A CONSULTANT FOR CONSULTANTS. WHO CONSULTS THE CONSULTANT?

:
The Consulting Academy Nairobi.

By Brian Beauttah Migiro1 | Nairobi, 3rd July 2018

Consulting 101: Know something, package it and attach a price. Voila! You are now a consultant. For
majority of the branded consultants, this unwritten rule has been the silver bullet to their success in the
consulting sector. I too, was a strong believer in this panacea of consulting, until I met The Consulting
Academy Nairobi.

Photos Courtesy: The Consulting Academy Nairobi (TCAN)

Who provides consultancy for the consultants?

In the conventional definition of the word, a ‘consultant’ is any person who has the necessary
qualifications, knowledge and/or experience to give expert advice in a particular area. Following this
simple definition, people who are willing to offer their advice at fee have perfected the art of consulting
through three main models.

The first model is that you are always near or at the top of your class academically. Your classmates keep
asking you questions related to your course of study then you decide whether or not to charge a small fee.
Alternatively, you have been practicing in a particular area and out of your reputation in a particular craft,
your colleagues seek your wise counsel and acumen. There you are; a consultant.

The second model is where you learn something, then you proceed to the internet and copy paste more
content (read ‘research’). Thereafter, you call it a fancy name (read packaging) and finally attach a price
tag. By your own right, you are a consultant.

The third model is that you start a business enterprise, let’s say a company. You then have a good turnout
of clients who ask questions and wish that you offered services that may seem to be outside your current
scope of practice but related in some sense to what you currently offer. In that moment of epiphany, you

1
Brian Beauttah is the Director of Operations & Information Technology at The Consulting Academy Nairobi (TCAN) Limited.
TCAN Limited is available at www.tcan.co.ke. As a student consultant, Brian Beauttah is a 4th year student in Bachelor of Laws
from the University of Nairobi, Parklands Campus.

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decide to set up a one-stop-shop for your clients. If you do not have expertise in that particular area, you
decide to recruit people who have specialized in that area and call them ‘associate consultants’. Don’t we
have a consultancy service provider?

As an alternative to the third model, you may be driven out of passion to form a company to deal with
certain services. Unfortunately and contrary to your expectations, you do not get the anticipated number
of clients and therefore business is not doing so well. However, you notice that there is a certain sector
that is really trending and business is really booming. When you seek business advice on your options
whether to close down your company and incorporate a new one, you realize that under the Kenyan
Companies Act, No. 17 of 2015, the objects of a company are unlimited. In that moment, you decide to
sign a few agreements with experts in the flourishing sector and either call them partners, employees or
independent consultants. Whichever way, your company is now a consultancy service provider.

I am guilty as charged in either one or a combination of the said models. Down memory lane, to January
2016 in particular, I identified a need in my society that needed to be addressed. I then realized that I had
the necessary technical competency to give advice (read ‘consultancy’) in my area of study and
specialization. You see, there is no standardized approach to consulting and I am yet to come across an
institution that specifically trains consultants on the tools of trade. In addition, consultancy cuts across
various sectors of technical expertise and every person who sets out to cut a niche and be a consultant in
a particular area, has faith in what he or she can do. Rarely does the prospective consultant see the need
for a third intervening party setting up classes on how to be a consultant. At best, what he or she prefers
is a seasoned mentor.

In my case, I took extra capacity building modules in my line of study, undertook professional practice
and garnered endorsements for personal branding. I took time to package my content and thereafter, I
started a consultancy service providing entity. I have been a proud and successful consultant so far by my
own standards. Until I was recruited into The Consulting Academy Nairobi (TCAN).

It was at TCAN where I appreciated that being a consultant is not just about the wealth of knowledge that
you possess in a particular area or the number of endorsements that you have garnered. A successful
consultant relies not just on the power of his or her credentials or the range of his personal and
professional networks. After my experience at TCAN, I have come to the conclusion that consultancy is an
art. The lack of standardization notwithstanding, anyone branded as a consultant or any entity doing
business as a consultancy service provider needs certain core skills to be able to effectively undertake the
art of consultancy.

The good news is that, you can study, practice and observe an art to acquire its skills. It is also true that
even a consultant needs a consultant and yes, The Consulting Academy Nairobi can (YesTcan) provide the
consultancy services to other consultants and consultancy service providers.

*End*

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