Starting an Online Business All-in-One For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

Overcoming Great Expectations and Getting Results

If you poll small-business owners, most would probably say that the majority of their experiences with consultants were positive, but that more than a few didn't work out well. The relationship might have been frustrating for both the company's owner and the consultant because of a simple misunderstanding — or great expectations. Great expectations happen when the owner, or the consultant, or both are about the results that can be achieved. You can avoid unrealistic ideals about the consulting process and still achieve tangible results with these techniques:

• Set specific, achievable goals. Identify the most critical problem and agree on which goals must be met to correct it. Avoid taking on more than three or four major goals during a given period.
• Break each goal into action items. By dividing each goal into a list of action items or a to-do list, you understand better what you need to do to meet the goal. These items should be specific actions that can be completed by a specific time.
• Assign responsibility. Designating who is responsible for each action within a goal prevents confusion and frustration. If you don't assign responsibility, you can easily assume that someone else will take care of the item, although it never gets completed.
• Determine a timeline. After digesting what's needed in order to turn the site around, you and your consultant must agree on a reasonable time frame for accomplishing each goal.
• Know the cost. ...