Hiring a business consultant is a dangerous step. Sure, they promise results, but those outcomes can quickly escalate, leaving you with large issues to solve.
Are you prepared for increased efficiency, more revenues, and a workforce so engaged that they begin to ask for more? If you aren't, this article is a warning flag.
Let's look at five reasons why hiring a consultant could be the worst mistake you've ever made.

1. Your team will expect pay raises when increasing your gross margin.
Improving productivity implies achieving better results. But higher results come with a catch: your team will notice. Suddenly, those long-overlooked salary rise demands may resurface.
Imagine setting an ambitious sales target that will double your company's revenue in 24 months. A consultant helps engage your staff, and everyone has weekly tasks to complete. The tasks will be selected to drive sales success.
Sending proposals to customers with an accumulative value of S$900,000 is daunting; a proper Big Hairy Audacious Goal.
But is it too ambitious?
Your team has never performed like this, not even close.
At the start, you feel your heart sink; this will never work.
Then you realise you will be happy if you and the team achieve ‘only’ 50% of the goal. So you just get cracking.
Fast-forward three months. You have sent out just shy of S$1,600,000 worth of quotations to clients!
But here’s the catch: the team knows this as well. The results are visible to all every week. What if they want a raise because your company is growing and they realise their role in the success?
Do you see the problem? Who needs a motivated workforce that produces excellent outcomes if it involves digging into the profit to keep them satisfied?
2. Your competitors will begin copying you.
Industry jealousy is genuine. Once you've gotten ahead, your opponents will not sit still. They'll watch every move you make, in an effort to catch up.
Have you noticed everyone talks about Toyota when lean manufacturing is the topic? Toyota achieved unimaginable productivity by developing and executing their Toyota Production System (TPS).
The thing is, nowadays all car manufacturers apply a version of TPS; they just don’t call it that. And it’s not only used in car production; it’s almost everywhere, from consumer goods to toilet bowls and from satellites to restaurants.
Many people learned the skills at Toyota and proceeded to write books, develop courses, and offer their services as consultants. Toyota started a worldwide trend.
Why draw all that attention and break the barriers so your competitors benefit? It is far better to remain in the shadows of inefficiency, where no one bothers to copy you.
3. You Will Have To Say No To Some Clients.
Here's a harsh thought: when your firm evolves, not every client will fit into your new model. You may even have to turn them away.
Increasing productivity means focusing on increasing customer value while decreasing the expenses of creating it.
It is unavoidable that your clients will appreciate your product’s quality, lead time, and price. New clients will be lining up, and a ten-year-old can do the sales because clients would feel stupid saying no to your offer.
And here is the challenge: what if you get more projects than your team can handle? Are you going to turn clients away?
You have no choice; the alternative is investing and growing the business.
Is it worth turning away low-value clients in exchange for more efficient operations and regular profits? You get to decide.
4. Your vacancies will fill too quickly.
Many companies struggle to find (engineering) talent; vacancies remain unfilled, and the departments are stretched.
A high-performance culture will help. Everyone senses the buzz when stepping into a high-performing organisation. Applicants are eager to work in productive teams; who doesn’t want to be part of the winning team?
Take a shipyard in Singapore. Their HQ delayed the decision about relocating or closing the company. It was an unnerving situation for the employees. Yet, despite this uncertainty, they joined forces to drive productivity and product quality higher while chipping away at the costs.
Not only did the company’s results benefit, but customers received better-quality products, and the staff’s well-being surged.
So beware: once your company becomes the preferred workplace, you might be spoiled for choice. Sifting through stacks of competent applicants is painstaking and tedious work, and your HR team will need to expand.
While the current situation with unfilled vacancies is not optimal, getting flooded with qualified candidates is time-consuming and costly, and it is a worse situation for the organisation.
5. Your life will become easy, but you will struggle to stay busy.
When everything functions smoothly, you will have less to do. There is no need to micromanage teams, put out fires, or chase deadlines. Doesn't that sound dull?
One business owner made a slight change to his team meetings. Previously, his day was filled with short ad-hoc conversations with his team members. He could barely write a 10-sentence email without interruption.
After he upgraded his conversations, people acted accountable and achieved results without his involvement. Within weeks, he could work uninterrupted for over half his days and drive the business growth.
It’s much more fulfilling to be needed frequently and be the company’s hero. What will you say to your friends who are all busy, that your company runs autonomously? That’s not a good look!
Conclusion

So there you have it: five reasons why hiring a business consultant is a bad idea. If you appreciate inefficiency, enjoy firefighting, and prefer the status quo, you should definitely avoid hiring outside aid.
But if you want to discuss a complicated life involving being forced to pay higher salaries, getting copied by competitors, turning away customers or growing the company, sifting through CVs of highly qualified applicants, and strategising your company’s next move, then let's speak to increase your gross margin.
ZingURbiz specialises in delivering results that will turn your business upside down—in the greatest conceivable way.
Let's get together for coffee and talk about how to quintuple your gross margin.
Comments