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News, Articles and Media Appearances Press Release: (May 20, 2003)--(Philadelphia) Consultants come in all sizes as do shoes. One size does not fit all. Or that’s as it should be. The very reason for hiring a consultant is to obtain advice for the specific nature and circumstances of your company. With so many consulting companies out there claiming to solve all your problems, exactly how do you know what to look for when hiring a consultant? We put this question to David Wagstaff, Managing Director, of FI-Performance Consulting of Blue Bell, PA. “Any consultant can give you a to-do list of things your company can change or do differently, but the bottom line comes down to one thing–the bottom line.” “When people ask me what I do, I tell them I’m a business consultant focused on helping business increase net income. Many people assume I am an IT professional claiming to be a business consultant since so many people associate consulting with IT. They expect some miraculous information system that is installed and saves money but what we do in reality it’s really simpler than that and more profitable.” At FI-Performance Consulting we look at the basic profit equation, and figure out how to make a difference. Income less expenses equals profit. We look at each of the key drivers both on the income and expense side of the equation. Any business owner or leader wants to know how to increase income. There is a simple and yet profoundly powerful answer. Look to the items that contribute the most income focusing on ways to further increase sales and revenue. It is imperative to get to a level of detail where you understand how each product and even customer profitability plays a roll. Then look to see if there are new profitable products and services or markets you could add. Understanding how to attract and retain customers is important. But then one must take a deeper look and find what method of finding new customers has the best return. For some industries advertising is effective and has high ROI, whereas for other businesses it is effectively a waste of time, effort and money unless highly focused. After you feel confident on the income side, then look at your expenses. Start with the biggest expenses and look for opportunities to renegotiate contracts or reduce waist or errors. For example, in an industry requiring a large workforce, escalating health care costs may be a major driver of expense, whereas in another industry with few employees or with highly paid employees, health care concerns may be a minor expense driver. If health care is a major driver then we look at ways to reduce it. This might entail partnering with other businesses for greater negotiating power or simply confirming the billing is correct. By following this simple advice there are huge opportunities to make $10’s, even $100 of thousands or even millions of dollars in increase in income depending upon the size of the business and when the business last reviewed profitability at a detail level. An excellent consultant should: · understand the basics of business and profitability While we can identify all the drivers needed to increase profits dramatically, the client still has to implement our suggestions. So follow-up is key to success. The client has to be willing to: · Make changes that are in the shareholders or owners best interest,
avoiding the desire to become fixed on one way of doing things, and FI - Performance Consulting is so confident in their ability to make a difference, they have set up their fee arrangements based on the contingency that our clients will increase net income. If the consultant wants to charge you by the hour, beware! They may not be confident in their own ability to powerfully increase your net income. “If they don’t believe in themselves, I wouldn’t take a gamble either” says Wagstaff. FI – Performance Consulting is a management Consulting Company focused in Blue Bell, PA working with small to mid-size businesses in a variety of industries including specific focus on banking and the financial sectors. To learn more please visit their website at www.FI-PerformanceConsulting.com or by calling them directly at 800-273-6062. Contact: Gingo Spencer |
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