Consulting company - what is it in simple words. Consulting support Consulting support

1. Consulting. Subjects, types and objects of counseling

Consulting provides assistance in such areas of the company's activities as economic, financial, marketing, personnel, management (including optimization of the overall functioning of the company, doing business), etc.

The main task of consulting is to increase the efficiency of both the company as a whole and to increase the efficiency of the work of each of the company's employees individually.

Consulting is a whole direction in the service sector. It is impossible to single out exactly what consulting companies do; the profile of consultations is quite wide. Yes, and there are various companies: some of them operate in only one area of ​​business, others are engaged in consulting in almost all possible areas. From this and the difference, in the possible interpretations of the definition of consulting.

Consulting is a type of intellectual activity, the main task of which is to assess situations, analyze them, justify development prospects, taking into account the subject area and client problems

In countries with market economies, the invitation of professionals is a prestigious evidence that the company has sufficient business culture to use the intellectual capital offered by the market in the field of management. The absence of specialist consultants in the development of a responsible decision is considered the same as the absence of an architect in the design of a building, a doctor in the treatment of a patient, or a designer in the development of a new car model.

1.1. Subjects, types and objects of counseling

Professionals who provide professional assistance are called consultants. There are external and internal consultants.

External - these are independent consulting firms or individual consultants providing services to clients on the basis of an appropriate contract.

Internal - these are specialists in economics and management employed in the staff of an organization (they constitute the analytical, "headquarters" subsystem of the organization).

Implementation of counseling.

Further in the text, the term "consultant" will refer to any consulting structure, regardless of whether it is a consulting firm or an individual consultant. In addition, unless otherwise indicated, it will be mainly about external consultants.
The advantages of management consultants over managers are as follows:
1) independence, impartiality of views;

2) a broader outlook, the possession of extensive information in various areas of management and management (due to the lower load on current management problems);

3) orientation towards a broad study and transfer of experience of other organizations (this mainly concerns external consultants).

Consulting services are most often carried out in the form of consulting projects, and not in the form of oral, one-time advice. They include the following main steps:

1) diagnostics (problem identification);

2) development of solutions;

3) implementation of solutions.

The implementation of such a project can take from several days to several months. Sometimes contacts with clients can be long-term.
From the point of view of methods, the following types of counseling can be distinguished: expert, process and training. With expert advice, the consultant independently carries out diagnostics, development of solutions and recommendations for their implementation. The role of the client is mainly to provide the consultant with access to information and evaluate the results. During process consulting, consultants at all stages of the project actively interact with the client, encouraging him to express his ideas, considerations, suggestions, to analyze problems and develop solutions with the help of consultants. At the same time, the role of consultants is mainly to absorb (collect) these external and internal ideas, evaluate the solutions obtained in the process of joint work with the client and bring them into a system of recommendations. In training consulting, the consultant not only collects ideas, analyzes solutions, but also prepares the ground for their emergence, providing the client with relevant theoretical and practical information in the form of lectures, seminars, manuals, etc.
How is counseling different from teaching? The advantage of counseling is its concrete-individual, "piece" approach. At the same time, the knowledge possessed by consultants is transformed in such a way as to solve the specific problems of a particular enterprise.

When teaching knowledge in the field of management, economics, law, etc. transferred to managers general form and then put into practice by them.

The positive aspects of both ways of transferring knowledge are combined in training and process consulting.)

Ratio various kinds counseling and traditional forms of knowledge transfer (training):

Consulting Training

1.Expert 1.Active learning methods (training)

2.Process 2.Information-based teaching methods

3.Educational

Of course, in specific projects or at their various stages, combinations of all three can be used. listed species consulting, and then it becomes expert-process, process-training, expert-training, etc.

In industrialized countries, process and expert-process consulting is predominantly carried out, while in Russia expert and expert-training consulting is most widely used.
This is explained, first of all, by the unpreparedness of Russian clients themselves for creative work with consultants, the desire of managers to get ready-made solutions. This situation often leads to negative consequences and dissatisfaction with the results of consulting projects, since, firstly, the client may not accept ready-made solutions at all if they are not developed jointly with him; secondly, some essential information cannot be obtained by the consultant outside the mode of active dialogue with the client.

There are many consulting facilities in Russia, which can be divided into at least the following groups:
- by form of ownership: state, private, joint-stock and mixed enterprises;

By size: small, medium and large enterprises;
- on a territorial basis: central (federal) and regional administrative units.

Accordingly, the clients of consultants are owners or managers of private enterprises, heads of state enterprises or relevant departments, central and local authorities, as well as heads of such territorial entities as technoparks, ecopolises, technopolises, free economic zones, etc.

The experience of the Russian Association of Consultants in Economics and Management shows that in Russia for consulting services The following types of organizations apply primarily:
1) Young, rapidly growing private enterprises and banks.
2) Progressive-minded local authorities.
3) State and former state enterprises those in a crisis situation.

The first two groups are guided by the golden rule of management formulated by Thomas Peters: "What works well must be reformed, because here forces can be mobilized immediately or at least faster than in other areas." As for the third group, not everything is lost for them either: in consulting, there are special methods for overcoming crisis situations. In particular, a number of Russian consultants are successfully developing programs for reforming and rehabilitating enterprises located in the "near bankruptcy zone."

The modern set of consulting services was formed in the 1950s and 60s, which in the West are called the "golden age of consulting", which is associated with the post-war accelerated development and internationalization of the economy, which caused an increase in the need for consulting services.

The European Directory of Management Consultants currently identifies 84 types of consulting services, grouped into 8 groups.

Types of consulting services (According to the classification of the European Directory of Management Consultants):

1. GENERAL MANAGEMENT

1.01 Determining the effectiveness of the management system

1.02 business valuation

1.03 innovation management

1.04 determination of competitiveness / market research

1.05 diversifying or starting a new business

1.06 international management

1.07 management evaluation

1.08 Mergers and acquisitions

1.09 organizational structure and development

1.10 privatization

1.11 project management

1.12 quality management

1. 13 reorganization of engineering services

1.14 research and development

1.15 strategic planning

2. ADMINISTRATION

2.01 analysis of office work

2 02 placement or relocation of departments

2.03 office management

2.04 organization and management methods

2.05 risk management

2.06 security guarantees

2.07 planning of working premises and their equipment

3. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

3.01 accounting systems

3.02 capital cost estimation

3.03 company turnover

3.04 cost reduction

3.05 insolvency (bankruptcy)

3.06 profit increase

3.07 income increase

3.08 taxation

3.09 financial reserves

4. HR MANAGEMENT

4.01 professional movement" and downsizing

4.02 corporate culture

4.03 equal opportunity

4.04 personnel search

4.05 selection of personnel

4.06 health and safety

4.07 incentive programs

4.08 internal communications

4.09 evaluation of works

4.10 labor agreements and employment

4.11 management training

4.12 workforce planning

4.13 motivation

4.14 pensions

4.15 performance analysis

4.16 psychological assessment

4.17 remuneration

4.18 staff development

5.02 corporate image and public relations

5.03 after-sales service customers

5.04 design

5.05 direct marketing

5.06 international marketing

5.07 market research

5.08 marketing strategy

5.09 development new products

5.10 pricing

5.11 retail and dealership

5.12 sales management

5.13 sales training

5.14 socio-economic research and forecasting
6. PRODUCTION

6.01 automation

6.02 use of the equipment and its Maintenance
6.03 industrial engineering

6.04 recycling of materials

6.05 regulation of internal distribution of materials

6.06 packaging

6.07 scheme of organization of work at the enterprise

6.08 product design and development

6.09 production management

6.10 production planning and control

6.11 performance improvement

6.12 purchases

6.13 quality control

6.14 control over the supply of components and parts

7. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

7.02 use of computers in audit and evaluation

7.03 electronic publishing

7.04 information retrieval systems

7.05 administrative information systems

7.06 system design and development

7.07 selection and installation of systems

8. SPECIALIZED SERVICES

8.01 educational counseling

8.02 power industry management consulting

8.03 engineering consulting

8.04 environmental consulting

8.05 information consulting

8.06 legal consulting

8.07 consulting on the management of the distribution of materials and material

technical supply

8.08 public sector consulting

8.09 telecommunications consulting

This classification is substantive, i.e., consulting differs in types in accordance with the functions that managers perform. Consultants do not perform these functions themselves, but develop recommendations for their implementation. They advise managers on how to carry out general management, administration, financial management, information technology implementation, and other functions.

Let us briefly consider the tasks for which consultants can be invited for each of the eight groups of consulting services listed in Scheme 3.

1. Consultants for general management are invited to help in solving problems related to the very existence of your enterprise and the prospects of your business. They assess the state of affairs in your organization as a whole and the external environment for it, determine the general goals and value system of the organization, develop a development strategy, make forecasts, help in organizing branches and subsidiaries, give recommendations on changing the form of ownership and composition of owners, acquiring property , shares or shares, improvement organizational structures etc.

2. Administrative management (administration) consultants deal with issues such as the formation and registration of companies, office organization, data processing, administrative control system, etc. Their main task is to optimize the management of the organization

3. Financial management consultants provide assistance in

solving three main tasks:

1) search for sources and use of financial resources;

2) evaluation and improvement of the current financial efficiency activities of the organization;

3) strengthening financial position organizations for the future.

They deal with financial planning and control, taxation, accounting, placement of shares and units on the market, credit, insurance, profit and cost, insolvency, etc.
4. HR consultants develop solutions for recruitment, quality control personnel, systems of remuneration, advanced training and personnel management, labor protection and psychological climate in a collective. Their main task is to assist managers in optimizing the attraction and use of such a key resource for any organization as the human factor.
5. Marketing consultants assist managers in making decisions that are vital to any business operating in a market economy, tasks: ensuring its functioning so that the goods and services produced by it are bought by the consumer. They are involved in market research and provide decision making in the areas of sales, pricing, advertising, new product development, etc. Since in a market economy the most difficult problem

for the enterprise is not the production, but the sale of products, marketing is one of the most important areas of business consulting

6. Production management consultants who understand economic, managerial and engineering issues assist managers in solving such problems in solving problems such as the choice of technology production process, stimulation of labor productivity, evaluation and control of product quality, analysis of production costs, production planning, use of equipment and materials, design and improvement of products, evaluation of work, etc.
7. Information technology consultants are developing recommendations for the introduction of computer-aided design systems (CAD) and automated control systems (ACS), information retrieval systems, the use of computers in accounting and other quantitative methods for assessing the activities of an enterprise.
8. Specialized consulting services are those types of services that do not belong to any of the seven groups described above. They differ from them either in methods, or in objects, or in the nature of the knowledge being introduced (engineering consulting, legal consulting, etc.)

2.Consulting in Russia and in the world. Weak and strengths Russian and foreign consultants

In a modern market economy, advisory services have long been an essential element of the infrastructure supporting its functioning.
Consulting is distinguished by statistics as a separate industry, in which, for example, 700 thousand people are employed in the USA, and the annual turnover is 50 billion dollars. No serious economic and managerial decision in countries with a market economy, and not only in developed countries, but also in the so-called developing countries (India, Brazil), one cannot do without the use of consultants: economists, lawyers, marketers, etc., individual,

and more often united in consulting firms.

One of the first professional consultants in the field of economics was the founder of the theory scientific management enterprises Frederick Taylor. The first management consulting firm - "Research Service in

business” was founded in 1914 in Chicago, and in the 1920s such firms appeared in Europe (primarily in England and Germany).
Professional business support in Russia is currently provided mainly by private consulting firms, of which there are several hundred. (For comparison: in Holland, with a population 11 times smaller than in Russia, there are more than 2,000 of them.)

Consulting services on a commercial basis can also be provided by state educational, information and research organizations - universities, academies, scientific institutes, information centers, etc.
Most Russian private consulting firms were founded either by these organizations themselves or by their former employees.
Foreign consulting firms also operate in Russia. In particular, all the "big six" transnational consulting and audit companies (Ernst & Young, Coopers & Lybrand, Price
Waterhouse", "KPMG", "Deloitte & Touche", "Arthur Andersen"), as well as a number of medium and small firms from Western Europe (Holland, Germany, France, Great Britain), the USA and other countries of the world.

Some positive and negative aspects of using foreign consultants in Russian conditions can be identified (Scheme 4).
Russian consultants are well versed in the current economic situation in Russia and have a high intellectual and educational potential. At the same time, they think broadly enough, understand and know the mechanisms of a Western-style market economy, some of them have experience working abroad. At the same time, Russian consultants have flexible thinking, they go beyond the standards adopted in the world economy in their recommendations, which is their undoubted advantage, since non-standard thinking is more in line with the conditions of Russia. Based on Russian practice, they offer more realistic solutions.
The advantage of foreign consulting firms is a good command of consulting methods and a detailed knowledge of the Western-style market economy. In addition, audit and other opinions of foreign firms are still more recognized abroad, which is important for attracting foreign investors and other partners.

Advantages and disadvantages

Transfer of foreign experience High price services

New task setting Greater demands on the organization and

New customer pre-training solutions

New business and common culture Language barrier

Good command of the methodology High requirements for household

consulting

The cost of services of Russian consulting firms is their advantage.
At high quality their price is about 4-5 times lower than that of foreign counterparts. It averages $300 per person-day.

The services of Russian consultants are carried out in the following main forms:
- One-time consultations on major business issues in Russia and abroad.
Such consultations are carried out orally and in writing in the form of a question.
- answer both directly and on questions prepared in advance by the client
- Implementation of consulting projects on customer orders, including diagnostics of problems, development and implementation of solutions. During the project, such services as the search for partners, participation in negotiations, development of documents (protocols, agreements, contracts, etc.)
- Conducting consulting seminars, i.е. group work of consultants and representatives of the enterprise with a break from production.
Information service. At the request of clients, statistical reviews and forecasts of the development of the economy as a whole and individual industries, information about legislative acts, information about the reliability of potential partners, etc. can be provided.
- Expertise. Consultants provide expert opinions on developments independently prepared by the client. business plans, investment projects, schemes of financial transactions, contracts.
3. Forms of professional services related to consulting. Financial consulting.

The infrastructure of a market economy includes some other professional services provided to business managers. The difference between such services and consulting services is that assistance to the manager is not in the form of advice, recommendations and joint decision-making, but by directly performing certain organizational, technical or informational functions.
There are 10 types of such services:

2) accounting services;

3) legal services;

4) provision with information technologies;

5) engineering;

6) investment banking;

9) business information;

10) training.

What these services have in common with consulting is that this assistance is carried out on the basis of scientific and professional knowledge and, like external consulting, is provided on a commercial basis by independent firms. In addition, most of the firms and individual professionals that provide such services are simultaneously engaged in consulting in their field, and many consulting firms are beginning to provide non-consulting services.

Thus, it can be noted that there is a certain interweaving of consulting and other types of professional services, while consulting acts as the core of this system.

Therefore, sometimes, for brevity, the totality of services provided to business managers, and not just services in the form of advice, recommendations and jointly developed solutions, is called the generalized term "consulting".

Financial consulting. There is no doubt that the financial problems that have recently arisen at most enterprises in our country are associated primarily with the unsatisfactory use of their financial resources.
The poor orientation of enterprise managers in the current economic conditions in changes in the market infrastructure is characteristic. Therefore, the practice of financial consulting for business is becoming increasingly important.
It is generally impossible to judge the finances of hundreds of thousands of firms. More than 315,000 enterprises do not provide accounting and tax reporting.
The imperfection of the existing legislation does not allow the application of energetic measures to those enterprises and organizations that have the right to dispose of and control the commodity and cash flows plying within the holdings.

Barterization of settlements, 90% of which exists in many industries, brings us closer to the level subsistence farming, and about 300 trillion. unsecured bills in circulation do not at all contribute to strengthening the finances of enterprises and the country as a whole. The chronic debt of each of more than three and a half thousand enterprises is only federal budget exceeds 3 billion rubles.

An important problem is also the formation of plans with maximum profit and acceptable profitability.

The consultant usually proposes the following enterprise financial management system. First of all, the main goals, criteria for their achievement and the strategy of the enterprise are determined, requirements for accounting policies are developed, as well as mechanisms for solving key financial management tasks that ensure the achievement of the goals set. It is important here to highlight the areas of responsibility in the area under consideration, assigned to specific leaders.
One of the most effective methods streamlining the movement of financial resources, which are increasingly recommended by consultants - the introduction automated system. First of all, it is recommended to master the planning and analysis subsystem financial flows with a profit-loss analysis, which opens up the possibility for planning the receipts and payments of the enterprise, determining the terms of attraction and volumes borrowed money, rational management of temporarily free financial resources, the formation of the movement of financial flows both in the whole enterprise and at the level of departments. This technology, as already noted, is quite simple. But success mainly depends on the setting of management accounting. The subsystem of planning and analysis of financial flows guarantees the financial stability of the company's finances and helps to prevent the occurrence of critical situations.
Further, it is usually recommended to carefully prepare the profit and loss program. Usual advice - implement a management system working capital, assortment and costs of the enterprise, which is designed to guarantee an increase in profits. All further work on a more efficient organization of cash flow management is unlikely to be successful if the work on setting up management accounting and its coordination with accounting is not fully completed.
The next step in the consultant's work is the establishment of a system for monitoring the implementation of the budget, analysis of the implementation of planned targets, and adjustments to plans. Subsequently, work should be carried out on planning the consolidated budget, managing own and borrowed capital. A coherent budgeting system should be introduced throughout the enterprise.

It is advisable to use an automated management system, including planning, accounting and reporting. Thereafter, the opportunity opens up to ensure the preparation and adoption financial solutions in the form of a specific and clear sequence of steps:
- determination of financial and economic goals, selection of the main criteria;
- development of plan options for revenue, profit, profitability, equity, financial stability, tasks for the main indicators at the end of the planning period;
- a financial strategy is developed that defines the actions necessary to ensure the stability of the company;
- the volume of sales of assortment, goods and services is estimated; selection of cash flow options with a minimum cash deficit, and on the basis of self-financing, as well as identifying the size and timing of borrowing;
- Further, a scheme for the use of profit is drawn up, the framework for the optimal change in the structure of capital is fixed, the structure of means of payment is determined (money, securities, barter, etc.)
- the most acceptable forms of their payment are revealed (prepayment, in fact, in installments);
- the policy in the field of taxes is formed;
- the system of economic incentives for departments and personnel of the enterprise is approved;

The final version of the budget of the organization and its divisions is determined, as well as the conditions for making decisions in case of deviation from the plan.

A financial advisor is one of the key figures in the market. His role in making decisions about the ways of managing the finances of the consulted enterprise is most often decisive. The financial advisor is usually a large investment bank or a company that is active in a particular market segment and has a leading position in it.
The purpose of financial consulting is to increase economic efficiency resource management, first of all - the assets of the enterprise.
This is done in practice through:
- formation of a profitable and rather non-risk investment portfolio;
- maximum rational use of temporarily free funds in the most profitable segments financial market;
- reduction of non-production costs.

Financial consultants are able to develop an enterprise development strategy, offer the most rational management system in specific conditions, and help you choose optimal model money management, determine options and offer an authorized financial institution when forming the market for the shares of the consulted enterprise.
The role of an investment broker proposed by a financial consultant is important here. The broker determines the optimal stock quotes for the company, actively influences the change in the market value of the company's securities, works to increase the liquidity of shares, promptly responds to changes in the situation on the company's securities market.

In the framework of financial consulting, a lot of new things have recently appeared. Among these problems are the improvement of capital management, the formation of an optimal portfolio of short-term financial instruments, the development of an investment policy, and the improvement of interaction with shareholders and creditors. Let us note that small firms such issues are not as acute as large enterprises.
In 1997, the importance of financial advisors in the Russian stock market. Relatively low liquidity of shares of the main part Russian companies, naturally associated with the complication of work on the organization of emissions, the sale of blocks of shares, and other actions to organize the securities market of the enterprise.
Due to the instability of the market, it is necessary to actively influence the investment demand for the shares of the company being consulted. This is especially important given the undervaluation of the shares of many Russian companies. Recently, the demand for services to maintain the norms and rules adopted in the stock market has sharply increased. This is of particular importance in stopping the lack of investment and intensifying competition in the field of mobilization Money on the market. The growth of debts and non-payments of enterprises also necessitated the establishment of qualified work with their debts. Financial consultants seek to help solve the problems of offsets and mutual repayment of debts. This naturally improves the financial position of enterprises.
We note further that with the creation of large holdings in Russia, the expansion of sales of state blocks of shares, the entry of Russian shares into the world market, the rapid growth of new issues, and the sharp increase in the need for serious investors, the role of advisory work is greatly increased.

Companies - financial consultants are able to exert the most energetic influence on "sponsored" enterprises in solving similar and other problems. financial problems. Financial consultants stabilize domestic and foreign financial policies, which is of particular importance for large industrial enterprises who seek to integrate into world economy.
Now the most powerful Russian investment companies have established trusting relationships with the management of large industrial enterprises.
The shares of the latter are steadily quoted. stable personal contacts managers of these enterprises help to accelerate the implementation of economic programs.
In the Russian market of financial consulting, the roles and specialization are being specified between its participants. Foreign consulting companies, many foreign investment banks and funds help attract investment in the Russian economy, form our professional culture based on the relationships that have developed in the global financial community.

The role of Russian financial consultants, although for the time being is not yet so obvious, but they have a serious trump card - they know Russian specifics better. The market for consulting services is also developing due to the growth in demand for them by those Russian enterprises that are capable of becoming important objects for investment in the near future. They need advice, in particular, in bringing their securities to the market and ensuring their professionalism in the actions in the stock market, especially in the secondary market.

However, the capacity of the consultant in this area is often limited.
They depend on many factors affecting the liquidity and price of the issuer's shares. The consultant does not have the ability to influence the macroeconomic and political rate-setting factors of the economy. Russian practice is characterized by the effect of such a destabilizing circumstance as the procedure, terms and price of shares in the sale of state blocks of securities of an enterprise. But a financial consultant has other ways of direct and indirect influence on the secondary market: he is able to act as a market maker, advise the issuer on the most suitable depository, recommend actions to improve the circulation of the company's shares on the market.

Naturally, the most extensive opportunities for a consultant are related to solving the issuer's internal problems. Here the position of Russian companies largely coincides. Characteristic, in particular, is the lack of a development strategy aimed at reducing costs, increasing revenues and increasing competitiveness, well-defined internal audit, a favorable public reputation of the company, serious work with shareholders and investors, the presence of large debts, etc.

Recently, there has been a significant increase in interest in the activities of financial consultants in Russian society, in particular from large banks and investment companies.
There is no doubt that domestic financial advisors are becoming an ever stronger link between Russian issuers and foreign financial circles. They carry out, in particular, the preparation and receipt of loans from foreign lenders, maximizing the time factor, volumes and interest on loans, help to more rational use of the received credit resources.
At the same time, financial consultants proceed from the criteria for foreign investors to evaluate the shares of the relevant company, take actions to increase the attractiveness of the shares of consulted enterprises for foreign investors, including helping to bring financial statements in line with international standards, consulting on the selection of optimal schemes for subsequent emissions and sales blocks of shares, mergers, conversion of shares, assist in attracting investors and restructuring the company.
Much attention is paid to innovation. A financial consultant usually offers a client innovations in the stock market (conducting repo transactions, organizing options for the issuer's shares or other stock market derivatives). This affects the increase in the liquidity of securities, the growth in the activity of investors in transactions with them, which is very important, given the fact that the latter are more active in the stock market.
Russian financial consultants are striving to intensify their work on the securities market. As a result, the level of liquidity of the enterprise's shares on the stock market stabilizes (even in the case of the sale of state-owned packages on it, or the implementation of new issues by the enterprise.).

There are favorable prospects for financial advisory, both for issuers and large investment companies. The number of professional market participants is growing, interaction between Russian and foreign investment consultants is being ensured. A special role in the conditions of the modern financial market in Russia is played by bills of exchange.

A financial consultant is able to "fully fulfill his mission if the issue of providing him with reliable, complete and accurate necessary data is resolved. As you know, the assessment of the financial position of an enterprise is carried out on the basis of financial statements. At the same time, an enterprise's reporting is considered in two main aspects: from the point of view in terms of establishing the rationality of the structure of property and its sources, ensuring current solvency, and in terms of identifying financial results.The first task allows you to perform the balance sheet (form No. 1), the second - a report on financial results and their use (form No. 2).
Thus, from the foregoing, it can be seen that financial consulting is gaining great importance in the modern Russian economy.

Each company and business strives to develop and conquer its part of the market. But this is far from always possible without huge investments and only on our own, especially at a time when there are problems in the country's economy.

To remain a popular and competitive company, you need to constantly change, develop strategy and tactics. And if there are no resources for this within the company, then you have to use external services - consulting. What is consulting services? What types of consulting are there? What are its advantages and disadvantages?

What are consulting services and why are they needed?

Even large international companies often face difficulties in their work. This may be related to both external factors as well as internal problems. Most often, problems arise due to price fluctuations in the market, the appearance or departure of a competitor, but in firms there are difficulties with the very relations between employees within the enterprise. Because of this, there is no opportunity and strength within the company to fight for its survival, so an excellent solution in this case would be to use consulting services.

Consulting is a type of service that essentially means counseling. One company or person provides services to solve certain problems to another company.

The issues that can be solved with the help of consulting are very diverse. Sometimes it can be a whole range of tasks, and sometimes it is provided only in a narrow area. For example, accounting consulting is the involvement of a specialized company or employee to solve problems related to accounting. That is why when they talk about the concept of consulting, there is no clear definition.

Consulting services are the solution of organizational or managerial tasks within the company with the help of external specialists. Professional consultants in a certain area are invited to work in the company. Specialists assess the condition, see the cause of problems and create a system for solving these errors.

The company turns to consulting not only when it experiences difficulties in development. Often the manager decides to expand, so it is urgent to increase the number of specialists. But even if you hire them, it will still be necessary to spend months on training, monitoring the implementation of tasks, and only after that put complex tasks in front of them. And in a growing company there is not so much time.

Consulting firms are specialized companies that provide consulting services. There may be a staff of employees who simultaneously cooperate with different organizations.

Stages of ordering consulting services (infographics)

Types of consulting services

• IT consulting is one of the newest and most demanded types of consulting in Ukraine. This is consulting and assistance in the field of information technology. In fact, IT consulting solves all issues related to the Internet and information business processes.
• Marketing consulting. Not all companies can afford to open a marketing department or hire professional employee who will address these issues. And it is necessary to engage in advertising today, because this is the only way to stay on the market and be a leader. In many cases, marketing consulting services are provided along with IT consulting.
• Legal consulting associated with the solution of current problems that are relevant to the law of the state. This will allow you to correctly evaluate the activities of the company and take the most profitable solutions. Legal advice is especially important during the expansion of the enterprise, when it will be necessary to open new branches or conclude agreements with intermediaries, suppliers.
• Financial consulting- services related to effective management funds, the distribution of the budget within the firm, as well as the right external investments.
• HR consulting undertakes the establishment of internal relations between employees, the selection of new specialists who will meet the requirements of the company.

Hello! In this article we will talk about consulting.

Today you will learn:

1. Definition and types of consulting;
2. What are the benefits of consulting for doing business;
3. What are the stages of consulting activity.

Any business owner or company, large or not very often, needs outside consulting help. A person cannot know everything, but it also happens that a fresh look at an existing problem is required.

What is consulting in simple words

In the staff of a company, even the largest one, it is not possible to contain several experts in different fields. But if an enterprise has a goal to develop, conquer the market, sooner or later the advice of such experts will be needed. So what is consulting?

Consulting is a management consulting process, management personnel and other employees on financial, legal, investment and other issues.

A bit of history

domestic consulting as professional activity began to develop in Russia in the 90s. This is directly related to the change not only in the economic system, but also in the political one. In 1991, there were only about 20 consulting companies.

With the development of market relations, the consulting services market began to experience rapid growth. These services have become more understandable to managers, more professional. Gradually, the level of competition began to increase, on Russian market major players from the West came to services, this put the consulting industry on a qualitatively new level.

Consulting company - what is it

Companies of this kind are engaged in providing their clients with consulting services. Most often they are external companies and are related to the companies of their clients. They provide assistance in various areas of their activities.

In the same time full responsibility for the result that will be obtained in the end, they do not bear. There is no unequivocal answer to the question of what consulting companies do.

In general, their activities are as follows:

• Providing assistance in various areas;
• Consulting services;
• Planning organizational and management activities.

Principles of work of consulting companies

In their activities, consulting companies adhere to the following principles:

• All of them use evidence-based data in their work;
• Use in their work of such tools as information technology;
• Specialists have the right to offer the customer their own scientific idea, if it helps in solving the problem that the customer has.

Types of consulting

AT modern economy There are several types of consulting. We will review and provide brief description the most common of them.

Financial consulting

It is a complex of services that are designed to build a reliable and functional system financial management. It includes: conducting an analysis and audit of the company's activities, consulting on finance and budgeting, introducing methods to strengthen the company's financial system.

Management consulting

It helps to establish which areas of the company are most vulnerable, corrects the company's activities as a whole.

It, in turn, is divided into several groups:

• Strategic – allows you to analyze the market in the global and local sense, calculate possible risks;
• Marketing- helps to develop the company's strategy, diagnose the target audience. Its main goal is to increase sales, as well as reduce advertising costs;
• personnel – advice on the selection and training of employees , creation and development of corporate culture .

In addition to all of the above, this type of consulting helps to solve the following tasks:

• Improve the work of all company management structures;
• Learn new management techniques;
• Develop a system to motivate employees;
• Optimize business processes.

Investment consulting

When company executives choose schemes for investing capital, or attracting such from outside, they mainly rely on the recommendations of professionals who can provide the necessary assistance.

Functions of investment consulting:

• Implementation of interactions with credit institutions, insurance companies and authorities;
• Assistance in the development of investment projects;
• Legal investment advice.

HR consulting

HR consulting is getting more and more popular.

Such consulting includes:

• Personnel certification;
• Personnel accounting;
• Personnel audit;
• Analysis personnel policy;
• Document flow analysis;
• Analysis of the compliance of personnel policy with the norms of labor legislation.

Through HR consulting, you can:

• Form a certain corporate culture;
• Diagnose how loyal employees are to the company;
• Increase the efficiency of the entire personnel management system;
• Develop criteria for evaluating the work of personnel.

This type of consulting allows management to organize work not only with the team as a whole, but also with each employee individually.

Legal consulting

AT modern conditions running a business, it is often necessary to deal with emerging legal situations. And the situation itself is difficult to call transparent, then the manager will definitely need the help of a professional. And if there is no full-time lawyer in the company, then one cannot do without the involvement of a specialist from a consulting company.

Accounting consulting

The purpose of accounting consulting is to increase not only the efficiency of accounting. accounting, but also to control its correctness. Usually such services are provided by highly qualified specialists.

Accounting consulting services consist of:

• Services for the development and formation of accounting policies;
• Consultations on the construction of the accounting system. accounting;
• Assistance in the preparation of accounting reports;
• Assistance in preparing reports to the Federal Tax Service;
• Consideration and consultations on disputable situations in accounting.

Educational consulting

The practical significance of this type of consulting is that the consultant:

• Conducts seminars;
• Organizes lectures and trainings;
• Develops teaching aids.

Simply put, consultants train the personnel of the customer's company.

Expert consulting

Its essence is as follows: the client sets a task for the consultant, and he, in turn, using his own experience and knowledge, as well as relying on various sources, issues turnkey solution. In addition to developing a solution to a problem, an expert can also diagnose a problem.

The client does not participate in the development of a solution to the problem.

Project consulting

Project consulting is the joint work of a consultant and company employees, during which a decision is made on how to optimize the company's activities. This type of counseling is called long-term.

Internet consulting

This area of ​​consulting activity can include:

• Development of information technologies taking into account the needs of a particular company;
• Maintaining technology at a high level;
• Identification of existing problems;
• Creation of high-quality information infrastructure.

What tasks do consulting companies solve?

Consulting professionals can help in the following situations:

• When you need to adjust business process management;
• When is a business reorganization required?
• To restore the solvency of a company or enterprise;
• Support in the merger of companies;
• When advice is required on the acquisition of property;
• Budgeting;
• Development;
• When you need to prepare a financial forecast and so on.

This list of services is not complete and may be supplemented by other items.

Stages of implementation of consulting activities

Any company can be called a living, constantly evolving organism. If the body fails, then a doctor is required. But the treatment should be done by a professional, not an amateur. That is, a consulting company should be with serious practical experience.

1.The customer acknowledges the existence of a certain problem. If the customer realizes that he cannot solve the problems that have arisen in the company without the help of professionals.

Example: supervisor confectionery company set himself the task of increasing the volume of output. But a problem arose: the manager himself and the company's specialists do not have enough knowledge for this. To achieve the goal, a decision is made to invite outside experts. And this decision will be reasonable and justified.

2.Conducting initial consultations and conclusion of the contract. When a suitable company is selected, you need to consult with its specialist. Then the contract is signed.

The following items must be included in the contract:

• The period during which the work will be performed;
• A complete list of services with an indication of the cost;
• Conditions in connection with which the amount of the consultant's fee can be changed;
• Conditions for early termination of the contract;
• Responsibilities of both parties.

The contract can be concluded both once and on long term. The contract can be concluded in the form of, and in the form of a work contract.

3. The data necessary for cooperation is being collected. The specialists of the consulting company at this stage of cooperation collect and analyze data that will help determine how serious the problem is. The main thing here is to establish what the problem is, as well as develop a plan to solve it.

4. The process of developing a solution to a problem. This stage can be called the main one. Having established the problem and its causes, specialists draw up a plan according to which the problem will be eliminated.

5. The process of implementing decisions and monitoring their implementation. All procedures specified in the plan are carried out under the supervision of consultants. Also in the process, training of company employees is possible.

6. The process of evaluating the results obtained. objective assessment results can be given only after a certain period of time. The head of the company together with representatives of the executing company will sum up the results.

7. Production of final financial calculations. If all the activities were carried out on time, production indicators increased, the company's income increased - this is an indicator that the activities carried out were effective, you need to make a final settlement with the consulting company. The amount specified in the contract is transferred to the account of the executing company.

Situations where consulting is needed

• The management and employees of the company have no new ideas, the company has entered a period of stagnation;
• The leader lacks certain knowledge or experience;
• The company is developing a serious project, but cannot implement it in full due to lack of knowledge;
• The company is required to conduct an audit with the participation of independent specialists;
• The company needs the management apparatus to work more efficiently;
• Companies need to recruit a number of qualified professionals.

This list of situations cannot be called exhaustive, since in fact there may be more than a dozen of them.

How to find a serious consulting company

If your company has a number of problems that it is not possible to solve on your own, the next step is to choose the right company that specializes in providing consulting services.

There are criteria following which you can choose a company and not make a mistake:

1. Collect the maximum amount of information about the company with which you plan to enter into an agreement. Look at her official website, find out how much the company is on the market;
2. Read reviews about the work of the company in the media, on the Internet;
3. Ask if the company has a portfolio: each specialist is proud of his achievements and usually fixes them;
4. Check if there are serious businessmen in your region among the clients;
5. Focus on the cost of the company's services, too low should alert, as well as clearly overpriced.

It is best to have several companies in stock, and after a personal meeting and communication with specialists, make the final decision.

Requirements for companies and consultants

If a company or consultant has a high level of qualification and provides a wide range of services, then they must meet certain requirements, which we will discuss later.

1. The consultant must: have knowledge and skills in strategic planning, to be able to analyze and predict the economic situation, to own the methods of diagnosing the situation at the enterprise, to be able to establish contacts with specialists of different levels;
2. The consultant (or consulting company) should not depend on the rules and unwritten laws, as well as the traditions that have developed in a particular company. The opinion of the consultant must be free and objective;
3. The consulting company should provide assistance based on its experience and current legislation;
4. A consulting company, in addition to consultations, should be engaged in gaining experience, accumulating, analyzing and processing data;
5. The activity of a consulting company should also have a learning effect for its clients.

We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the table, which presents the main features of professional consultants and those who only consider themselves to be such.

What is the difference between a professional consultant and an amateur

Pro Consultant	Amateur
Examines in advance the activities of the client's company	Does not undergo preliminary training, learns about the current situation from the client
All offers are prepared taking into account the characteristics of the company	All developed proposals are not informative, but general, almost advertising in nature.
Since the start of cooperation practical advice and advice to the client	Emphatically obsessively talks about his achievements, puts himself an order of magnitude higher than the client
In the process of communication, shows awareness of the situation in the client's company	Talks about experience in the same industry
Asks questions, seeks the opinion of the customer	Speaks without objection
Able to listen to the client	Prefers to talk rather than listen
Answers additional questions	Additional questions are ignored
Always responds to customer objections	Does not take into account the client's objections, prefers to communicate through e-mail and not personally

Advantages of consulting

It should be noted that more and more often, not only those who have just joined the ranks of entrepreneurs, but also serious companies that have been on the market for a long time are turning to consulting companies for help. What are the benefits of consulting?

• Consultants have a higher level of knowledge than regular company specialists (which does not detract from the merits of conscientious employees);
• Consultants are more experienced due to communication with a large number of clients;
• Consultants have enough time to deeply and comprehensively study the problem;
• Consultants usually have an unbiased opinion, they are guided by the interests of the customer.

A clear advantage of consulting is that the company's specialists with a fresh look from the outside can identify problems that are simply invisible to the company's employees.

Consulting and coaching: differences between methods

Before figuring out the similarities and differences, let's find out what kind of animal this is - coaching.

coaching is a method of consultation in which the client and the trainer jointly look for ways to improve or solve a problem.

Skeptics may say that this technique just duplicates a number of others that are already familiar. Why invent something else if there are trainings and consulting? But it is coaching that does not repeat all previously known practices.

Coaching and consulting are not duplicative methods for one simple reason: the coach guides and advises his client to achieve the goal, and the consulting consultant is limited to making recommendations, leaving the client the opportunity to continue to act independently.

Who can consulting companies work with?

Consulting firms may partner with:

• Public and private enterprises that produce any products, provide services;
• FROM foreign companies who operate in Russia (legally);
• With government organizations;
• with government agencies.

So, dear readers, now you know what consulting is, what its goals are and what it is for. If you take advantage of consulting conditions in a timely manner, then your business will successfully grow and develop. Your company will survive all crises and become a serious competitor for others.

Consulting services are popular all over the world, because they can be used to solve various kinds of business problems that are not directly related to the main activities of the company. Using consulting, the company has the opportunity to focus on core business.

Consulting is very useful service for businessmen. Those who have never used consulting services are interested in their cost. Not everyone understands the economic benefits of attracting specialists from outside, but it can be very significant.

In order to assess what significance a consulting company can bring to business development, we will give a definition and consider the essence of this concept.

What is consulting?

Let's start with the definition of consulting according to the Oxford Dictionary.

Consulting means "to be in the business of providing expert advice to people working in a particular field." In other words, a consultant is someone who gives advice certain group of people.

Consulting is expert advice business a certain group of people.

A consultant is someone who has a certain level of knowledge that a certain group of people find valuable, and people in that group are willing to pay the consultant for access to their experience.

Note that there is nothing mentioned about majors, degrees or certifications. If you can provide expert advice to a specific group of people, you can be a consultant.

All this begs the question, why is consulting so valuable?

The answer to this question lies at the heart of the meaning of counseling.

The true meaning of consulting - a consultant is one who gives advice. Therefore, it is worth asking the question “why do people buy advice”?

Why do people ask for advice?

They want to change something, achieve something and they need help.

If financial condition companies are not what the leaders want. That being said, they know what their desired state is, but they need advice on how to get there.

That's why people want advice. They want to get from point A to point B, but they don't know how to get there. They are either lost or face obstacles they don't know how to overcome.

The true meaning of consulting is to help people solve problems and move from the current state to the desired one.

And the more valuable the desired state is for someone, the more he is willing to pay for help.

For example, if a small business owner earns 60 million rubles. per year and their goal is to make 120 million rubles. per year, achieving their goal for them is 60 million rubles, and they are probably ready to pay 5 million rubles, 10 million rubles, 20 million rubles, perhaps even up to 60 million rubles.

Consulting in a Nutshell: Helping People in solving problems and achieving results.

So if achieving a desired state is so valuable to people, why don't they just figure it out on their own?

Why do people hire consultants

There are three main reasons why people decide to take outside advice:

1. They are simply not able to understand it or get to the desired state on their own.
2. They have a general idea, but they want to get there faster.
3. They want to save time and effort by following an effective, proven system.

Three main types of consulting companies

When someone says, "I'm a consultant," they usually fall into one from three categories.

1. Management consulting.
2. Corporate consulting.
3. Independent consulting.

Management Consulting is what most people think of when someone says "consulting". This area is dominated by large firms to help businesses improve strategy and operations or manage significant business events such as mergers and acquisitions.

Independent consulting comes up often when someone has developed experience in an area they choose to build and run their own. own business around this experience rather than continue as an employee.

Specific Sold experience can be almost anything, and thanks to the emerging gig economy, thousands of new independent consultants are creating very profitable businesses for themselves.

How can you become a consultant?

Exists two main ways to get the consultation:

1. Get a job.
2. Start your own business.

While getting a job in consulting is more competitive and more challenging than ever, starting your own consulting business is still no easier.

With rising costs for staff members more and more companies are looking for temporary and permanent external assistance, often in the form of consultants and "do it for you" services. If you are interested in starting your own consulting business, there has never been a better time to get started.