in personnel management? Or can you manage corporate finance?

Systemic competencies require special education ( for example, if you want to become a HR consultant, get at least a university degree in HR management!) and a whole complex of professional knowledge, skills and abilities.

Let me emphasize: the system competence chosen by the consultant must be developed at a VERY high level! You must constantly learn, learn, learn, and implement project after project in a wide variety of organizations. Otherwise, you simply will have nothing useful / new to give to those system specialists who are already working in the organization.

Do you understand what I mean? In order, for example, for a consultant to be of any help to a professional marketer who has been working in a particular organization for many years, the consultant must be a super-duper-mega-marketer who can give at least something of value to a competent professional ALREADY. This means that you must be able to "pump" your system competence faster, wider and lumpier :) than your client. Do you/can you do that?

3.Instrumental competencies. Business consulting is help that is carried out with the help of various tools. The nature of these tools can be very different - managerial, psychological, economic, financial, etc.

As a rule, all these tools are easily accessible (just look through any textbook). Moreover, I will tell you in confidence that it is almost impossible to come up with new, some kind of especially advanced and "secret" tools in the world of management and business. Under the promoted "latest methods of consulting" is usually hidden the banal desire of the "creators" to simply cut down on such a "rebranding" of money.

It is not by chance that I say that all the tools are ALREADY known and readily available. It's not about the tools, but how deeply, precisely and masterfully we use them. Many years ago, I thought that there is nothing simpler and more primitive than, say, a SWOT analysis, or, for example, mapping the problems of an organization. These are really VERY SIMPLE tools, described in any management or marketing textbook...

And then I saw how these "simple" tools are applied in practice by a Professional consultant (with a capital "P") - Arkady Ilyich Prigozhin. And I realized two things: a) these tools are not at all simple, they are very powerful and allow you to extract a lot of useful information and help in solving many problems; b) there are many subtleties and variations in the application of these methods "for all occasions."

It's about the same as with the violin. If you put this wonderful instrument in the hands of an unprepared person, then he can only knock on the body :))) And if you put it in the hands of the Master, he will be able to perform a whole suite on one string...

Now, in fact, the question is: what specific consulting tool do you master perfectly, at a master level? At least one?! You speak at a level that no one else owns - i.e. Do you have unique experience, knowledge and skills in using this tool?

4. "Foreign" competencies. Any business is a living and open system. This is part of life. Business will never be a science in which everything is subject to strict laws and rules.

This means that there are no and never will be hard limits in understanding the process and methods of business consulting. Business can be developed with the help of instrumental metaphors borrowed from various areas of life.

For example, if "the whole world is a theater, and people are actors in it", and you personally are a brilliant director, then why not use your professional skills for business consulting? For example, you can take and organize a business theater :) / And this is ALREADY a realized idea :)) just enter "business theater" in any search engine/.

Maybe you're a great jazz player and can advise on starting a "funky business"? ;) Or are you a great traveler and can give you some tips on how to develop an "expedition-style business"? ;))) / And these are also realized ideas!/

Question: do you have any unique "foreign" (i.e., not directly related to the business) competencies, but which are in demand by the business or can be a valuable business metaphor? Can you use the competencies you already have to really help the business?

WANT TO BE A BUSINESS CONSULTANT? The four types of professional competencies of a consultant are listed above - take and develop any of them. Can be used separately or combined :)

I am also often asked the question: What to read on business consulting?". It's simple :) We decided to pump industry competence - read everything you can about "your" industry. Especially periodicals. Especially professional forums / blogs on the Internet. Especially foreign professional forums / blogs. (We decided to pump system or instrumental competence - recommendations similar ones).

By the way, even if you have a specialized education (say, a university degree in management), I highly recommend re-reading textbooks. Especially those sections that are related to your chosen consulting specialization. Re-read not like a student, not "for show", but purposefully look for tools that are close and interesting to you, and which will then feed you, by the way. Finding "something interesting" in the textbooks, search (Google for help!) for the latest books and articles on these topics/tools (special journals, forums, blogs).

In addition to specialized literature, it is important to have some general idea of what counseling is, how the process is organized, what rules a consultant must follow, etc. Counseling is now being written and published a lot of all sorts of turbidity, so I recommend starting with the classics:

1) Any books and articles of the already mentioned AI Prigozhin. In general, I believe that the very first book read by a novice consultant should be " Organization Development Methods"(2003). She is very well complemented" Disorganization: Causes, types, overcoming" (2007).

2) All David Meister books: "Trusted advisor", "First among equals", "True professionalism", "Strategy and the fat smoker", "Managing a professional services firm", "Do what you preach".

3) To understand (feel!) what business consulting is at the level of industry leaders, I highly recommend reading I. Rasiel, P. Friga " McKinsey Tools" and / or I. Rasiel "McKinsey Method".

4) One of the first books (read back in 1999), which also helped me understand what counseling is as a professional activity - Calvert Markham " Management consulting(later republished as "Management Consulting").

Of course, there are other books on business consulting. Maybe someday I will continue this list;)

If you liked / found this text useful, be sure to

So what is the main task of a business consultant? He scrupulously understands the problem of business activity, finds and offers ways to solve it under the guise of specific actions. After a thorough study of business production at the moment, a professional comprehensively analyzes the current situation, determines the reasons due to which this or that problem has appeared, and offers a whole range of measures to solve it. Often there are cases when a specialist personally participates in the implementation of their own methods and solutions in order to clarify their effectiveness, and if necessary, make adjustments and bring all activities to their logical conclusion.

Usually, specialists of this level choose for themselves one specific direction, and they are invited to solve certain problems, which include:

Company registration.
Marketing research of the current state of the market.
Organization and preparation of a business plan.
Employee certification.
Lawyer consulting.
Auditing.
Real estate appraisal, etc.

The vocation of this specialist is to improve the state of business production, develop relationships with partners, increase profits, and optimize business processes. He can be part of a consulting company, or he can work independently as an independent professional. But for the latter case, he must be highly qualified and have extensive work experience behind him. Most often, independent specialists provide services for small companies or help in solving individual issues.

Job Responsibilities of a Counseling Specialist

The business consultant has the following list of job responsibilities:

Business organization consulting.
Assessment of the business condition of the organization, as well as financial, material and personnel.
Assessment of the production and innovation potential of the organization, identification of its problems.
Assessment for the prospect of further development of the organization.
Analysis of current projects that have a direct impact on the development of the organization. Development of completely new projects and planning for its development, their economic feasibility is calculated.
Development of schemes of measures for the financial recovery of the company (due to investments, lending, loans, etc.).
Tracking trends in business and market needs, preparing source materials with which business projects will be developed. To substantiate all this financially and economically, in the future to coordinate the work in the course of the implementation of some projects.
To coordinate their actions with the actions of departments of the organization, including individual specialists.
Advise the manager during planning, contractual and contract documentation, ongoing agreements, negotiations with contractors, etc.
Account for the work done.

Business consultant: features of the profession

If an organization needs third-party help from a specialist, then this means that its leader is ready to invest in its promotion, modernize business processes, and optimize costs and resources.

A professional business consultant is constantly at work. His busy work schedule, along with great responsibility, is justified not only from the financial side, but he also acquires valuable experience, applying it in his future work.

The rapid aging of practice pushes to the birth of new ideas, an excessive number of options, turning to real cases taken from the experience of other enterprises.

Therefore, a new business consultant born in this process must be able to make a correct analysis of the current situation, and with the help of various approaches to bring new ideas to life.

". In comments from readers, a request was made to tell in more detail who a business consultant is in small and medium-sized businesses, what tasks this person performs, what knowledge he should have, and when he is needed. And today I am fulfilling my promise to the readers then. So let's get started.

Who is a business consultant?

I will not give dry definitions here, I think they are of no interest to anyone. A business consultant is the same person who is invited from outside to help find a solution to some problems. It is also obvious that looking from the “outside” very often helps to reveal what you would never find as an employee of the company.

I want to talk to you exclusively about business consultants who work with small and medium-sized businesses, because. with enterprises with approximately 5 to 70 employees. This work is in many ways different from what the specialists who are involved in such cases by large companies do. And, just, with these nuances it makes sense to understand.

So, what are the features of small and medium-sized businesses?

The structure of the business is quite simple. Usually there is no need for complex logistics or analytics. Management is carried out by a small number of people. Many other structures are also missing, without which it is impossible to imagine the management of a large company.
A small business does not have sufficient financial resources to attract a whole staff of different specialists to work.

It is these two reasons - lack of need and cost savings - that have led to the fact that for small and medium-sized businesses, the services of a generalist consultant are the best solution.

I remind you that a generalist consultant (as opposed to a specialist consultant) is a person who is able to assess the business as a whole, outline general trends, see prospects and opportunities for improving the situation. Usually the situation is outside the scope of one process and/or function.

Of course, not everything is so simple. Understanding what is happening in business and finding the causes of "illness" is only half the battle. The decision must be specific, like a prescription from a doctor. Therefore, along with a general understanding of business processes, the consultant must have many related knowledge and skills. So, today it is impossible to imagine running a business without the use of software. Therefore, a business consultant must be oriented in the IT field, have knowledge of what solutions exist, what can be implemented on order, be able to set a task for a programmer, etc.

Why do you need a business consultant?

When dealing with new clients, I constantly have to answer this question. It is also often asked by my former colleagues from the IT field and employees of various companies.

It would seem true:

The structure of a small enterprise is quite simple.
To see the work “as a whole” can and even should be able to be a manager.
The "weak link" is not difficult to find, often even clerks understand which department "slows down" the work.
For automation, you can directly contact the programmer.

All this is, of course, true. This is how a small company should operate. But the reality is somewhat different from any business scheme, and it usually differs for the worse. As a result, the company works for some time, current problems are solved as they arise more or less successfully. And then comes the crisis. And then the business consultant is called.

What does a business consultant see most often?

« The “bottleneck” of a business very often turns out to be something completely different from what the client was talking about.
For example, you can be 100% sure that your company cannot increase turnover due to a slow warehouse. You buy computers and some software for automating work for a warehouse. Hire more movers and storekeepers so that they collect orders faster. At the same time, the real problem lies in the ill-conceived work of the delivery department. It is enough to optimize transport routes, learn how to transfer documents to the warehouse in the correct order, and the throughput of this warehouse will increase without any other investment.
To solve the problem that arises, a complex and erroneous path is chosen.
As you know, you learn from your mistakes. But is it worth learning exclusively from your own? A business consultant is essentially a crisis manager. He is called when the company is facing certain problems. The consultant analyzes the business, understands the prerequisites that led to the current situation. He sees many different erroneous decisions, as well as their consequences in practice. And, of course, he will not repeat such mistakes in his work. That is why the help of a business consultant very often saves the business from the “rake dance”, which your competitors have already visited.
When automating work, preference is given to far from the best tool.
Most often, a business executive and a programmer speak “different languages”. As a result, the programmer either works without those tasks at all, i.e. compiles it for himself on the basis of what he himself guessed in a conversation with the client, or receives a technical specification, which actually forces him to do not quite what the client really needs. Moreover, any IT specialist, without exception, is limited in choosing a solution by his specialty. So, a 1C specialist will habitually modify one of the 1C configurations for the task at hand, at a time when an Excel spreadsheet or a separate program for sending mail may be enough to solve the problem.

So, a business consultant is the very person who will be able to competently diagnose the problems that have arisen in your business. He is used to looking not only at obvious symptoms, but analyzes the entire business process. After that, the business consultant will prescribe the right “treatment” for you. He has practical experience, there is knowledge and understanding of the mistakes of your colleagues, there are different solutions that have been tested in practice.

The business consultant must be an IT consultant

If a business consultant works with small and medium businesses, he must also be an IT consultant. Modern business processes cannot be imagined without automation. Many enterprises need new products, methods, and, as a result, programs. The introduction of some new process without software support is not realistic. And you need to be able to choose the optimal solution, as well as explain to the client why such a software product is best suited. In addition, it is very important to understand how it will interact with other programs and processes in the enterprise. For a small business, it is best if one person chooses the tactics and strategy of the business, as well as software support for new business processes.

At the same time, a business consultant cannot be tied to any one software product. Unlike a programmer, he must choose the optimal solution each time, without "getting hung up" on some familiar tools. A business consultant does not care whether the work of new processes will be built using 1C, some specially developed applications or standard Microsoft Office tools. He knows well what the modern IT market can offer, knows how to clearly set a task for a programmer, and always chooses the solution that is best suited for automating business processes in a particular case.

Turnkey work and other nuances

A very important point for small businesses. The consultant will help to realize all your ideas and suggestions:

Prepare and help implement any personnel changes, changes in working hours, etc.
Prepare and implement new software solutions. All the nuances - from the choice of the program and ending with the search for a specialist and implementation - the consultant takes over.
In the process of solving the problem, if necessary, he will work out some nuances separately, including attracting experts of an advising profile to this.
Train staff in new ways of working.

Most often, a business consultant works with one enterprise for no more than 1.5 years. During this period, all assigned tasks are fully resolved. And when new business solutions begin to work in a regular mode, the company's employees themselves can continue to work in the right direction without help and prompts, the work of a business consultant with a specific enterprise is completed. As my practice shows, until the next difficult task.

Separately, I would like to say about one more function of a business consultant. This is the "lightning rod" function. Personally, I have not once encountered such a situation. The head of the company, even without my help, knew that the company needed change. Moreover, I understood in many respects which ones. But he also understood that these changes would lead to unpleasant personnel decisions for some of the staff. The team is friendly and hardworking. If you start introducing some innovations, they may be offended and leave, including those specialists whom you don’t want to lose at all. What is the result? Reforms are shelved for fear of making things worse

What happens when a business consultant shows up? He is a stranger, and it is he who is responsible for all unpopular decisions. Everything is simple and clear. The company has certain problems. The manager hired a specialist who then proceeds as he sees fit to solve the task. And all the negativity from the team is directed precisely at the consultant.

It would seem that these are all trifles. But it is precisely such “little things” that very often help in a small company to maintain both employees and normal relations in the team, and to carry out all changes as painlessly as possible. The consultant is not afraid of this negative. He worked and left. Yes, and he is paid money just for the introduction of changes, so the reaction is familiar, it does not cause any emotions, and the leader has one less problem, and a problem of no small importance.

How did I come to this?

The question of how I came to this profession, which is so rare for our country, is also asked to me quite often. Yes, and to understand the specifics of the work, it will not be superfluous to talk about it. Maybe even some of you would like to become my colleague. And here I hope that my way, my mistakes and achievements can be useful.

By the way, today in the Russian market business consultants for small and medium-sized businesses are in great demand. This niche is still very poorly filled. And the work is incredibly interesting, and not only financially. I personally will always be happy to help any of you become my colleague, I will suggest good literature, and I will answer questions. Who needs it - write, I will be glad. And I will immediately recommend a book that I myself consider a desktop: “Management Consulting. Introduction to the profession Edited by Milan Kubra .

So, I lived in Ufa, was engaged in business, was actually the deputy director of a fairly solid company. We sold auto parts, then it was profitable. It would seem, what else is needed? I had a very decent income, had a car with a personal driver, a quiet job and a “solid” 100 kg with some tendency to further increase in body weight. Here is such a classic "boss".

I know that, unfortunately, for most of the Russians, such a course of action is the ultimate dream. Too many of us are “sharpened” solely for profit. As a result, even too many more or less successful sellers have appeared in our country, while there is a clear lack of artisans, specialists who know and love their job.

Personally, when they say the word “craftsman” to me, I remember the German blacksmiths of past centuries, who for generations honed their skills, forged armor, swords, utensils. They were not good sellers. They were specialists who knew and loved their job. And for that they were highly regarded.

What do I want to tell you? If you are a seller, if you think that profit is first of all, then you will most likely not be interested in reading further. But if you, like me, think that it is much more interesting not just to sell, but to create some value yourself, to be a specialist, then we are on the same path.

So, I am a rather active person, my well-established comfortable existence was not enough for me, I wanted something interesting. I read about business consultants, watched interviews with Western business representatives who managed to open branches in our country and become successful precisely with the help of such specialists, and I understood that I can do that too. Moreover, I want to do it. As a result, I gave up everything and moved to Moscow.

1C specialist or my training

Personally, I chose the path closest to me to study various business processes in practice. He graduated from the courses, received a certificate and became a 1C specialist. As you know, 1C programmers constantly work with business processes, with accounting, warehouse, trade, and other types of accounting. Therefore, in the process of working with the 1C program, it is very easy to study the features of a particular company.

The first company where I got a job was a company selling various pet products (pet food, cages, toys, other accessories). The company was actively developing, and even then it had an extensive network of stores. Somehow, in my presence, a dispute about pricing broke out. I already knew how everything works here, and therefore I took the risk of making my proposal - one of the options for uniform pricing for all stores. At first, the reaction of the leadership even offended me. They told me: “Are you a programmer? Mind your own business". But then I realized they were right.

And then I made an important conclusion for myself: If you want to be seen as a business consultant, you must introduce yourself as a business consultant. Otherwise, you and your ideas will never be taken seriously. Businesses are run by people, and people tend to think in stereotypes.

Then I got a job as a project manager. Then he worked in several other positions. So I worked with 1C until 2008, before the crisis. By this point, I already had some ideas and developments, plus I had been working as a freelancer on various projects for about a year.

So, 2008. A crisis. I come to one enterprise, the owner of which is going to implement 1C Production Management. At the same time, I see that he himself doubts his choice and even whether he should implement this program. And then I suggested to start with a description of business processes. It turned out that the management could not understand what was happening in their company, and therefore I turned out to be very useful with my proposal. It should be noted that if not for the crisis, they would hardly have agreed to trust and try to change their company so radically. This project lasted more than two years and gave me experience and convinced me even more that I am on the right path.

This is how I figured out what I need to do to start a career as a business consultant. . Many people have problems in business. I need to come to people, tell them what I can, I need to offer my services. They are really in high demand.

Today I have about 35-45 finished projects in my asset. Each project means new people, industry, new achievements, new ideas. I've worked with a clothing factory, smoothie and juice makers, cosmetics sales, auto parts, storage equipment sales, beauty salons, etc.

I have seen a lot of mistakes in business. After all, I, a business consultant, like a doctor, are most often called when the “disease” becomes apparent, and “self-treatment” does not help. That is why I saw a lot of the most diverse solutions, moreover, in practice. And I can immediately cut off erroneous ideas and choose the optimal “medicine” for a particular situation.

I am constantly learning, and not only in practice. If in our country business consulting for small and medium-sized businesses is very poorly developed, then in the West this specialty is very popular, there are many textbooks, interesting articles are published, there are some methods and even standards of the profession.

Each project is a complex and exciting task. Despite all the knowledge and skills, I do not and cannot have ready-made solutions “on the knee”. Every time I have to study all the nuances of the business, starting from general trends and ending with the work schedule of employees, the system of rewards and punishments, the features of the transport accessibility of the office, warehouse, production, etc. etc. And only after understanding all the nuances of the company's work, I have the opportunity to identify a real problem and offer options for solving it.

A business consultant is not a job for the lazy. I will not talk about how much effort and time it takes to sell my services. On the one hand, they are in great demand, there is a real shortage of business consultants for small and medium-sized businesses. On the other hand, many businessmen do not understand how a business consultant can help them; they have to spend a lot of effort explaining what I am writing about here and now. But these are trifles compared to how much effort will have to be invested in the process of work itself. You have to constantly learn. First, you need to study the nuances of a particular industry, and even a particular enterprise. Secondly, it is not enough to identify the problem, you need to solve it. And this is to think over and implement a software solution, to control the work of employees who, most likely, will sabotage your proposals at first, since the new is always perceived with difficulty. It is necessary to train the staff in new methods of work, constantly monitor the quality of this work and the effectiveness of the chosen solution, and much, much more.

Business consultant for small and medium businesses - it's very interesting!

Unfortunately, today in Russia small and medium-sized businesses are developing very poorly. One of the important reasons for this sad state of affairs is the lack of sufficient experience and knowledge of business processes among entrepreneurs. Business develops, in fact, by trial and error. While in the West, businessmen actively use the services of business consultants, thanks to which they avoid many "pitfalls" in their work and use their capabilities more efficiently.

I consider it very important that in our country the number of business consultants working with small and medium-sized businesses should also increase. And so that businessmen remember that they always have an assistant. A business consultant has no interests or preferences in your business, but is always ready to help in a crisis, develop a reliable and effective development strategy, or even just give really good advice.

I hope that I managed to convey to you the main thing: why a business consultant is needed in small and medium-sized businesses, what he does and what knowledge he should have. And also how interesting this profession is, and how important it is for the success of Russian business that there are more of us, that people turn to us more often, so that together we learn to work even better!