Business consultant

A business consultant (from <a href="/facts/Latin/pM3Kge85">Latin</a> consultare, "to discuss") is a <a href="/facts/Professional/Nmq2oUMU">professional</a> who provides professional or expert advice or service in a particular area such as security (<a href="/facts/Information_security/horlrCln">electronic</a> or <a href="/facts/Physical_security/zMmzXW4w">physical</a>), <a href="/facts/Management/8KMV9yMM">management</a>, <a href="/facts/Accountancy/sHznDY3V">accountancy</a>, <a href="/facts/Law/luzxWkg0">law</a>, <a href="/facts/Human_resources/vSYnWaKX">human resources</a>, <a href="/facts/Marketing/LttVQ66t">marketing</a> (and <a href="/facts/Public_relations/mQJUIuWQ">public relations</a>), <a href="/facts/Financial_control/jMcXFBMm">financial control</a>, <a href="/facts/Engineering/RFVg8H3I">engineering</a>, <a href="/facts/Science/IJoaD7rs">science</a>, <a href="/facts/Digital_transformation/c7c78R5Y">digital transformation</a>, <a href="/facts/Exit_planning/vu9LHUYC">exit planning</a> or any of many other specialized fields.
A consultant is usually an expert or a professional in a specific field and has a wide area of knowledge in a specific subject. <a href="/facts/Consultant/D0Ta30QV">Consultants</a> can save their clients time, increase revenue, and maintain resources. The role of a consultant outside the <a href="/facts/Medical/2fnp90Je">medical</a> sphere (where the term is used specifically for a grade of doctor) can fall under one of two general categories:

<ul><li>Internal consultant – someone who operates within an <a href="/facts/Organization/CR83f1Rn">organization</a> but is available to be consulted on areas of specialism by other departments or individuals (acting as clients); or</li>
<li>External consultant – someone who is employed externally (either by a firm or some other agency) and whose expertise is provided on a temporary basis, usually for a fee. As such this type of consultant generally engages with multiple and changing clients.</li></ul>
The overall impact of a consultant is that clients have access to deeper levels of expertise than would be feasible for them to retain in-house, and may purchase only as much service from the outside consultant as desired.
In the United Kingdom between 1992 and 2011, <a href="/facts/Government_funding/BXrbm9Mb">government funding</a> provided via <a href="/facts/Business_Link/F8Yo153k">Business Link</a> could be used to enable <a href="/facts/Small_business/a6BhC6U0">small businesses</a> to access business consultancy services.

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Business consultant