When considering the need for business advisory services, it can be intimidating to initiate the process of finding the partners you need to get the job done. Oftentimes, you are aiming to resolve a business challenge that falls outside your typical work responsibilities. On top of familiarizing yourself with a business issue, you are also trying to find the right role and the right personality fit for your organization. There are many types of business advisory roles that perform a wide variety of tasks and bring certain expertise to the forefront. To help you kick start your search process, here are some of the more common business advisory-related roles and what they can help you achieve for your unique business needs.
Management Consultant- Management consultants bring a wide breadth of experience to assist companies with a range of issues. Often times they assist in problem-solving, improving business efficiencies and performance, adding value and increasing growth opportunities.
Investment Banker- Investment bankers are highly knowledgeable in assisting with financial challenges. They are usually involved in raising capital and funds for an organization and may also provide strategies on transactions such as buying or selling their business, mergers and acquisitions and more.
Fractional CFO– Fractional CFOs are professionals that assist companies with tasks like cash flow management, financial strategy, audits, regulations and more on a specified schedule. Typically, they work on a part-time basis or are only involved in certain projects.
Succession Planning Consultant- Succession planning consultants specialize in improving and implementing a company’s long-term succession plan to ensure they have an effective bench of talent available to take on leadership roles when demand is present, whether that is an emergency or due to retirement.
Business Transformation Consultant- Business transformation consultants partner with clients on projects that focus on strategy integration, streamlining processes, and modernizing technology with the goal of increasing profits and shareholder value while reducing costs.
Now that you have some background on business advisory roles, you may find in your hiring process that they are asking you certain questions with verbiage or acronyms that you haven’t heard before. Business advisory and consultants like many other industries come with their own set of vocabulary and terms. Understanding these terms allows you to get an ahead start with your business conversations while giving you a better idea of how the consultants plan to implement their strategies once hired, and what results to look for. Here are a few key business advisory terms that you may hear from your potential consultant or advisor:
KPI- Is an acronym for Key Performance Indicator, which are certain metrics that organizations track that give an overview of how a part of your business is performing.
Engagement- Another word for a project or the task at hand in which you are involving the consultant
Due Diligence- The in-depth overview of your business model that consultants will provide you with the goal of setting set clear expectations, risks, and dependencies as part of their business proposal
Bandwidth- A term for the available free time or capacity to accomplish additional work.
C-Suite- Another way of referring to an organization’s executive team or any title that starts with a capital “C” for example, “CEO”, “CFO”, “CIO“, “CMO,” etc.
SME- Is an acronym for Subject Matter Expert which are individuals at organizations who have niche industry knowledge or a very specific role. Advisors or consultants may lean on them for information or input on strategy for that particular area.
Benchmarks- Are metrics that set the standard for what competitors aim to achieve in their designated market. For example, product pricing or the types of services offered as compared to competitors.
Buy-In- Another way of saying support or agreeing with a certain idea or strategy.
Finding the right individual that can find the solution to whatever business challenge you are trying to overcome doesn’t have to be difficult. By having a deeper grasp of some of the roles out there and basic advisory terminology, you have taken the first step in making the search process easier. At BerganKDV, our business advisory solution offers various services to help address whatever business obstacle facing your organization. To learn more about our service offerings and what solutions we can provide you, feel free to contact our team and one of our experts would be happy to assist.
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