The status quo of the consulting industry has been relatively stable for decades. With the big consulting firms dominating the quarter, client companies knew what to expect from a traditional consulting experience; A consultant came in, told everyone what to do and how to do it, and then left. Typically, this approach would result in the company sometimes having to hire the consultant over and over again just to take care of the same issues that were not initially addressed or resolved.
Consultants can fail for a variety of reasons. First, a consultant may not have much operational experience, so their recommended solutions are overly theoretical and do not take into account the challenges that may arise during implementation. Second, they may use a pret-a-porter model with playbooks that apply to as many customers as possible, meaning they can’t customize a solution where the customer’s main problem lies. After all, a consultant might fail because their best interest is to help the client enough to show value, but not enough that they don’t have to hire the consultant again to solve the same (or similar) problems.
Amira elAdawi, the founder of Amira & Coknew there was a different approach to the art of consulting that would result in empowered clients and permanently resolved problems.
“The traditional consulting industry is based on being the smartest person in the room and telling clients what to do,” explains elAdawi. With her company, elAdawi set about turning this traditional way of thinking on its head and bringing a new approach to an industry whose upheaval is long overdue.
empower customers
As elAdawi began laying the groundwork for what would eventually become AMIRA & CO, she consulted old clients and other advisors for information on what they both liked and disliked about the advisory services overall. Unfortunately, the responses didn’t surprise them, as customers said while executives found the “smartest person in the room”…
