How to find expertise outside of your business

If you are part of a startup looking to stay ahead and move fast, you often have to look beyond your own team for expertise. But how do you identify where your business needs a boost? And once you know, how do you find and attract the right talent to fill those gaps?

Mapping Your Gaps

Identify Weaknesses

To leverage external expertise effectively, the first step is to identify where your team lacks the necessary skills or knowledge. This process, known as gap analysis, is crucial for pinpointing areas that need support. Start by conducting a thorough (and honest) assessment of your team's capabilities. This will help you uncover weaknesses that may be slowing your business's growth and innovation so you can solve for them.

Begin by evaluating your current projects and road map. Took a good look at your team to understand where you currently struggle or expect to struggle to hit your goals based on experience and expertise. This comparison will reveal areas where external expertise is needed. Strong startup staff knows their own weaknesses, so it’s smart to ask them head on where they lack expertise or need more support.

Strategic Gap Analysis

Next you should conduct a strategic gap analysis. A tried and true method is the SWOT analysis, which examines your team's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This will help you prioritize the gaps that need to take priority, which is crucial if you are managing runway.

Another useful tool is the skills matrix, which maps out your teams skills and competencies. By comparing this matrix to the skills required for your projects, you can easily identify gaps and determine the best way to fill them.

Prioritize Needs

After identifying and analyzing your team's gaps, compare it agains your business’s project priority list to get a clear map of what gaps to address first. This prioritization should be based on the potential impact of each gap on your business's success. Consider factors such as the urgency of the need, the potential return on investment, and the availability of external experts.

For example, if your business is facing a critical deadline for a project that requires specialized knowledge, it may be necessary to prioritize filling that gap immediately. On the other hand, if a gap is less urgent but still important for long-term growth, you can plan to address it in the future.

Leverage Professional Networks

Build Relationships

Your network of industry experts is the easiest place to tap into external expertise, typically for free. Building relationships with experts in your space can provide you access to a wealth of knowledge, insights, and opportunities for collaboration. If you don’t have a great network, it’s time to start. Focus on establishing genuine connections and fostering mutually beneficial relationships.

Attend industry events, conferences, and networking sessions to meet potential partners and experts. Engage in meaningful conversations and show genuine interest in their work and perspectives. Follow up with personalized messages and maintain regular contact to nurture relationships over time. Additionally, consider joining relevant professional associations and organizations related to your industry.

Use LinkedIn

LinkedIn (and other social media platforms) is the go-to place for finding and connecting with thought leaders and industry experts. Ever since Covid lockdowns, people are increasingly comfortable networking through a computer screen. It has never been easier to expand your network and access a diverse pool of talent and expertise.

To effectively use LinkedIn, start by optimizing your profile to reflect your professional goals and interests. Join relevant groups and participate in discussions to showcase your knowledge and engage with other professionals. Use the search function to find experts in your field and send personalized connection requests. Additionally, share valuable content and insights to establish yourself as a thought leader and attract potential partners.

Referral Power

Referrals from trusted sources are one of the most effective ways to find external experts. When seeking referrals, be specific about the expertise you need and the type of professional you're looking for as well as what expertise or offer you can provide in return.

Laurent Saurel, Fractional CFO for Gaming, Mobile, Media, UGC, and Consumer apps, emphasizes the importance of referrals,"By far, the best way to find an expert for helping your business is to get a referral. There's nothing better than a good referral. So if another business owner, founder, CEO has had a good experience with a professional that relates to your need, I would say this referral is the best because you have somebody that's vetted, somebody that's probably or has knowledge in the industry or the problems that you're interested in and can help you right off the bat and get a good introduction from the other business owner."

Engage with External Consultants

Finding the Right Fit

Selecting the right consultants for your business involves more than just finding someone with the necessary expertise. It's essential to choose an expert who align with your business goals and values, and who can integrate seamlessly with your team if needed. Equally important is a vibe test. You need to be sure you can work well together.

Oksana Gartvich, Transformational Technology Leader, makes the point that sometimes you should look for the unexpected, "If you feel stuck and you want to tap into something unexpected, something you haven't thought about yet, but surprisingly helpful, you need to talk to someone you don't have in your team, especially personality-wise, someone not typical for your team or your company, someone who is outside of your conventional and comfortable thinking."

Start by conducting thorough research on potential consultants, including reviewing their portfolios and experience. Schedule a short call to assess their fit with your team and their understanding of your business needs.

Cost vs. Benefit

Weighing the financial implications of hiring external experts is a critical step in the decision-making process. While external consultants can provide valuable expertise and insights, it's important to consider the costs involved and the potential return on investment.

Damian Wolfgram, Product Manager, Growth UX, and Design Leader at ChatPLG.ai, highlights the importance of balancing costs and benefits: "I think an outside perspective can be really helpful to drive innovation, but getting someone who has the domain expertise who's also informed on your business is something...entrepreneurs [need to] work through to ensure that they find someone that is of high value that can be trusted and has been validated."

Consider factors such as the consultant's fees, the duration of the engagement, and the potential impact on your business. Compare these costs to the benefits of achieving your goals more efficiently and effectively. Additionally, explore different pricing models, such as fixed fees, hourly rates, or performance-based compensation, to find the best fit for your budget and needs.

Balancing External and Internal Knowledge

Complementary Skills

Blending external insights with internal expertise is crucial. By combining the unique perspectives and skills of external experts with the deep knowledge, experience, and execution of your internal team, you can move faster and more effectively than the competition.

Consider creating cross-functional teams that include both internal and external members to create collaborative environment that helps align the best ideas and execution strategies possible. Encourage knowledge sharing and continuous learning to get the most value from expert external consultants.

Long-term Partnerships

Building lasting relationships with external experts can provide ongoing benefits for your business. Long-term partnerships can lead to a deeper understanding of your business needs, more effective collaboration, and continuous innovation.

Joel Kahn, Chief Operating Officer at Business Growth, highlights the importance of mutually beneficial relationships, "Think about how you can help other people and how you can help other experts. Often times experts are siloed, right? They have an expertise. They're not really looking to go outside of where their expertise is. So when you flip the script, you're looking at them saying, how can I help you? Not what you can do for me."

To foster long-term partnerships, focus on building trust and mutual respect. Provide value to your external partners by offering opportunities for growth and collaboration. Additionally, maintain open and honest communication to address any challenges and ensure a strong and productive relationship.

Building lasting partnerships with external experts can be the top trick for dirving your business forward. Staying ahead in the fast-paced startup world involves a collaborative environment where fresh perspectives and killer execution drive innovation. If you’re ready to unlock new potential, the future of your business might just be a Jaw Session away.

Expert Perspectives

Katie Elder

Founder | Marketing

"Tapping into experts is a major life and business hack. Going straight to the source of someone with lived experience on a topic is truly the best way to get a fresh perspective. We all have friends that we can call, but sometimes you want very specific advice on something. Instead of having to send out feelers and messages to see who might be able to help you with this specific question that you have or type of advice you're looking for, you can tap into the roster of experts at Jawhouse. It's like having a fully vetted Rolodex of people that you can call, book easily, and very quickly find out if you've found the right person and right level of expertise to help you with the questions that you have."

 

Oksana Gartvich

Transformational Technology Leader | Founder of SexFra.com | Thought Leader | 🤖AI | 📈DS | ML |🔥"The only way to go fast, is to go well" by Uncle Bob

"If you feel stuck and you want to tap into something unexpected, something you haven't thought about yet, but surprisingly helpful, you need to talk to someone you don't have in your team, especially personality-wise, someone not typical for your team or your company, someone who is outside of your conventional and comfortable thinking."

Damian Wolfgram

Product Manager, Growth UX, and Design Leader | Helping B2C and SaaS startups scale PLG growth and innovation | Building ChatPLG.ai

"The importance of finding expertise in your outside business is one that a lot of entrepreneurs struggle with in finding innovation and growth. I think it's a great opportunity for business leaders to get fresh perspectives and helps them stay competitive in the market. Strategies for how to identify experts, I would start with using social media and professional networks like LinkedIn and letting your network know that you are looking for a certain perspective. I think also using LinkedIn to search for industry thought leaders through their profile headline can be a great way. Also joining any relevant groups on Slack or Facebook or wherever those experts might be to help you connect with them.

 

What role do professional networks play in accessing external expertise? Certainly the thought of building mutually beneficial relationships where our network can provide value in return. I think focusing on reciprocity for lasting collaborations is a great approach and thinking about it over having a long-term approach to building the network. Technology certainly facilitates a great role in collaboration, whether that's using Calendly and Zoom to schedule and take the calls or project management tools like Trello that make it easier to get started. Certainly there are probably AI-powered tools now for expert matchmaking also.

 

Some potential risks would be certainly just being aware of any IP concerns or over-reliance on external output. Make sure that you have clear agreements and expectations with the expertise you're contracting.

 

I think the only other thing I would mention is just balancing external and internal knowledge. I think an outside perspective can be really helpful to drive innovation, but getting someone who has the domain expertise who's also informed on your business is something that folks like Josh at Jawhouse can help entrepreneurs work through to ensure that they find someone that is of high value that can be trusted and has been validated."

 

Laurent Saurel

I help early-stage startup founders make better-informed decisions | Fractional CFO | Gaming | Mobile | Media | UGC | Consumer apps

"By far, the best way to find an expert for helping your business is to get a referral. There's nothing better than a good referral. So if another business owner, founder, CEO has had a good experience with a professional that relates to your need, I would say this referral is the best because you have somebody that's vetted, somebody that's probably or has knowledge in the industry or the problematics that you're interested in and can help you right off the bat and get a good introduction from the other business owner.

 

The second best way to find an expert, I would say, is through specific networks. LinkedIn is one where everybody is essentially showing their pedigree, Upwork, all these platforms that have, as a business, to match professionals among professionals is the second way to go about it. As to the rewards or the benefits and the drawbacks of having an outside expert, the benefits are that you get somebody that's ready immediately. The vetting process is way faster because you either get customer referrals or you can test the person and if that doesn't work, then you can move on to the next one. As opposed to hiring somebody full-time that will take time to hire, getting vetted, and if the person doesn't work out, then they're really screwed. Having those experts with probably more experience, less costly, so more cost-effective, is definitely a plus. And having the specific expertise in the domain that the person needs. The drawback is that that person can be gone tomorrow. That person can be more expensive if paid hourly than a full-time person because of the nature of the contract. Another drawback would be that the person doesn't fit very well with the rest of the team because you want the expert to be able to interact with the rest of the organization and it's possible that it doesn't work. But again, on the plus side, you can replace that person pretty effectively and fast."

 

Scott Biederman

Fractional COO and Management Consultant, Strategy Development and Lean Implementation

"It's important for businesses and talent to network with each other so everybody knows who's out there in the space, whether or not they need that person right now or not. I, as a fractional operations executive, get to know different folks that are doing marketing, finance, sales, engineering, purchasing, etc. I try to find as many experts to have in my network as possible and as many businesses. I network through Chambers of Commerce, LinkedIn, investment groups, etc. It's important for businesses to do that as well, even if they don't think they need that person right now. Someday they may and they can reach out to them."

 

Joel Kahn

Chief Operating Officer | Business Growth

"Some effective strategies for identifying external experts relative to your business needs. Great question. Probably the best thing to do is to flip the script a little bit. Think about how you can help other people and how you can help other experts. Oftentimes experts are siloed, right? They have an expertise. They're not really looking to go outside of where their expertise is. So when you flip the script, you're looking at them saying, how can I help you? Not what you can do for me. And when you flip that script and you start figuring out how you can help and serve others, oftentimes they will take that and they will understand it and they will be able to work with you because you're not looking for anything from them. And when you have that attitude and you have that mindset, it's the theory of reciprocity.

 

People start understanding that you're not just out for yourself, but you're really out to help them. And almost by default, they will try to figure out a way to help you. This is building mutually beneficial relationship with external experts. The key sentence or the key words in that sentence are really the last two, which are external expertise. And external expertise, you have something that somebody else doesn't have. So when you're building those relationships and you look for mutually beneficial, it's what you can do for them that they don't know how to do. And potentially what they can do for you that you don't know how to do. And that's probably the best thing, the best way to look at mutually beneficial.

 

You don't know what you don't know. So until you go out and you're assertive or you are not assertive, but you are proactive in trying to find those people, you're trying to find that external expertise. Oftentimes you'll find what you're looking for. You don't know what you don't know. So it's building that relationship to fully understand what their expertise is to ensure that they really are an expert in that situation and not just somebody with an opinion. So look for those specific examples of where they've been successful in the past."