3 Reasons to Hire a Consultant

3 Reasons to Hire a Consultant

Many companies turn to consultants when they don’t have the staff to handle a particular need, but there are many other solid reasons to consider hiring an external consultant.  Hiring a consultant could be just what your company needs to recharge, think outside the box or explore a new approach.

Here are 3 reasons out of many to hire a consultant:

1. Fresh Thinking - Bringing in someone new who hasn’t lived and breathed your business every day is bound to give you a new perspective. A consultant is going to ask questions and look at your business from a different lens. A consultant also brings learning and knowledge from other client work and other categories that just may lead to that out of the box idea you have been seeking. Hiring a consultant to lead a brainstorming session for your employees is a great way to recharge and excite your team and break out of a rut of ‘same old’ thinking. If you are looking to launch a new campaign or product, a consultant could help you uncover a brand new approach while also getting your team inspired and onboard.

2. Relieve your Overworked Staff – If you are like most companies these days, you’ve had to layoff staff, eliminate positions or freeze hiring.  You’ve kept your best and brightest stars, but you are also asking them to work more and in some cases do the job of several employees. Over time you run the risk of burnout or running off the very people you want to keep. Bringing in a consultant to help out with a project or take on some work for a period of time is cost effective and a good way to show your employees that you respect what they do and realize sometimes they need a break! Letting your staff take a vacation, reclaim their weekends, or just leave work at a normal hour again will go a long way to building good morale and acknowledging their extra effort.  Good employees often leave jobs when they don’t feel appreciated.  Bringing in a consultant to help out is one way to show your appreciation during a particularly busy time.

3. Special Project – As a company you may be curious about trying out a new form of marketing or maybe a ‘new to your company’ way of working. Hiring a consultant to lead and possibly teach your employees about a different expertise is a great way to ‘try it’ before you make a full investment.  You may decide to utilize a consultant to set up and manage a blog for your department or to define a new target and create a plan to reach this new audience. Using a consultant allows your staff to continue to pursue their work while exploring a new possible area at a low risk and low expense.  The results, however, could pay off handsomely!

These are just three reasons out of many to consider hiring a consultant. Working with consultants can be a low risk, low investment option that yields a high return. Next time you find yourself stuck, understaffed, or wanting to try something new – consider bringing in a consultant like Bramma Learning Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

10 business models that rocked

10 business models that rocked - by @nickdemey (boardofinnovation.com) from Board of Innovation .com

New Initiatives for Student Entrepreneurs

Startup Village’s milestone achievement of securing 1,000 applications in 15 months took on added shine on Independence Day this year as the State Government announced the rollout of its flagship Student Entrepreneurship Policy to schools in the second phase. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in his Independence Day speech cited the example of Startup Village, India’s first telecom technology business incubator, as a testament to the success of the policy which was announced by the State Government at the Emerging Kerala Global Connect in September last year and offered a number of incentives for college students wanting to set up business startups. In its second phase, the Student Entrepreneurship Policy, which is designed to encourage innovations by youngsters, will be extended to school going students.

Around 10,000 bright school students from classes VIII to XII will be chosen through an online examination and provided computers and other learning material to improve their technology skills as part of the new project. “Young people are going to provide the strength for Kerala’s forward march, and our duty is to provide them with the opportunities here at home,” the Chief Minister said. “It is very clear that employment and growth opportunities around the world in the next 50 years are going to be based on technology,” he said. He declared that September 12, the anniversary of the Emerging Kerala meet, would be celebrated in the state as Entrepreneurship Day.

(Courtesy: Passline Magazine)

Work Culture @ Bramma Learning Solutions

Top 10 mistakes by businessmen in Kerala

In Kerala  small business entrepreneurs face lots of challenges. These challenges make them stuck in mud and provide bigger hurdles in their way forward. Let's look into the major mistakes done by the businessmen in Kerala.

This particular segment is taken from the Cleveland blog and is definitely useful for our business circumstances too. Bramma-the best management consulting firm in Kerala brings you the best articles like this!

1. Lack of planning: Without a plan, there's no road map that bridges good times and bad. Too often, day-to-day distractions take away from a small-business owner's ability to access new opportunities.

2. Not seeking help: Business owners tend to not develop an advisory board or a relationship with a mentor or not invest in professional services.

3. Hiring family and friends: They're an obvious choice, but too often they become a drain on the business. Owners tend to take an entirely different approach with them than when addressing challenges involving a non-family member.

4. Lack of access to capital: Cash flow is king. Not incorporating a funding strategy in your overall plan -- whether it's traditional or nontraditional financing -- often creates a ripple effect of problems. Making decisions based on lack of capital tends to have adverse effects.

5. Being in business with partners with different values: It's not just about asking obvious questions like who is going to be the customer and how the business will be marketed. Business partners need to question leadership styles and have an understanding of what's expected of each other.

6. Relying too heavily on a few clients: Diversify your portfolio.

7. Lack of market research: Whether it's a corner restaurant, a new product release or a professional service, you have to know where your customers are. Depending on the outcome, a marketing plan could be a mix of networking, traditional media and social media -- or it could mean focusing primarily on one channel.

8. Trust: Business owners fall prey to both sides of this equation. They either trust too much or too little in employees, clients and vendors. Contracts are binding and failing to do your due diligence based on somebody's word often leads to despair.

9. Admitting that they're wrong: Pride won't tell you. Employees won't speak up, and confidants sometimes won't acknowledge it. But you have to own up to what you don't know and hire and respect employees for their expertise.

10. Not anticipating failure: Entrepreneurs are natural risk takers and optimists. Too often they don't spend enough time exploring the "what ifs."