I’ve spent more than ten years working as a business consultant, most of that time with small and mid-sized companies that were profitable on paper but quietly stuck. I didn’t come into this work straight out of school with frameworks and buzzwords. I came from operations—running teams, managing budgets, fixing broken processes when there wasn’t time for theory. That background shapes how I approach consulting to this day.
A lot of people assume a business consultant’s job is to give advice. In practice, advice is the least valuable part of the work. Most owners already know what should be happening. What they struggle with is why it isn’t—and what to change without breaking everything else.
The first problem is rarely the real problem
One of my earliest consulting engagements involved a service business convinced their issue was marketing. Leads were inconsistent, and revenue plateaued. Once I got inside the operation, it was obvious the real bottleneck was fulfillment. Jobs ran late, callbacks were common, and referrals were drying up quietly.
We didn’t touch marketing for months. We fixed scheduling, clarified responsibilities, and rebuilt how jobs were closed out. Only then did increasing lead flow make sense. Revenue rose not because we found more customers, but because the business stopped leaking trust.
That pattern repeats constantly. Owners focus on what’s visible. Consultants earn their value by finding what’s structural.
Growth exposes weaknesses you didn’t know you had
I’ve worked with companies that doubled revenue quickly—and regretted it. One client scaled faster than their systems could handle. Invoices went out late, cash flow tightened, and employees burned out. On the surface, growth looked like success. Inside, it was chaos.
My role there wasn’t to slow them down arbitrarily. It was to help them decide where growth was helping and where it was creating risk. Sometimes the smartest move is stabilizing before scaling again, even when momentum feels intoxicating.
A good business consultant isn’t obsessed with expansion. They’re focused on sustainability.
Owners often underestimate the human side of operations
Spreadsheets don’t quit. People do. I’ve seen businesses invest heavily in tools while ignoring communication breakdowns that made those tools irrelevant. One company had excellent reporting software, but managers didn’t trust the numbers because frontline teams weren’t trained properly.
We spent weeks just listening—ride-alongs, informal conversations, observing handoffs. Once people felt heard, data quality improved without forcing compliance. Culture changed before metrics did.
That’s the part of consulting most outsiders never see. You don’t fix businesses by imposing systems alone. You fix them by aligning behavior with reality.
Common mistakes I see businesses make with consultants
Some owners hire consultants hoping for validation. They want someone to confirm their instincts, not challenge them. That relationship rarely produces change.
Others expect instant transformation. Real improvement is iterative. It involves uncomfortable conversations, testing assumptions, and sometimes admitting that a long-held strategy no longer fits.
I’ve walked away from engagements where the owner wanted certainty without introspection. Consulting only works when there’s willingness to adjust, not just delegate thinking.
What experience actually buys you in consulting
Experience isn’t about knowing more models. It’s about recognizing patterns early. I can often tell within the first few conversations whether a business problem is operational, financial, or leadership-driven—even if it’s being presented as something else entirely.
It also teaches restraint. Not every issue needs fixing immediately. Some need monitoring. Others resolve once a larger constraint is addressed. Overcorrecting can be just as damaging as doing nothing.
That judgment only comes from watching changes ripple through real businesses over time.
How I approach consulting now
These days, I focus less on impressing clients and more on helping them see clearly. I ask uncomfortable questions. I push back on vague goals. I insist on understanding how decisions affect day-to-day work, not just quarterly numbers.
A business consultant isn’t there to run the company for you. They’re there to help you see your business as it actually operates—not as you hope it does.
The most successful engagements I’ve had weren’t flashy. They were steady. Owners regained control, teams understood priorities, and growth became intentional instead of reactive.
That’s the work. Quiet, practical, and grounded in reality.