What a Political Consultant Will Do for Your Small Business

As a political consultant, I am often asked, "What can you do for my small business?" While there are literally hundreds of things that a political consultant can do for a small business, I usually keep to the most common jobs that I perform, and that are performed by others in my field. If I were to list all of the tasks that we can do, this article would turn into a book.

Tax Negotiations

Political consultants often find themselves negotiating to get their clients tax abatements and tax settlements. These are usually done on the local level. There are very few political consultants that will attempt to negotiate tax issues with the IRS. We usually leave these types of negotiations for accountants.

Lobbying

Political consultants find themselves putting on the hat of a lobbyist on a regular basis. A client can sometimes have one political consultant for local issues, one for state issues and one for national or federal. There are very few political consultants that will specialize in all levels.

Explanation

Political consultants find themselves explaining the laws and processes as much as they find themselves working through them. We all realize that clients do not have a full grasp on all of the aspects of our field. We also find that clients often feel more comfortable when they understand what we are doing.

Keeping Track

We realize that the most important job that business owners and CEOs is to run their businesses. With the number of aspects that these leaders need to keep track of, we come in to watch the political streams and markets to see what changes need to be made in other plans of the business. Essentially, political consultants carry a load that business leaders do not have the time, or knowledge, to carry.

Labor Relations

A new trend in the field of political consulting is labor relations. Political consultants are sometimes called in by companies that have union workers to help deal with negotiations, or other issues. Some political consultants are hired by the unions to give them an advantage in the negotiations. Others are hired to work as arbitrators during disputes.

As I stated earlier, there are hundreds of other jobs that political consultants can take care of. If you are a business leader and wonder if a political consultant could help you with a certain issue, pick up a phone and ask. The worst case scenario would be that the consultant could tell you who could take care of the issue for you.

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