FAQ: Why Would Sizeable Companies With Sizeable Problems Choose A Solo Consultant, Like You?

There are several reasons. Here are 14 of them...

You always deal with the top decision-maker. There is a great added benefit for you by having instant access to the "mahatma" of the firm, the person who can make decisions and take immediate action to assist you. With large firms you can end up fighting and army of junior staff and the corporate voice mail system, and hoping to get your call returned some day.

As a small one-man firm, I am more responsive. According to surveys, there is an exponential relationship between the size of the firm and its responsiveness. That is, a solo practitioner can be as much as 16 times more responsive, flexible and agile than a firm of four people. There may be strength in numbers but let's not confuse consulting with cattle-farming where headcount is the true indicator of success.

You invest in your desired results, not in number of dispensed hours or poundage of deliverables created. Unlike most large firms that sell you time units, I assist you to achieve certain jointly determined objectives regardless of time or deliverables. You always know exactly how much to invest, what the projected return on your investment is and have no surprises.

Since my overhead is very low, my fees reflect that, and they are not inflated by huge expenses and internal inefficiencies. My fees reflect my contribution to the value you derive from my help and support, so you obtain exceptional return on investment and I am equitably compensated. That's how true collaborators work together. You are also free of subsidising scores of branding and advertising campaigns, company cars, expense accounts, and vast obscure assistance entities.

My approaches are highly customised to your specific needs and are flexible. While many large firms with junior staff and trainees often use "cookie cutter" methods and "proprietary" systems, (Problem #123 is solved with Solution #123 as described in the Solution Manual), our methodologies are the result of a detailed collaborative objective development process, and solutions are based on your objectives with your full involvement.

There are no conflicts of interest and priorities with dozens of other clients. I only take a few clients at a time, so my attention is better focused on your results. Also, there is no chance of competitive clients, and I can guarantee you that I will NOT take on your direct competitor, avoiding the discomfort of having completely separate teams working on your accounts.

You don't pay me to learn the consulting business at your expense. I never use junior partners, newly graduated MBAs, interns or other academic theorists. While many large firms descend down on you with a herd of junior staff, hoping to rev up billable hours, when I use external help, I will use other seasoned professionals who have proved themselves in the trenches. However, for the sake of skill transfer, I prefer to use your people, as much as possible, so they sustain the improvement all by themselves.

I can sign non-disclosure, non-compete and other documents if you wish so. Since you are dealing with only one person plus your own people, confidentiality is further enhanced.

Your extra expenses will be less. My travel, administrative, and support expenses are small, because fewer external people work on your project.

I need you as much as you need me. Each of my clients is highly important to me. I can't afford to have poor relationships or ill-conceived projects. It is either a truly collaborative, win/win effort or no deal.

It is about value and results, not quantity and size. From your standpoint it is the outcomes that are important, not the alternatives. I will be least disruptive to your ongoing operations while obtaining the exact same project results.

I have local community relations. I have to live with the results I have been involved in even after the engagement is completed. This is another incentive for me to do a magnificent job on each project I am engaged in.

I have access to great talents for specific projects. Unlike large firms, I am not restricted to using whoever happens to be available within the firm.

You get a personal advisor not merely an momentarily available account executive. Large firms allocate talents according to the size and profitability of their projects. For large - mainly government - projects, they allocate their top tier talents. If you have a smaller project in the lower revenue range, all you'll get is a greenhorn MBA or other freshly-minted business graduate. Can you really risk your money on a newcomer who has just started learning real-world business?

We both are paddling in the same boat. Just like you, I too am an entrepreneur, not an salaried employee with additional company perks and benefits. If we don't make things happen, we both starve to death. No one will give us paycheques. How could you expect employees from large firms to understand what you go through as an entrepreneur? You have the spine, guts and balls to run your own business. They don't. And while they know how to be great employees, from your entrepreneurial perspective it is just useful as a catflap on the elephant house.

Size doesn't matter, only improvement in your condition. A small agile, innovative and flexible "boutique" firm with a healthy dose of "killer instinct" can be more advantageous to your progress and prosperity than an oversized, top-heavy, "reputable" behemoth, riddled with internal politics, heavy-handedness and an army of business graduates being keen on learning the trade on your dime, eating up a fair chunk of your budget before they can contribute even the value of a ham sandwich.

Remember that David killed Goliath with a small pebble. A tiny 45-lb wolverine can make the mighty 1,000-lb grizzly bear run for his life while hysterically screaming for his mother?/p>

Business development is not about size but intellectual firepower. So never mind the size. Focus on the initellectual strength and power you gain.

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