Introduction
Entering international markets and expanding trade relations with foreign countries is dictated by the various needs of the company and the reasons for its emergence. The reason for the company’s expansion may be the development of the domestic market. That is, the business saturation with goods increases the pressure from competitors; in such conditions, it is profitable to invest abroad. Also, the activity of a foreign competitor and its success in the internal market force companies to look for new development opportunities. In addition, last but not least, the need to maintain the image at the proper level. Sometimes entering the world market may be the only chance for business to be saved. For example, in the case of a seasonal decline in demand for products in the national market, it is possible to sell goods on the foreign market.
Today the market is filled with corporations that offer various goods and services. Indeed, competitive companies are removing small businesses that are just entering the world market. Often firms are created without studying the demand, as the owners have no idea what products and services the market needs. In such cases, business owners incur huge costs and are forced to leave the market not to go bankrupt. Although to establish a company’s market position, it is necessary to study its segments to select the desired area of services or production of goods. However, even a well-thought-out business does not guarantee success. In the case when the company has sufficient prospects for development in the international market, the question of legal and consulting support arises.
Consulting services are the solution to organizational or managerial tasks within the firm with the help of external specialists. Professional consultants in a particular field are invited to work for the company. Experts assess the condition, see the cause of the problems and create a system to solve these errors. The organization inquires for help not only when it has development difficulties. Often the manager decides to expand the staff, so it becomes necessary to increase the number of specialists. To hire employees will need to spend months on training, monitoring the implementation of functions, and only then give workers complex tasks. The growing company does not have much time; therefore, today, the consulting business is relevant.
The study aims to analyze the concept of business consulting and prospects for creating a company. The structure of the study will be based on three main points concerning the development of the new concept of business consulting, market analysis to create a company, and prospects for dynamic business growth. As a consequence, it will be reasonable to identify competitive segments of the international market and analyze the main entry methods.
The paper will use a source that describes the relationship between the practice of personnel management and the achievement of goals in business ( Jewell, Jewell & Kaufman, 2020). The study includes methods and history of consulting business (Pape, 2016). Also important are the sources that describe the importance of consulting in modern companies (Vukotic, 2020) and (Poulfelt, Olson, Bhambri, & Greiner, 2018), respectively. The paper will use data on a detailed description of consulting companies’ work, functions, and achievements (Lawler, 2020). Comparing the role of consulting in the private and public sectors allows a comprehensive assessment of the issue (Poulfelt & Olson, 2017). Also, an essential component of the literature will be the current state of development of consulting business and the impact of technology on efficiency (Tuomi, 2018) and (Nissen, 2018), respectively. The current state of development of the literature on consulting business allows to thoroughly study the topic and make a prediction for the industry’s future.
Development of the new concept of business consulting
In today’s world, many firms prefer the opportunity to use professional consulting services for you to increase competitiveness and solve pressing business problems. In fact, consulting services are also a well-organized firm that provides aids to clients. Starting an independent consulting practice is an excellent opportunity to use in-depth knowledge in a narrow field to create a company with a specific task (Pape, 2016). Changes in modern industry are appearing rapidly and incessantly. Technologies are improving, new markets are emerging, and customer needs are growing. If the organization does not change its tactics and strategy according to the conditions, it will cause stagnation and regression. In other words, the development of the concept of professional provision of consulting services in various areas of the enterprise becomes a quick and effective solution to the problem situation.
The practice of personnel consulting is exceptionally successful due to the merger of experienced workers from different fields who can jointly solve global problems. However, the use of such a method has not always been successful. The reason for this was the time spent looking for a good specialist, so the problems had to be solved in a brief period. Also, the search for narrow experts was almost impossible due to the lack of particular platforms and companies. Therefore, if it was possible to hire a person, the problem became so global that it was impossible to solve it. Indeed, there was an option to expand the staff of the corporation to attract a large number of specialists from different areas. In fact, this method was not suitable for business due to the high cost of staff expansion (Poulfelt, et al., 2018). Moreover, an increase in employees could be economically unprofitable and would affect the product’s final price, leading to a lessening in demand for the product and bankruptcy. Thus, there was a demand for human resources, which led to the opening of consulting firms.
Human resource management has quickly gained popularity, as an excellent specialist can solve a problem that the director of the firm worked on for a month, the least costly in a few days (Jewell, et al., 2020). The reason is not that the consultant is intelligent, but because he views the situation from a different angle and has already faced a similar problem in his practice.
Market analysis to create a company
Although the consulting business has prospects, many questions arise concerning the study of market segments. Before opening a company, it is necessary to conduct research on which employees are mainly required in the market and which service sector can bring significant profits. However, critical attention should be paid to the competitive environment (Vukotic, 2020). Such actions will permit the investor to choose an area that is in demand and has no numerous competitors.
Certainly, to begin a business, the owner needs first to evaluate the competitors in the market. That is, what part of the industry they control and whether they influence price setting. The next step is to analyze the number of potential customers. It is also necessary to determine how sensitive they are to market prices and which consulting organizations they cooperate with. These actions will show whether to enter the market and what start-up capital will need to be invested in having a chance in a competitive environment (Lawler, 2020). If the market research gives optimistic predictions for business growth, the second step is to create a package of services.
The main form of activity of consultants is business evaluation. Specialists analyze and estimate the work of companies, study markets, and identify reasons for declining revenues. Based on the analysis, consultants develop a step-by-step plan to improve the company’s production and increase profits. The program takes into account the economic and financial capabilities of the enterprise, and human resources. An additional service is to make a marketing plan; marketing consultants will optimize the budget for advertising and find new media channels to promote services and goods.
Assistance in personnel management should be a mandatory service in a consulting firm. Administration consulting will improve the quality of management, minimize the time spent on the execution of orders, and eliminate unnecessary information flows. Specialists will introduce new management techniques in production, train management staff, and establish operational communication between departments (Poulfelt & Olson, 2017). Obviously, a reasonably outlined package of services offers excellent advantages in the market, but at the same time, it needs to compare with competitors’ services. Thus, it will be easier for a new company on the market to impress customers with unique benefits. For example, a profitable combination could be recruiting specialists with different knowledge to help private and public enterprises.
The consulting firm needs to formulate a recruitment process, implement a recruitment strategy, advertise the opening of vacancies and establish a consistent and compatible selection process. Thus, management will spend only time considering the most qualified talent. It is the complete cycle of recruitment service that satisfies all the needs in the selection of employees. In order to find the right candidate among the consulting firm employees, it is necessary to clarify all aspects of the client’s business, industry, and culture (Vukotic, 2020). The job of a consulting company is to listen to the client, and the needs and requirements of the company in great detail to provide the most suitable employees who will be able to offer a wide range of services.
Prospects for dynamic business growth
Today, it is clear that the decisive factor for the modernization of the economy in the new socio-economic conditions is forming a management system capable of active development. The business sector is growing extremely fast, so there are various new requirements for consulting services. Due to the great competition in the market of services, the solutions made in practice lose their relevance, and individual approaches to each client replace them. Therefore, nowadays, employees who can quickly create innovative decisions and implement them into business strategies are precious (Nissen, V). Fierce competition creates a special selection of workers even in the market for professional human services. At the same time, employees of the consulting business must meet the requirements dictated by employers. Companies take into account that today the widespread industry is information technology, so preference is given to professionals who have deep knowledge in this field.
Traditionally, strategic consulting is about making long-term plans, developing all the factors, planning the best-case scenarios and trends, and choosing the most suitable solutions. However, in an era of constant evolution, a strategy must be more flexible. The growing dynamics of the market force it to work on a short-term basis because the ideas may lose importance (Tuomi, 2018). To meet the requirements of clients, consulting companies must maintain an appropriate level of knowledge for employees. Organizing additional training to deepen knowledge of key areas of the market will help maintain the company’s reputation and enrich the new knowledge of workers. It is also crucial to study the company’s internal structure and work with the client’s human resources department to find the most necessary specialist. Similarly important is teamwork, which will let employers critically solve problems and ensure the creation of a unique method of explaining dilemmas.
Results of research
In the current unstable situation, consulting is especially important because it must ensure the stability of the recent economic activity of the organization. Its preservation in adverse environmental conditions and create opportunities for continuous improvement and, if necessary, abrupt changes. Of all the organizational resources, people are the most flexible and reliable, allowing the consulting corporation to improve employees’ knowledge and meet market requirements constantly. In today’s market, unique services are highly valued, so consulting firms are interested in recruiting quality human resources that can quickly and efficiently make decisions. Employees who have creative intelligence and can create original products and the most effective adaptation to the changing conditions of the internal and external organizational environment permit consulting to be in demand among clients. Moreover, even in the era of technological processes and automatic production, enterprises need narrow specialists in order to solve complex problems. Consulting companies are engaged in the selection of the most qualified staff to provide business services.
Conclusion
People are the best asset for business; if a consulting company can establish the excellent compatibility of talent with the right motivation and leadership, nothing can hinder the prosperity of the business. Whether consulting is for small, medium-sized firms or large corporations, consulting companies offer a wide range of services and a large number of trained employees. Consulting specialists can critically evaluate the company’s activities, identify weaknesses and make a long-term business plan to improve the company’s position. Also, a lot of attention is paid to human resources; consulting firms can send their employees to the enterprise to train workers in order to improve production. In fact, it is the wide range of services that allows companies to be in a winning position among competitors.
A well-organized investigation of the domestic or foreign market lets managers determine the most necessary industries in the market. Accordingly, consulting companies select employees who are in demand, which leads to a steady profit and the opportunity to expand the area of services. The future of the consulting industry depends on the ability of employees to learn and think creatively. Recruitment to consulting firms should become increasingly demanding in order to select only the most suitable candidates. Therefore competition in the services market is becoming more contentious. Thus, human resources are the most important element of any market and enterprise.
References
Jewell, D.O., Jewell, S.F., & Kaufman, B.E. (2020). Designing and implementing high-performance work systems: Insights from consulting practice for academic researchers. Human Resource Management, 31 (3), 1-16.
Lawler, E. (2020). Achieving excellence in human resources management [eBook edition]. Stanford University Press.
Nissen, V. (2018). Digital transformation of the consulting industry: extending the traditional delivery model. Springer.
Pape, T. (2016). Prioritizing data items for business analytics: framework and application to human resources. European Journal of Operational Research, 252(2), 687-698.
Poulfelt, E., & Olson, H. T. (2017). Management consulting today and tomorrow: perspectives and advice from leading experts. Routledge.
Poulfelt, F., Olson, T. H., Bhambri, A., & Greiner, L. (2018). The changing global consulting industry. (F. Poulfelt, & T. H. Olson, Eds.). Routledge.
Tuomi, E. (2018). Social media marketing plan case: human resources consulting firm (Publication No. 10024/287) [Bachelor’s Thesis, Lahti University of Applied Sciences]. Lahden ammattikorkeakoulu.
Vukotic S. (2017).The importance of consulting in contemporary business management. Journal of Process Management New Technologies International, 5(3), 63-75.