EN
The paper presents the role of consultancy and areas of consulting applications in the activities of enterprises. In Poland, small and medium enterprises have looked for external management consulting because of frequent changes in the environment and lack of financial means. A cost-free system of consulting service was created, which has been in operation within the National System of Services for Small and Medium Enterprises since 2005, next to financial advisory services offered by financial institution. Free but professional management consulting should lead to decreasing differences between small and large enterprises and improvement in competitiveness of those companies.