I once had a friend tell me that being a good parent wasn’t that hard - it was doing literally anything else that was hard. In our house that looks a lot like dishes backed up in the sink, dog hair on the couch, and clean laundry left to wrinkle. In a lot of ways parenting and managing a household feels a lot like running a business, managing finances and busy calendars, supervising personnel and subcontractors, and executing projects. But when you’re running a small business, you don’t have the same luxury of floors left unwashed or ordering take out for a third night in a row.
Along with running the day-to-day operations of your business, you need to find time to look to the future. Work on finding new revenue streams and new customers, keeping up with latest technologies and communication platforms, and accounting for your future needs from inventory to personnel.
As working parents, the growth of the service economy has enabled us to bring in help where and when we need it. We've brought in experts to help with construction projects and when we are tight on time, we sought help with grocery shopping and lawn care. We have become comfortable acknowledging our shortcomings in our personal lives, so now is the time we take the same approach in business.
Inevitably over the lifespan of your business your needs will change, both from factors in and out of your control. Adding a consultant to your team means that you can add the expertise you need, as you need it. From alleviating administrative burdens to supplementing your team with niche technical expertise, consultants can fill in gaps, without creating the traditional burdens of hiring new employees. But unlike downloading a mobile app on your phone for grocery shopping, finding the right consultant may not feel as straight forward. When you use Instacart, Uber, or TaskRabbit, you have a level of security – known entities provide reassurance and a guarantee.
Working with a consulting firm like Novelle, can provide that same confidence. You will be working with reliable, proven consultants with years of experience, allowing them to seamlessly integrate with your team.
If you haven’t worked with a consultant before, you may not be aware of how these relationships can work. No worries, we are happy to work with you to figure out how we can best team to support your needs. We can suggest the type of contract that may work best for short-term projects such as website design or a larger scope contract to meet evolving needs. One of the most flexible options is a master services agreement or consultant agreement with triggering task orders for specific work. The agreement does not obligate you to anything, rather it establishes a relationship, and from there you are able to issue task orders for work as you need it. This allows true flexibility and cost control, but also allows for ease of adding services and support to meet immediate or evolving needs.
We would love to discuss your company’s needs and which one of our options for support may fit best. Our consultations are always free so don’t hesitate to contact us.
Abaigeal Schreck worked in military medical research facilities across the country for nearly a decade before joining Novelle in 2018. Abaigeal is a project manager for Novelle as well as a mother to two toddlers. When you’re ready to chat, contact Abaigeal at info@novelleonline.com or connect with her on LinkedIn.