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When to use a consultant:

The best time to consider a consultant is when your task at hand requires experience outside your realm of expertise. With the right consultant your company gains the highest level of experience and professionalism at an affordable price without having to hire a full time position.

Alternatively, if you are considering hiring a completely new role, a consultant can allow you to test the waters and see if you have the workload for a full time person.

How to choose a consultant:
In my opinion, a connection should happen at your first meeting. You should genuinely like to work with and speak to your consultant. If you get a bad feeling right off the bat— then move on. If not, do your homework and look at their website, their previous work, and ask for a couple of references. A strong consultant should be an excellent listener, if you find yourself being hit with a generic sales pitch, this may not be the best fit.

How to get started with a consultant:
A good place to start is to work with your consultant to clearly define the scope of work, your goals, and your expectations in writing. This step will help you and the consultant to prevent any miscommunications. Also, ask your consultant how they prefer to work… some bill hourly and some will do an estimate or a ‘not to exceed amount’.  A good consultant will outline their process and clearly indicate timeline and costs.

How to judge if it is worth it:
A consultant’s information is only worth what you make of it.