Consulting work goes well when both sides agree early on what it is for. Here are the firms as the ABS counts them, and a brief to take to each one you meet.
Who you'll be hiring
Management advice and consulting businesses in Australia trading at the end of June 2025: 103,124, by how many people they employ. The class also counts environmental, farm and tourism consultants, and managers of artists and public figures, among others.
Engaging a consulting firm. Have the first half ready before you call. Put the second half to every business you speak to.
Tell them
What prompted the callA process that keeps stalling, a plan for growth, a change in how the business is organised.
What you'd like to be different afterwardsA sentence in your own words is enough to start.
Who they will work withThe people they can talk to, and who makes the final call.
What you already haveEarlier reviews and plans. Share documents only once you have chosen a firm.
When you need itA date, or the meeting where the work will be discussed.
Ask them
01Who will do the work day to day?The person you meet first may not be the one doing it.
02What will you have at the end?A report, a plan, hands-on help alongside your team, or some of each, and how you will see progress along the way.
03How will they learn how your business runs?Conversations with staff, time on site, reading what you already have.
04What does the price cover, and what costs more?Extra meetings, travel, work beyond what was first agreed.
05What will the agreement say about who owns the reports and materials made for you?Ask for what you agree to be written into the agreement.
06Do they earn from what they recommend, or work for anyone you compete with?A supplier's commission is worth knowing before you take the advice.
07How can either side end the engagement?And what happens to work already done if it ends early.
From consultingfirms.com.au, a concept page.
Choosing a firm that fits
A good first conversation has more questions in it than answers. Notice whether the firm wants to understand your business before it suggests what to change.
Ask to see finished work made for an organisation like yours, with private details removed, so you know what you would be receiving.
Using the brief
Send the first half ahead of your first meeting, so each firm can respond to your situation rather than offer a general pitch. Put the same questions to every firm and keep the answers side by side.
Printed, the brief is one page, with room under each item for notes.
Shows whether a business's ABN is active or cancelled, its business type and its GST status, and the Register says the public can use it to check a business before buying.