Using a Consultant to Help Your Business Grow. Hiring a consultant is the surest way to know whether your business is operating as efficiently as possible, and ensure that you are accessing your maximum market penetration. Use a consultant to discover the strengths and weaknesses within your business and put that new information to work.

The top 5 advantages of using a consultant:

1. Consultants see situations that have gone unnoticed by regular staff.

2. Consultants upgrade the education and experience of your staff.

3. A consultant is specifically oriented toward producing results.

4. You pay only for the time you use them.

5. Gives you extra staff without permanent obligations.

A consultant could help your business in ways you never imagined. Shifts in industries or economics often prove challenging to companies that aren't ahead of the curve. Perhaps you're a start-up about to pitch a new account, but have no idea how you'd handle the volume if you landed it. Here are a few other examples of companies that have benefited by the help of a consultant:

• A radio station, overshadowed by ever-growing conglomerates, helped its sales department develop new short and long-term sales strategies.

• A real-estate firm secured anonymous representation to an outside party, which proved advantageous in their negotiations for investment capital and acquisitions.

• An independent restaurant owner discovered a fresh approach to a problem she couldn't solve internally.

• A staffing firm obtained an outside appraisal of their business and how it was operating.

• A small catering company used a consultant to help prepare a proposal for a large-scale, long-term project that would take its operations to a new level.

• A start-up pet supply chain was able to project the effects of possible expansion or diversification.

© 2006 RK Auto Group

Tom Kline (TomKline@RKAutoGroup.net) is Controller of RKAutoGroup (RK Buick, RK Chevrolet, RK Subaru, RK Toyota and RK Scion.