What to Consider Before Working with a Consulting Firm in The Philippines

What to Consider Before Working with a Consulting Firm in The Philippines

Working with a Consulting Firm in The Philippines

There are a lot of consulting firms in the Philippines that can help you run your small or midsize business more efficiently. They can be found in every industry and sector. Do you know how to find the consulting firm that is the perfect fit for your company?

Running a business is extremely difficult, especially if you are a new entrepreneur. It’s not just about sales and marketing, it’s also about managing the day-to-day operations, finances and human resources. You might not know where to focus, especially if you have a small workforce. When this happens, consulting firms can be useful since they can provide you advice and assist you in problem-solving. We have compiled all the crucial information you should know before working with a consulting firm in the Philippines.

What is a Consulting Firm?

A consulting firm usually consists of several professionals or industry experts with comprehensive knowledge and offer guidance and solutions to business problems. Thanks to their years of expertise, they can discover faults or difficulties in a business, and they may then offer a solution.

Business owners, whether from large or small companies, frequently hire consulting firms to send out industry experts to observe and assess the operation of their company and identify any gaps before they become serious issues for the company.

How Does it Help Your Business?

Aside from solving issues in business operations, business consultants can also help establish steps to get to your business goals. Consulting Firms in the Philippines vary in industry. It may be a Corporate consulting firm, Human Resource consulting firm, or Financial consulting firm, but all of them have the same goal, which is to help their clients reach their goals and solve issues of the business independently.

Additionally, they may aid in your market research and assist you to create a stronger business plan that is tailored to your particular sector. In addition to conducting research, they can train your employees to meet the demands of your sector’s present market. Businesses must invest heavily in employee training if they want to expand.

Should you invest in a Consulting Firm?

Business consulting services have been rapidly expanding as an industry over the past few years, with an estimated 1.5 billion US dollars in revenue expected from management consulting firms in the Philippines this 2023 based on Statista.

Instead of hiring an individual business expert, most business owners turn to consulting firms as they offer solutions even virtually because they have many resources with multiple professional expertise. This came in handy during the pandemic where businesses needed help in mapping out strategies to survive.

Harvard Business School has identified eight fundamental objectives of a consulting firm.

  • Providing information to a client
  • Solving a client’s problems
  • Making a diagnosis, which may necessitate a redefinition of the problem
  • Making recommendations based on the diagnosis
  • Assisting with the implementation of recommended solutions
  • Building a consensus and commitment around corrective action
  • Facilitating client learning – that is, teaching clients how to resolve similar problems in the future
  • Permanently improving organizational effectiveness

The first 5 objectives above are considered the top objectives a consulting firm must achieve for a business to operate efficiently. While the latter three objectives are more on the complicated side of the consultation goals, if you achieve them, it implies that your partner consulting company is committed to enhancing the effectiveness of your entire organization.

Hiring the correct consulting firm in the Philippines is never a loss as this will strengthen your business path. They can help you re-organize your business if needed and influence your employees to do the correct thing.

Things to Consider When Working with a Consulting Firm

Choosing the best consulting firm to help you create the best market strategy is essential to your success. Here are 5 things to consider when working with a consulting firm in the Philippines.

1. Clearly define your goals. You need to have clear goals, timeframe, and business objectives. Inform them of any business concerns you face so they can decide how to address your matter effectively.

2. Look for independence. The top consulting firms in the Philippines want to teach business owners excellent business techniques so they can stand alone and handle challenges independently.

3. Don’t be afraid to talk about money. Don’t be afraid to talk about your budget with the consulting firm. Not having a clear budget will waste the time of you and the firm you’re talking to. With a budget in mind your consultant will present you with a clear strategy to help you achieve your goal as quickly and effectively as possible.

4. Remember that your consultant is not “a guest.” It’s a collaborative process in which both sides play an active part. Think of them as an extension of your staff.

5. Make sure to attend all meetings. A 30-minute talk will help you know if your method is working and identify any initial roadblocks.

Finding the appropriate consultant might be challenging. You need a person who can take action on it, comprehends your industry, has the required expertise, and can deliver the results you desire, but it also takes your cooperation for it to be effective.

Consulting firms in the Philippines are created to help business owners run their businesses independently. Your goals will be easier to achieve with the help of an efficient consulting company. Leads Resources is here to assist organizations in achieving their objectives. Contact us to discuss how we can help you.

Procurement Trends, Supply Chain Issues, & Breakthrough Technology Predictions

Procurement Trends, Supply Chain Issues, & Breakthrough Technology Predictions

Business Procurement Trends

Despite the massive challenges brought on by the global pandemic, most procurement organizations enter 2023 with the wind at their back. But the sailing will be rougher for many procurement organizations, and sourcing teams must be ready for the unexpected throughout the year. 

The latest Ardent Partners’ research reveals that procurement’s long-term future remains bright, even if things look challenging in the near term. Here are some predictions based on the expected inflationary environment most businesses are in.

First the CPO-CFO partnership will thrive because both inflation and supply risk are at the top of each of their agendas. 

Second, once the economy begins to slow down and the stock market corrects, the pressure to find more savings will increase for most procurement departments. 

Third, supply assurance will be a make or break concern for many CPOs, and as a result “low price” suppliers will lose more bids this year. 

Fourth, inflation will also put more pressure on CPOs to manage their departments strictly within budget. 

Fifth is that procurement and sourcing teams will award more bids to smart suppliers who justify their higher prices by differentiating with greater customization and value-added services. 

Sixth, as a result of certain goods and services experiencing sharp increases in price, sourcing teams will have to act with greater vigilance. 

Seventh, the manipulation of some supply markets will be uncovered in the next year 2023.

 

Most Chief Product Officers faced great pressure to achieve their performance targets, particularly in the second half of the year 2022. This pressure, however, must not deter them from ensuring that they build and maintain an active talent pipeline and keep a steady focus on digital transformation. 2023 will be a very interesting, challenging, and rewarding year to work in procurement and most CPOs would not have it any other way.

Read more here

* Leads Resources can assist you in developing a program to help you re-evaluate your vendor relationships. Contact our team for more information.

Why Business Transformation Needs More Than Clever Technology

Why Business Transformation Needs More Than Clever Technology

Business Transformation

Businesses have adopted greater use of technology to boost not just their revenue but to also make their workflows more efficient. The disruption caused by the global pandemic has forced businesses to transform and set new standards in their operation. 

The key role of technology is demonstrated by how large technology companies have adopted it. The most obvious example, of course, is Zoom, which went from a business familiar only to those already tech-savvy to a household name. Last year it saw revenues rise by more than 50% to $4 billion. The greater use of technology also boosted established names, with Microsoft, for instance, seeing revenue increase by nearly a fifth, to $168 billion, last year. The global crisis forced organizations to–at last– bow to the demands of the experts and go digital.

However, Strategy& consultants suggest that the digital aspect is only a part of the process. Businesses have to go through more than just changing the medium of communication to truly transform themselves and cater to the increasingly challenging business environment. 

To truly transform, businesses must set out how the leadership teams can meet the demands of the current business environment. Based on the insights gleaned from the studies of 12 companies from around the world that form the core of the book, Beyond Digital, there are four key aspects that leaders should be looking into. These are:

  • Identifying the leadership roles needed to transform the company for the future.
  • Assembling the right people.
  • Focusing the leadership team on driving the company’s transformation. 
  • Taking ownership of the leadership team’s behavior.

Challenges today require strong leadership that requires a high degree of collaboration and commitment. For a business to truly thrive in the coming years, it must develop a team that knows how to build trust and a culture that powers the organization’s collective success.

 

Read more here

* Leads Resources can assist you in developing a program to help you re-evaluate your vendor relationships. Contact our team for more information.

How To Make The Most of your Artificial Intelligence (AI)/ Machine Learning (ML) investments: Start with your Data Infrastructure

How To Make The Most of your Artificial Intelligence (AI)/ Machine Learning (ML) investments: Start with your Data Infrastructure

AI Machine Learning Investments
The era of Big Data has helped democratize information, creating a wealth of data and growing revenues at tech companies. It has also led to an increase in the number of AI investments that are used to automate manual tasks and improve the accuracy of predictions in various fields such as healthcare, finance, retail, marketing etc.

However, most companies overlook the importance of having the right tools. They skip to hiring highly paid researchers then the researchers end up preparing data instead of finding insights.

Companies can take the following steps to avoid the trap of diminishing confidence and returns from an Artificial Intelligence (AI)/ Machine Learning (ML) program.

  1. Recognize where you are.
  2. Get all your data in one place.
  3. Start with the proper order of operations.
  4. Don’t forget the basics

By building the right infrastructure for data science, companies can see what’s important for the business, and where the blind spots are.

Read more here

* Leads Resources can assist you in developing a program to help you re-evaluate your vendor relationships. Contact our team for more information.

Why You Should Regularly Re-evaluate Your Business Vendor Relationships

Why You Should Regularly Re-evaluate Your Business Vendor Relationships

Re-evaluate Your Business Vendor Relationships

The vendor relationship is one of the most critical aspects of a company. It is important for them to find vendors that are not only capable but also reliable.
However, we believe that taking a closer look at these arrangements has significant advantages over staying in your comfort zone. You must ensure that your company continues to receive the same level of quality and value as it did at the start of your relationship.

Reasons to re-evaluate a vendor relationship include these:

  • Vendor doesn’t provide industry-specific solutions for your business.
  • Vendor does not offer the latest solutions available.
  • Vendor has had a change in personnel.

The world is changing, and as a business owner, you need to be aware that your current vendor may not always be able to provide the best service for you. It is important to stay on top of the latest trends in technology and business practices so that you are always able to provide a great experience for your customers.

Read more here…

* Leads Resources can assist you in developing a program to help you re-evaluate your vendor relationships. Contact our team for more information.

Supply Chain Forecasting Techniques: 10 Methods You Can Follow

Supply Chain Forecasting Techniques: 10 Methods You Can Follow

Supply Chain Forecasting

Supply chain forecasting is an important process for any company that manufactures a product. It is important because it helps the company plan for future demand and production.

Supply chain forecasting has been around for many years. However, in recent years there have been significant changes in the way that companies forecast demand, supply and pricing of their products. One of these changes has been the increased use of predictive analytics to help make more accurate forecasts.We can break down demand forecasting into two types: Quantitative forecasting and Qualitative forecasting. Under this 2 forecasting type are 10 different methods you can follow

 

Quantitative forecasting is a data-driven mathematical process used by sales teams to analyze performance and forecast future revenue based on historical data and patterns

5 Quantitative Forecasting Methods

  1. Moving average – is the simplest statistical forecasting method you could use. It uses historical data to forecast sales for an upcoming period of time. Although this is the simplest method, this doesn’t account for seasonality or trends in your forecasts.
  2. Exponential smoothing – is similar to moving average forecasting but puts greater weight on the most recent data sets.
  3. Adaptive smoothing – provides a more in-depth analysis of your sales trends, building on exponential smoothing and taking seasonality into account.
  4. Regression analysis – this method makes assumptions through algorithms that look at the relationship between several variables.
  5. Life cycle modeling – can help predict the long-term demand trend for a new product by analyzing post-launch demand, allowing you to ensure you have enough inventory to meet both short-term and long-term demand.

 

Qualitative forecasting is a method of forecasting a company’s finances that relies on expert judgment because there is no historical data available.

5 Qualitative Forecasting Methods

  1. Delphi method – involves questioning a group of experts or advisers independently in person or via a questionnaire. This method is widely considered one of the most effective long-term supply chain forecasting approaches.
  2. Historical data analysis – it’s historical data analysis coming from the closest product data available.
  3. Market research – is one of the most tried and tested techniques. This method is used to know whether there is consumer demand for a new product at all.
  4. Sales force composition – this method is essentially an internal consultation in which stakeholders from different departments in your company provide their own opinions
  5. Focus groups – an extension of market research, focus groups involve bringing together up to a dozen people from your target market to engage in an open-ended discussion.

Read more here

* Leads Resources can assist you in developing a program to help you re-evaluate your vendor relationships. Contact our team for more information.