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The thought of inviting a stranger to scrutinise your business in microscopic detail, I'm sure, fills many of you with about as much excitement as a trip to the dentist for root-canal work.

And, much like a trip to the dentist, business advice doesn’t come cheap.

Consultants, whether they are restructuring experts, lean-manufacturing exponents or motivational coaches for the management team, all offer a valuable service.

But whenever I hear the phrase ‘management consultant’, in the back of my mind I can’t help but picture a classroom with a middle-aged man standing in front of row upon row of old ladies with what appear to be eggs in their mouths. But perhaps that’s just me.

As my little joke illustrates, consultants have got a little bit of an image problem, insofar as many people just see them as an expensive luxury that, to put it bluntly, either point out the bleeding obvious or speak in tongues (AKA, marketing jargon). However, truth be told, speaking to printers that have employed the services of consultants at some point, on the whole their experiences seem to have been positive ones, much like some of those mentioned in our feature on p26.

However, some common threads emerge as to how to make sure you get value for money out of a consultant; one of the most important being employing the right one in the first place. To this end, even before letting a consultant step through the door (even if it’s for a ‘free’ consultation), get recommendations from, and, if possible, speak to, previous clients.

Equally, never underestimate the importance of actually trusting and respecting the consultant. You don’t have to necessarily like them, but without trust they’re never going to be able to do their job properly – because all a consultant can work with is what you show or tell them, so if you hold back, their evaluation will be worthless.

And finally, listen. You may not like what you’re hearing but more often than not you had already thought it yourself, you just needed to hear it from someone not too close to your business.