As business challenges, macroeconomic trends, and workforce changes, it’s difficult to stay on pace to deliver against organizational goals. When coupled with financial pressures to reduce operating expenditures, accomplishing key objectives can seem close to impossible. But when you leverage Consulting 2.0, it doesn’t have to be.

Consulting 2.0 is an Ideal Solution for Business Problems

Engagements built using independent consultants with deep subject matter expertise, the essence of Consulting 2.0, is an agile, fit-to-purpose method of solving your business challenges.

Consulting 2.0 is a modern, digitally-enabled approach to solving complex business problems, giving leaders (even those outside of the C-suite) access to the expertise of business professionals who have the skills required to drop in on-demand and execute strategic work. Digital connectedness, combined with the rapid migration of top talent into freelance consulting, allows business leaders to find someone who’s solved their exact problems before.

This makes them an ideal solution for business problems. Here’s why:

1. Get valuable outside perspectives.

Sometimes, problems require a third party’s insights. The challenge is to balance the need for external guidance with quality and experience. If you try to find a consultant to fill this gap on your own or through a traditional firm, you’ll likely struggle to bring on the perfect expert with specialized knowledge of the problem you’re facing. Often staffed with more junior resources, clients can feel like a traditional firm’s resource is “learning on the job.” This is where Consulting 2.0 is the best fit. Every Catalant Consultant on our platform has a unique work background and is vetted and approved — meaning you can rest assured that you’ll be matched with experienced professionals who have the right expertise to manage the work you need to get done.

2. Improve flexibility.

If your organization only wants to commit to a consultant for one project rather than contracting for a period of time, you can do so with an independent consultants. You can select a consultant on a project-by-project basis, or hire the same consultant repeatedly. The flexibility offered by a Consulting 2.0 means that you can pick who you want to work with, and when you want to work with them, rather than being beholden to those a legacy firm would assign to your engagement.

3. Fill talent gaps.

Independent consultants can cover employment leave gaps, manage projects designed by consulting firms, or even build processes to onboard full-time hires. Utilizing a variety of talent models means that companies can get the most out of personnel, leading to maximized efficiency.

One way to think about this is to “hire to the trough, variablize to the peak.” Joe Fuller, HBS professor, and co-lead of the Managing the Future of Work Project, started talking about this in 2020, and we’re seeing alignment to it among the executives we speak with, more today than ever before. 

Check out this visual to better understand how you can fill talent gaps by leveraging independent consulting along with your other talent models:

4. Better Value

When cost is the most important factor in selecting a solution, Consulting 2.0 unbundles the approach to solving your toughest business challenge, resulting in right-sized projects that are priced transparently, helping you stay on budget. Because independent consultants pitch their solution to your project with a quoted price, you’ll know for certain what you can afford without wasting your time or theirs.  

When is it time to use Consulting 2.0?

1. You need specialized expertise.

You’ll know it’s time to bring in a consultant when you’re faced with challenges that require specialized knowledge beyond the capabilities and capacity of your current staff. While long-term needs necessitate a full-time employee, an independent consultant is ideal for short-term needs. While sourcing a knowledgeable consultant can be a challenge when conducting your own search, Consulting 2.0 makes it easier. 

2. Time is of the essence.

Managing an initiative with a hard deadline? Independent consultants can help deliver results on time and on budget. For example, if your organization needs to implement a program within a matter of months or weeks, it’ll be near impossible to source and hire a full-time employee or consulting firm. With Consulting 2.0 at your disposal, source and hire a consultant within a matter of a few weeks (or, in some cases, just days).

3. Big Consulting is too cumbersome for your need.

If your company is facing a business challenge that requires a more surgical solution and/or requires implementation, Consulting 2.0 is the way to go. Business strategy consultancies focus on adapting pre-existing methodologies and implementation is seldom in scope. Rather than a team of mostly junior consultants camped out in your conference room, you’ll know who can support your highly specialized project or meet your project requirements before ever engaging them, ultimately saving you time and stress.

How to Get Started with Consulting 2.0

Once you’ve identified that an independent consultant is right for your project, it’s time to get started on finding your perfect expert. But, the process doesn’t begin by reviewing resumes and pitches. Instead, you must first flesh out your needs.

1. Develop your project.

To begin, write down what problem you’re trying to solve. Be sure to focus on one specific problem that you want the consultant to help solve. Ensure that you’re being descriptive, but not so detailed that readers get lost in the weeds. You’ll also want to make sure you develop a list of internal stakeholders and earn their buy-in before you post your project. This will allow for a seamless onboarding process for your consultant once you’ve hired them. 

2. Work with Catalant to identify the consultants with the right experience based on your needs.

One of the benefits of Consulting 2.0 is that there are thousands of experienced business professionals to choose from. Because of the number of options available, it’s important to know what type of consultant and work experience you’re looking for. Think about whether you want someone who served as a consultant for a large firm, or if you’d prefer someone who came to consulting after years working in the industry and earning on-the-job experience (or vice versa), as both backgrounds offer different benefits.

You’ll also want to determine if your problem warrants bringing in a small team or a single consultant to dig in, conduct a thorough exploration, and identify the full project scope. Lastly, determine if you need a consultant to come onsite to your organization, or if they will work remotely — this will impact the selection of the most ideal professionals.

3. Establish the duration of your engagement.

Once you’ve scoped your project you want to post and who you want to find, determine your timeline. Some projects may need months of support, while others just need weeks. While you can extend engagements, underestimating the amount of time it will take to complete a project runs the risk of going over budget or having to hire a second consultant. 

Once you’ve established everything you need, post your project to an independent consulting solution like Catalant. Whether you’re an enterprise, consulting firm, or private equity firm, Catalant will help you search for the right consultant across the globe, and hire based on relevant expertise and background.