Having worked in the Catering trade for some years, within that time I would have never thought of calling for help from a consultant. Why you ask well its very simple really, I thought they would be very expensive, take up to much of my time, I had loads of good ideas of my own and the main reason would be I had my pride.

However that’s not the case with a catering consultant, it’s certainly not the case with Complete Catering Advice the company I set up over 4 years ago in France. I would visit friends within the trade and help them where I could, friends within the UK and France. I enjoyed helping them and seeing their profits increase was even better, it should be said we had great fun, and that’s just how it should be.

When hiring a Consultant try and get the first meeting FREE, we offer this to all our clients no matter how far away. You should know that they can help you and that you have a good working relationship with the consultant. You should also try and make sure that the person you are meeting will be your consultant, there is no point in meeting and bonding with someone that’s not going to be doing the work with you. Try and find out a little about the company they work for ask them if you can contact past clients to get references. Introduce them to the staff and see how the consultant handles the staff, if they spend time with them then your on to a winner that person cares, if they are more interested in you then that person is selling not caring. Try and remember that the consultant is there to help you make more money and give you more time to do the things you want to do in life, like holidays etc.

Once you've had that meeting give it a few days and see if they follow up on the meeting, take note that if it’s the person you had the meeting with. If it is and they were interested with the staff then they care if it’s not that person well you guessed it their selling. You want someone that is going to care about the out come of the contract and will be there on the phone at any time with a helping hand. We always spend a day working within your business, trying to work in most areas.

You should try and remember that the consultant isn't there solely to make you more money, they are also there to streamline your working practice, setting operations into place that will save you money over time. Try not to think of the pound signs that you are going to make a consultant isn't a miracle worker, they are a person just like you. However they should have the ability to see an opportunity and market it also see where things can be streamlined.

So it’s not as scary as you think and it shouldn't cost you an arm and a leg, over the scale of time. I hope that you can now feel a little more comfortable picking up that phone and getting some answers that will take your business to the next level, your business can never stop growing there is always room for growth.