Hiring consultants is like buying a new washing machine. In other words, you get what you pay for some times.
A couple of months ago, my washer and dryer were going out and I have been aware of this for some time. I was hesitant to purchase new appliances in attempts to prolong the outlay of funds as long as possible. In the meantime, I was dealing with a little leaking water, some bearings going out which caused the washer to be relatively loud (like a small jet engine) at times and a dryer that took a least two cycles to fully dry clothes. Of course, these appliances were of the lower end on quality, size and were fairly basic. Nothing fancy. Absolutely nothing wrong with that, in fact, I think I got more use of them than I thought possible at the time they were purchased.
Eventually, I got tired of dealing with the time and energy I was spending on laundry. I rather enjoy doing laundry and it wasn’t enjoyable anymore. Yeah, I know I’m crazy, but it is something about going from chaos to order, like mowing the lawn for me. I usually enjoy mowing the lawn too and no I won’t mow your lawn. Essentially I was spending quite a bit of time running loads through the process. With myself and two kids to wash for, that was sometimes a daily occurrence.
It was time for me to upgrade.
Let’s Go Shopping
Now if you have done appliance shopping lately, there is a very wide variety of appliances you can purchase. Different colors, sizes, models, features, brands and most importantly, price. I finally settled on a very nice LG model which I absolutely love. They are great machines thus far and I’m quite happy with my purchase. These are mid-range appliances, not the low end but also not the high end in terms of price and capabilities. Both are larger capacity as well.
Now that I have new appliances, recently I have realized that I spend less time, energy, and money doing laundry. Keep in mind, the amount of laundry hasn’t changed, only the items I use to do my laundry has changed. I now have a larger capacity for throughput, in nerd terms. After doing a few loads of laundry in the new appliances, I had a thought about hiring consultants.
When you need to hire someone to do some work, take the time and do some research. Talk to the consulting firms and see what capacity they can offer. Even when shopping for consultants, like appliances, it is perfectly acceptable to shop around and find one that fits.
Consultants Doing Laundry
Hiring consultants is like buying a new washing machine. In other words, you get what you pay for. I purchased larger appliances that has some better options for what I wanted while spending an appropriate amount of money
If you are shopping for a consultant, regardless of which field, look at the consultants that might be priced higher. If you purchase a lower hourly priced consultant, they might not have the features or capacity that you really need. Yes, you might save money per hour but in the long run projects might take longer because they don’t have the capacity or options to truly facilitate your needs.
Allow me to be clear here, this does NOT mean that hiring at a lower price per hour implies that those consultants lack skill or knowledge and/or some how are unable to do the work. What I am saying is consultants who can command a higher price per hour have most likely been through the trenches and could potentially get you the most ROI for you.
Note – Consultants who actively work to save you money are worth their weight in gold.
Summary
At the end of the day, you must do what is right for your organization. However, many organizations want the lowest bidder regardless what the outcome might be. Consider those higher end consultants and see what they can do for you. Don’t let the price per hour steer you away from them just based on money. You might just be surprised that they can help you save money in the long run.
Good luck shopping!
PS – I absolutely love my LG washer/dryer if you are in the market. Returning from PASS Summit 2019, I was able to all of my laundry in a single load whereas previously it would have been at least two loads, if not three.
© 2019, John Morehouse. All rights reserved.