Will People Outsource to a Generalist?

My goal as a small business consultant is to work with business owners who are specialists in their chosen area and need some help from a generalist to round out the skills within the business, with particular emphasis on assisting with the financial management of the company. But is there a market for outsourcing to a “generalist”?

When I hear the term “consultant” I typically think management consultant – someone that comes in, reviews a business, provides a written report, and leaves it up to the client to implement their recommendations. That is not, in my opinion, what most small business owners need (or can afford) from a consultant. My goal is not to spend time writing detailed reports providing advice on how to “enhance shareholder wealth” or “effectively utilise human capital”, but to get in and get my hands dirty in helping my clients get the work done, freeing them up to get out and spend time with their clients.

So why outsource to a “generalist”? Traditionally business owners are more likely to think about outsourcing work to specialist firms – an accountant for their finance, a lawyer for their legal issues or an IT firm for their website. However, small business owners cannot always afford to turn to people like that for every little question they have or task they need completed. Sometimes they need a trusted associate who knows their business inside and out, and can be contacted any time to discuss more general business issues than those specialists would normally get involved with.

A good analogy was recently suggested to me by a friend when he used the example of the medical profession. When you get a headache you don’t rush off to a neurosurgenon, nor do you go straight to a gastroenterologist when you have a stomach ache. Generally the first step (or maybe the second after you’ve tried self diagnosis with the help of Dr. Google) is to head off to your GP. Your GP is someone that knows you and your history, can help with many issues, and finally can help point you in the right direction when the services of a specialist are actually required. That is my goal – to be the generalist that my clients can turn to on a range of issues, who can help solve a lot of everyday business problems (including just helping get some work done), can help do some preliminary work when a specialist is finally required, and importantly is cheaper than the typical specialist with all their overheads.

So, while it might sound a bit too much like a famous ad campaign of the 70’s and 80’s, my aim is to be “the business partner you have when you don’t have a business partner”

Tagged as: Consulting, employees, outsourcing