A business consultant is an individual or firm that provides consulting services to other firms, enterprises, organizations on a wide range of issues.

The services of business consultants are used by organizations that do not have relevant departments in their structures or who want to change something, but who do not know how. For example, many Russian enterprises at one time renamed the sales departments to marketing. However, this did not change their sales policy, because if the wooden fence was painted with silver paint, this does not mean that it acquired metallic properties. It is to such enterprises that marketing consulting services are needed both to assist in market research and to form their own specialized structures.

Business consultants can provide comprehensive services as well as specialize in one area of ​​activity, for example, business plans, audits, market research, legal advice, business registration and real estate valuation, consulting services, etc. . Naturally, only sufficiently large firms are able to provide comprehensive consulting services, while individuals are usually specialists in specific fields or are engaged in consulting small companies.

Invited consultants help the manager to analyze the general state of affairs at the enterprise (for all its activities and sources), to check the compliance of the accounting with legal aspects and existing standards, to conduct a competitive analysis of the industry, to analyze profitability, to prepare an investment project, to establish tax planning, to carry out personnel certification , organize advanced training and much, much more.

The best results can be achieved if the consultant and the organization have signed a long-term contract. In this case, a more trusting relationship is established between them and there is no need to collect new information each time (which creates new expenses) - it gradually accumulates, forming a more reliable statistical base. It is noticed that enterprise managers do not go for the development of integrated programs, as a rule, inviting business consultants to work in certain areas. It is indisputable that consultations of this kind can only be carried out by highly qualified specialists with a higher education and with sufficiently extensive experience in the relevant fields.

Payment for business consultants depends on their level of professionalism, nationality (Russian or foreign company), the “name” in the market and the amount of work (usually hourly) and can vary from several hundred to several thousand dollars.