Avoiding DIY Disasters

“The road to the hardware store is paved with good intentions,” says David Pekel, president of Pekel Construction in Milwaukee and a master certified remodeler. He is often greeted at his office on Monday by frantic calls from homeowners needing help to remedy the weekend’s DIY home repair fails.

Many repair projects can be accomplished by virtually any homeowner, but others should be left to those with experience.

Plumbing repairs are especially tricky.  Andy Prescott, who publishes the blog Art of Being Cheap, does whatever repairs he can on his rental house and his own house. Doing his own plumbing does not save money, and he learned this the hard way.

When considering a DIY project, whether at home or on the job, –

–   Know what you can and can’t do yourself

–   Consider what your time is worth

–   Anticipate scope creep

–   Be prepared to live with the results

Business challenges, particularly those involving growth and change, can cripple even the most successful enterprise. In an effort to make smart decisions, many CEOs and boards of directors grapple with how to navigate complex situations. One approach is partnering with a management consulting firm – to bridge existing gaps in knowledge, skills, and leadership or to augment staff.

In her blog, Good to Know: Why Companies Really Hire Consultants, Alex Nuth highlights a few of the main reasons companies turn to management consultants for support.

They Want an Outside Eye

You know how sometimes when you’re dealing with an issue in your life, you turn to friends and family for their opinions? Companies often need this, too, especially when making tough decisions. Oftentimes, clients have a perspective on how to solve the problem they are facing but want to make sure that what they’re thinking is correct (or that they aren’t so close to the challenge that they’re missing the obvious answer). So, they turn to consultants to come in and provide their opinion.

But this isn’t just any opinion: Because consultants often work with many different companies and may have worked through this problem in the past with someone else, they can really provide a perspective based on what they’ve seen work (or not) before.

They Need Extra Horsepower

Sometimes the problems companies need solving are really important, but they don’t necessarily have the manpower to focus on them. Companies still have to focus on their day-to-day operations, after all, and new projects typically require reprioritizing employees’ core job responsibilities. But hiring new employees to fill these gaps doesn’t always make sense either, seeing as many of these projects are one-offs. Whether it’s a cost reduction program requiring a dedicated team of six for a year or even a post-merger integration that requires a team of 100 for a month, clients might struggle to get teams in place to do this critical work.

They Want Specialized Skills

Another, and perhaps the most common, reason that companies hire consultants is to gain access to a specialized skill set that might not exist in-house. By engaging a consulting firm, you get access to a group of professionals that has skills ranging from Lean Six Sigma process design to finance organization structures. These highly specialized people would not only be expensive to hire, but the company might not have enough work to keep said employees busy year-round. But, thanks to consultants, companies can bring in that skill set on demand when they need it.

iSeek Solutions is a team of highly-skilled management consultants with a broad range of industry knowledge and expertise. Our guidance, methodologies, tools, and know-how empower our clients to align, optimize, empower, and succeed in achieving their goals and objectives. To learn more about how iSeek can help your company overcome difficult challenges, visit our website, subscribe to our blog or follow us on LinkedIn. Contact us directly at info@iseeksolutionsinc.com!