How Much of My Business Should I Reveal to a Consultant?

Nice to read this question! So you think you don’t want to disclose some parts of your business to your consultant? Perfectly legitimate of you. But wait a minute! You selected the consultant for your business yourself, didn’t you?

For a moment, let me remind you about your last visit to the doctor. You went to the doctor because you had slight chest pain last night. Now the doctor asks you to take off your shirt so that he may examine you. Noooooo… you ask him to check only the left portion of your chest because you don’t want to show him the rest since you had a scar on the right side and you fear that the doctor might sell that information to your neighbor and the neighbor might blackmail you and/or ridicule you for your scar. Perfectly possible, isn’t it? But how ridiculous!

Are you getting where I am taking you? There is absolutely no difference between a business consultant and a doctor. In fact, I call myself a doctor of the business who cures critical and chronic illnesses of business. When you go to see a specialist doctor for your illness, he not only asks for your blood and relevant checks but also asks for your detailed history as well as the history of your family.

Would you tell your doctor to mind his own business and concentrate only on the part of your body that is giving you pain? Certainly not! Why? Because you know if you didn’t give him the complete details and the history of the pain, you might not live to see another doctor.

A business consultant can save your business from an untimely death, exactly as a good doctor. But you just don’t go to any doctor on the side of the road when you feel pain. You ask your friend and his friend and the father of his friend, and even your mother-in-law about who is a good doctor for that pain. Do the same while selecting a business consultant. Just don’t go to any Charlie who sends you unsolicited mails daily claiming to be the world’s best consultant.

Due Diligence Before Disclosure

Before sharing any secrets of your business with your business consultant, you first need to make sure that the consultant is reliable and trustworthy. You should ask your consultant:

What is his background in business? How many years has he been in business? What is his track record? How many clients has he already helped? What are his credentials? How much do his services cost? What is his process of consulting? Who are his main clients and what problems has he solved for them?

If he gives you details of his clients and their specific problems, DO NOT SELECT HIM AT ALL. Quora doesn’t allow me to make it bolder than this size. If it does, I don’t know please tell me.

A business consultant’s fundamental pledge is that he can’t/shouldn’t reveal his clients and their problems to anybody else. A consultant who tells you about the problems of others will tell your problems to someone else too.

Selecting the Best Consultant

Once you have done your due diligence, you select the best man available and then trust him 100% and give him every inch of information you can. Like any criminal case, give the smallest detail about your business problem and its history, however trivial it might seem to you.

Remember, you are nobody to decide about the importance of any information. If you had that skill, you wouldn’t have called for a consultant. If you don’t give enough information to the consultant, he would get that by asking questions. A good consultant indeed does ask a lot of questions. You just provide him the answers to those questions.

If you are not open with the consultant, they might either not be able to help you or may not be able to provide you with the right advice because they don’t know what is going on in your business. A good consultant will be able to advise you and help you reach new heights, but you will have to trust them first.

Still Have Doubts?

If you still have some doubts, I’m here to answer.