At various stages in your business, extra help, advice and support is what you need.

It might be when you’re a start-up, when you first recruit others or take on premises, or maybe when you start to negotiate with a major customer or supplier. You might need help putting policies in place so you can tender for bigger supply contracts.

These are all examples of when working with a consultant can add value and make sense.

Business consultancy might sound expensive for a small or medium sized business but you’ll avoid the pitfalls, make the most effective decisions and learn for next time too. So, think of it as an investment in learning from someone else’s experience.

At CBASS, we have a network of expert business consultants in the background, many of them with sector and industry-specific experience that they’re keen to share with SMEs like yours.

Businesses come in all shapes and sizes and so does our SME business advice. There are a few things that any business owner needs to know before investing in consultancy services:

• Do you know your stuff? What experience do you have?
• Is your experience relevant for my business sector? Again, an obvious question.
• Is it relevant for small or medium sized enterprise or business like mine? Can I learn from you about what I might need in future when I grow?
• Can we just work together on a key project, to test the water, first?

What will consulting services cost me? Is it a fixed price or hourly rate-based costs that I’ll need in my budget?

CBASS can answer “Yes” to the first four of those and you’ll also get a clear answer to the last one once we’ve had an initial (no commitment) chat!

CBASS has pulled together a team of associate business consultants who cover everything from marketing and management to finance and law. We can support you in a range of areas, from raising service quality and hitting environmental performance targets through to people development and lean manufacturing. Most of the CBASS team have experience across several sectors but some are absolute specialists who know your industry and markets inside out.

Our approach is to offer a simple business consultancy package. Initially, we’ll work with you as the business owner to look at the big picture strategy and planning. Then we’ll guide you with specific advice to tackle your priorities and support to help during the implementation phase, normally the hardest part.

Let’s face it, if you’re a small fish, learning from a wiser fish before you head into the big ocean and getting their protection makes a lot of sense.

To get you started, we’ve compiled a series of sector-specific pages that will give you a feel for the expertise and the business consulting packages available from CBASS.

Whether retail or professional services, agriculture or construction, logistics or manufacturing, have a look at the links and then get in touch with our team at CBASS to find out more.