NFIB

Searching for Relief
04/ 15/ 2003

by Charlotte Franck

Along with warmer weather, the arrival of spring kick-starts my allergies. As I searched the store shelves for relief, it hit me: selecting consulting services is a lot like shopping for an allergy remedy. How? You can find relief without paying a premium.

After years as a company employee, I started my own project management business. Soon after, I realized I needed help in areas that fell out of my expertise. Yet I had to be cost conscious. I carefully shopped around for services that met my needs but didn't have the big price tags notorious in the consulting industry. Surprisingly enough, it's a lot like shopping for a cold remedy.

When I'm looking for ways to cure my allergies, I decide what symptoms I want to relieve. Likewise, I find that the most important thing I can do in shopping for consulting services is to clearly define my goals. In my case, I wanted training services to be a successful part of my new business. Therefore, I needed to improve my ability to develop and deliver commercial-grade courses.

The next step in buying allergy medicine is to determine the ingredients that best address the symptoms. In shopping for consulting services, the equivalent is researching the successful skills, knowledge or methods that will improve capability. To develop impactful courses, I discovered that I had to learn more about adult education methods and arranging course materials. By doing my homework, I learned more about the skills I needed to accomplish my goals and began developing a list of potential services and products to assist me.

When it's time to buy consulting services, you'll get better results if you get creative. The good news is that you have more flexibility as a small business. And the small business community offers a wealth of resources, often with better prices than larger consulting firms. I took a seminar led by a self-employed consultant working through a nearby university. Not only did I get a great course, during breaks the instructor shared his knowledge about course design and steps he took to make his business a success.

I used bartering as another strategy in acquiring services. During my research, I found a consultant with a wealth of educational design experience who needed some project management support. We exchanged services and improved our networks at the same time.

By understanding my goals, researching effective methods to improve capability, and thinking out of the box, I have been able to get consulting services for less. Finding the right consulting services is a lot like finding allergy medication, minus the splitting headaches--well, most of the time, at least.

Charlotte Franck is president of InSite Solutions Inc., providing practical project management solutions to businesses and individuals.

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This article originally appeared in the April/May 2003 issue of MyBusiness magazine.

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