In various stages of life, people require a particular type of advice, whether it’s a personal life, business, career, and even relationship. However, if you are a business owner trying to improve your company, grow profit, and build awareness, then terms such as strategist and consultant can be a bit confusing.
However, with little time and energy, together, we can figure out these terms. Now, let’s discuss the differences between strategist vs. consultant and decide which one do you need the most.
Strategist
This person formulates and implementers strategy through particular types of goals. Additionally, he or she tries to achieve a set of goals and executes the set plans. Also, he uses available recourses to accomplish set objectives as well. These days, strategists are present in many fields, such as sales, design, economy, politics, banking, military, personal life, trading, and so on.
However, when it comes to business, strategists usually perform the following tasks:
Predicts sales and profitability, manage business opportunities, and offer recourse allocation
Evaluate business needs, identify stakeholders, and prepare strategy maps necessary for the decision-making process
Decide on the best competitive strategy that complements your business
Design tailored messages and follow their impact
Why should you hire a strategist?
You want to start a business, but you don’t have the slightest idea how it should look like
You wish to launch a new program or want to figure out where to focus your work
You aren’t sure what type of clients to target and how to price your services
You don’t seem to love your business, but you aren’t sure what to do about it
Don’t hire a strategist and make him do work for you. He should guide you through this process and help you figure out things.
Consultant
This is a person who provides particular advice in specific areas. Additionally, a consultant is used in various fields; basically, every time you need advice on how to do something or learn new skills or concepts.
In terms of business, a consultant can assist you in:
Setting up business priorities, while matching them with market needs
Understanding the buying process, and aligning it with the clients
Develop specific strategies which will help you maintain a trustworthy relationship with customers
Boost the business process for both business owners and customers
However, there are two types of consultants, internal and external one. While internal consultant works within the company to provide advice, the external one is an organization outside of the company, such as a consulting firm.
Why do you need a consultant?
If you already have a business strategy in place, but you need new branding, messaging, or website approach.
If you want someone to handle social media for you
If you want to learn how to launch an online course, for example
If you require expert guidance on how to do something, for instance, how to hire employees, and so on
Consultants usually work in areas such as finance, engineering, education, travel, real estate property, marketing sales, and others. However, you should hire a consultant to develop your brand, write you a website, or promote your social media account unless you’re 100% sure what you want to do and who you are as a business.
Which one to hire?
Well, it all depends on your needs, but we would suggest you hire a strategist first. He will save you a lot of time and money by helping you quickly figure out what you want to do with your business. Once you have strategic details in place, you can move to a consultant, to help you implement and execute those strategies.