Expertise Limited - A Growth Business.

Is your business struggling?  Do you need expert advice?  Well there's plenty about but should it really be the first port of call?  Let's start with the definition of an expert.  Here's one:

A person with great knowledge or skill in a particular area.

Now I'm not doubting that people have great knowledge.  Indeed I believe we all do.  I know that my knowledge can help others and I know that others' knowledge can help me.  Knowledge is a wealth with a fantastic property that allows you to give it away but still retain it.  That means an expert can sell her knowledge over and over again.  Some recipients of the knowledge can sell it on, alone or packaged with other knowledge, and I think you can see why Expertise Limited is not really limited.  It is a massive and growing industry.  But is it really adding value to the world economy?  Like many simple questions there's often not a simple answer and it's worth creating a story to explore the typical intervention of an expert into a problem company, how he might bring beneficial expertise and why the benefits of the expertise might not be realised.

Cock Up & Co manufactures widgets.  It is a well established UK company, employing around 200 staff and until recent times it produced about 2,000 widgets a year.  But for the last couple of years, sales have been falling as a result of foreign competition, mainly from China.  In its last financial year it produced only 800 widgets and posted a £100k loss.  Desperate for an injection of fresh ideas into the company, the managing director brought in Bull Shit Limited, experts in business improvement programmes.  The experts were given a free rein and very soon came up with a plan that was aimed at streamlining Cock Up's Engineering, Production, Sales & Marketing and Administrative processes.  The improvement strategy was based on lean manufacturing, which would cut costs, improve responsiveness, enhance competitiveness and not only bring Cock Up back into the black but also increase its market share and thus grow its business.  Sounds good doesn't it?!

The managing director of Cock Up is a shrewd old bird and before signing up to a contract with Bull Shit, decided to ask their lead consultant a few questions:

Cock Up: "How big is your company?  How long have you been in business?  What's your sales turnover and profitability?"

Bull Shit: "We employ 20 consultants and we've been in business for 10 years.  Our turnover is £2million with a profit before tax of about £200k.

Cock Up: "Are you growing?"

Bull Shit: "No we have stabilised."

Cock Up: "So the improvement formula you are offering me hasn't been applied to your own company?

Bull Shit: "We are a different sort of business."

Cock Up: "OK but if my potential rewards are so fantastic, why don't you use your expertise to set up a business like mine?  Indeed why haven't you done it already?"

Bull Shit:....................(lost for words)

I think you can see where this is leading to.  Of course knowledge is valuable and when we discuss our business with others, we are trading knowledge all the time.  It is and should be a two-way flow.  Naturally it's always good to learn from others, but there aren't one-size-fits-all packaged solutions.  If there were, there wouldn't be any struggling businesses.  We just keep learning, but in the words of Peter Senge: "The more you learn, the more acutely aware you become of your ignorance."