Many businesses struggle their opening years because they don’t seek professional help or guidance. And businesses that are around for years may find they have issues with growth because they lack new perspectives. The average consultant works in more organizations and industries than any other profession, gaining a wealth of knowledge about what works and what doesn’t.

Consultants add value from their knowledge and point of view. They can evaluate your business from an objective position and offer resources you may not have thought of. Our consultants also provide powerful insights to help your business grow in the right direction.

Before we answer, ask yourself this question: Is my business where I want it to be?

Whether you need a consultant or not depends on your core business needs. If you’re overwhelmed and struggling, or if you simply have a project that needs additional staff, it makes sense to outsource to a consultant or consulting firm. Financially, consultants can reduce the development, implementation, and execution time of your projects and lower costs. Mentally, they can give you a break and take some of the workload off your shoulders. They also provide help for any project or initiative that requires specialized knowledge and experience.

To be successful, everyone needs the same two things: a willingness to work hard and adaptability.  We’re used to working fast-paced and adapting to meet our client’s visions, even brainstorming with them to overcome obstacles. This is why our initial meeting it so important: we want to get a strong feel for your business style so we can ensure we’re a good fit.

Before moving forward with working together, we thoroughly consider the following elements:

• Your personal interests
• Your personality
• Your dreams and goals
• The skills you’ve gained from work, education, and life
• Your core values

We’ll also discuss the inspiration behind your business and your vision for the future.

We’re glad you asked! Not that we like to brag, but we’re the difference between hiring a firm to work ‘on’ your business and hiring a firm to work ‘with’ your business. We don’t take on clients only to talk to them once a month when we send reports. We’re right there with you in the daily grind, helping you put out fires as them come along (just call us honorary firefighters) because we only find success when you do.

By working with us, you’re accessing a consultant who knows what it takes to run a business, with the benefit of being able to take an unbiased ‘helicopter view’ of your organization. Though we’re not certified counselors, we also provide a sympathetic ear. Use us as a sounding board any time you like. Running a business can be exhausting and lonely, so we want to relieve your daily pressure so building your business is less of a chore and more of a thrill.

Don’t get us started! We love talking about this topic. We specialize in management, improving business operations, talent acquisition, and strategic investments. We leverage many components across all of our consulting services to customize the perfect solution for your business. Additionally, we help with compliance responsibilities for clients in the early stages.

Whatever your business or company structure, and no matter where you are with growth, our consultants are masters at finding solutions and creating action plans. And we always take your company’s available resources and infrastructure into consideration so everything is doable and custom fit.

Does your business struggle with software adoption? Are you a startup struggling to get funding? Does trying to juggle legal documents while figuring out accounting make your head spin?  We can help with all of the above and so much more. Whether you’re trying to improve operations or find support and guidance for your management team, we have the expertise and experience to move you in the right direction and achieve your business objectives.

Absolutely not. We’re not here to be your helicopter parents, only offer guidance and assistance when you want it. We will work independently in your company or other places as needed (bank or client meetings, offices, etc.). Our consultants will act as employees, but they will always maintain boundaries set by you. Our job is to make sure your business is running smoothly, not to take over. Occasionally, we may interview the senior and junior management, but this will only be scheduled at convenient times without disrupting the operations of your company.

It’s understandable that some employees may worry about an outside party coming in and ‘stepping on their toes’. Our objective is to improve and grow your company, eliminating money losses so your business remains profitable and secure. In our experience, once employees understand why we’re there, they want to co-operate however they can.

As much as we love our clients, we don’t want you dependent on us either! Our goal is to look at your business, help you improve, and then give you the tools, resources, and knowledge to move forward on your own. That is what sets us apart from other firms. While other firms are happy to keep you dependent so they can get your recurring billing fees, we want you to grow independent and confident. If a business ends up dependent on us, we’ve failed, plain and simple.

We do have repeat clients, but they bring us back for new career and business challenges, not to continue to support challenges we’ve already solved.

In the unlikely event that this happens, he or she will discuss the reasoning behind the findings and then leave the final decision up to you. It’s your business and you always have the final say.

We never share client information with outside parties. Tell us your deepest, darkest secrets (if you want) because everything between us is strictly confidential.

The Gema Consult Code of Ethics forbids any of our consultants from discussing your business with anyone. This also applies to specialists who are engaged to work in the company. We pride ourselves in our perfect record of zero complaints about client confidentiality. If a consultant feels it is necessary to brainstorm with other consultants to gain a greater insight to a particular situation, or to find alternative solutions, your company name or other identifying information is never divulged.

Honestly, we’re not salespeople. Just consultants. If our livelihoods depended on getting bonuses from up-sells or anything similar, we would all be poor. We gain client confidence through our honest look at your business and our honest suggestions. We’re here to help, and we never recommend a service that we don’t 100% believe will help you reach your objectives.

At your initial meeting, a consultant will address what is hurting your business and the underlying causes. He or she will also be honest about the associated costs of addressing problems. Then you can make the decision about what you’d like to pursue and if the cost of our consulting will work for your business. Usually, the consultant’s fees are returned to our clients three to five times over. But rather than ‘sell’ to you, a consultant is seeking a partnership. A real partnership is the only way to get your business where it needs to be.

Sure, if you want to hear from someone who may be focused only on turning a profit. Our consultants are working for your vision. They get paid only from the success they bring to your company. Neither your accountant nor your bank manager will give you this type of advice, support, and assistance. All Gema consultants are previous or current business owners with tertiary qualifications. In some ways, we’re over-qualified, but that only increases the benefit to you.

This is the responsibility of your consultant and, we have to say, our consultants are pretty good at finding rockstar specialists. Over the years, we’ve developed relationships and connections with many skilled specialists across a variety of sectors. Once your consultant finds a good candidate, the selection will always be discussed with you first before any work is started. You will always know who is working on what, and you will always have the option to ask for someone different.

Teamwork is the foundation of any business, so our consultant will ask you to assist whenever needed. Remember, this is a partnership where you will work with us to implement solutions for your company’s problems. If you do this, you’ll gain so much from your business and objectives will be reached that much sooner. Obviously, the consultant will not ask you to do anything unplanned or put pressure on the time you spend running your company.

On very rare occasions, yes, and only as a last resort or when absolutely needed. Sometimes, redundancies have to be made to protect the company. A few redundancies in the early days could mean the difference between future success and future failure.

However, it is important that redundancies are handled by an expert in Finance or HR to protect you from claims to a tribunal that could cost your company thousands of dollars. A proper selection process is paramount. This ensures that any tribunal can understand how you were entirely fair in your redundancy decisions. A management specialist will avoid pitfalls and protect the company from claims.

Quickly. Certainly within the first 90 days. It is important to note, though, that Gema Consult is only effective if you are committed to learning and implementing change. You must also be open to assistance and guidance because this will ultimately improve your business. If you’re a seasoned business owner, you know that ‘quick fixes’ are useless and meaningful improvement takes time. Expect to wait at least 12 months before seeing significant change. You will, however, see small improvements in your business each month. And these small changes will add up to significant growth over time.

We’re happy to hear that! We’d love to meet with you. You can find testimonials on our LinkedIn profile (click here). You can also view each of our team member’s profiles while there. Additionally, check out our Google reviews for extra credibility.

Need more? We got it! We are regularly asked by international, national, and local journalists to offer our expert opinion on trending financial and business topics, often in the form of press or editorials.

We typically work on a retainer basis. We bill either at a fixed cost or an hourly rate depending on the project and how much time the work ‘should’ take an experienced professional to do. We operate under the philosophy of ‘bill less, do more’ so you never need to worry about being overcharged for our services. We do not get paid to ‘learn’ unless clearly stated and agreed to up-front. That’s the exception to our work and not the rule. Most importantly, there are no hidden costs or expenses.

We are confident in our ability to provide you with a service that will significantly impact your business, therefore, for most of the support we provide, there is no long-term contract and you are able to cancel at any time. How’s that for a guarantee?

We can start yesterday! Well, as soon as we finish our time machine. Until then, yes, let’s start ASAP. In most instances, we can parachute into your business and start providing our services almost instantly.