Why is hiring a consultant so expensive?

Consulting services are expensive. There's no debate about that. The question many people have is why is it so expensive, even coming from a small firm? While our pricing structure is different from most other consulting firms and much lower than well known large consulting firms, there's no doubt that we are still considered expensive. But we'll talk about us a little later.

Why do large consulting firms charge so much? I don't have a definitive answer. Pricing strategy is a firm's competitive advantage.

I have seen consulting firms charge only $15k for a strategy plan. But looking into that, for 15k, you only get 3 hours of phone calls for a month and a strategy plan skeleton for your company. Is that useful? To some it may be, but to most it is not. When a price is that low, you should be skeptical.

As a small consulting firm, we don't charge nearly as much as a large consulting firm. Keep in mind, an entry level consultant may need to bill approximately 1500-2000 hours for the same amount of work an experience consultant may complete in 800-1000 hours.

So what are you paying for and why pay for it? Well, I mentioned that we don't have as much overhead, but that doesn't mean we are a cheap service. You're paying for the value that we provide. A consultant provides knowledge and guidance from an outside perspective. I think a misconception a lot of people have is that a consultant just comes in and gives advice based on the problems you have, but that's not really what consulting is.

Consulting is very much data driven. A lot of research goes into a project. For example, for a marketing strategy plan, we have to go out and gather data from previous clients or potential new clients, analyze the macroeconomics of your industry, and utilize that data to deduce what the next best steps are for your company.

These are all factors that drive the cost of consulting. Whether people realize it or not, a lot of research and work goes into the final plan. If you would like to know how much we would charge your company for consulting services, reach out to us and we can set up a call to discuss your business problems and needs.