7 Business Frameworks for Consultants

What is a business framework?

As an independent consultant, clients ultimately hire you to solve a problem or pain point. Frameworks are useful tools that help you analyze the issue, structure your thinking and communicate recommendations. Business frameworks can help you articulate goals with strong business writing and develop a blueprint for success. You can take a broader conceptual framework and scale it to fit your needs. A business framework also gives you a starting place and a common vocabulary that you can edit to fit your client’s goals.

7 Business frameworks you can use

In our Business Frameworks guide, we explain seven frameworks that can be used across disciplines to answer some of the most common business questions:

1. The 3 C’s: Corporation, Competition and Customer
   The 3C’s model is a classic strategy model. Whether you are a management consultant hired to improve costs or a technology consultant tasked with adding infrastructure, the 3C’s model can support analyzing intrinsic and extrinsic factors to develop sustainable solutions.
2. Porter’s 5 Forces
   Power is a key element in you and your client’s success. To sustain profitability and a competitive position you want to balance the power in your favor. Porter’s Five Forces is a useful tool in helping you to under both the power of your current competitive position and a planned position.
3. SWOT Matrix
   The SWOT Analysis framework is used to evaluate the Strengths (S), Weaknesses (W), Opportunities (O) and Threats (T) of a venture or project.
4. PEST Analysis
   PEST helps you understand the broader Political, Economic, Socio-Cultural and Technological environment in which you operate.
5. BCG Matrix
   The BCG Growth-Share Matrix provides a framework for deciding how to use resources. It is also helpful in assessing each product or business units’ ability to continuously generate profit.
6. McKinsey 7S
   The McKinsey 7S Framework is a good tool to help you find and fix internal organizational problems.
7. MECE
   The MECE Framework helps you to break problems down into distinct categories, making it easier to assess both the problem and the proposed solutions.

Benefits of using a business framework

A business framework can be used to analyze and guide decisions for your client and for your own business. For example, the 3 C’s Model can help you develop a competitive strategy for your client or can be applied to develop a social media marketing plan for your personal brand.

There is no one best framework and often you may find that you are using multiple frameworks in the course of your client work. Frameworks save you time by providing a starting point for information gathering and analysis, but remember: the most powerful framework you have is your expertise and common sense. These tools are time-savers, but ultimately it is your business insight that will deliver value to your client.

Download our Frameworks Guide and Worksheets today!

Our 15 page guide includes detailed information about each framework including infographics, diagrams, and worksheets.  Learn when and how to use each framework.