HOW TO START YOUR OWN SUCCESSFUL
BUSINESS CONSULTING SERVICE
A consultant works with the management of a business to
improve the profitability of the business. Working with the top
management, you can rest assured the consultant is a very highly
paid individual. Some consultants charge $100 per hour. Others
charge $1,500 per day for their services, and still others work on
an annual retainer fee of $12,000 to over $30,000 per year from
any number of large corporations.
Until a few years ago, the title "consultant" was more or less
limited to retired diplomats and top corporate officers. In other
words, until recently, the consultant's position was more honorary
than actual. But that has all changed dramatically in the past
few years.
The number of consultants for almost any problem in life has
increased by tenfold or more during the past ten years! And the
field of consultants is continuing to grow. In fact, independent
consulting is one of the fastest growing businesses in the country
today! With the advent of the internet, consultants have discovered
a vast new playing field!
A consultant is an expert at recognizing problems and shaping
solutions to those problems. The need for business problem
solvers - among large and small businesses worldwide - has never
been greater. The ever changing moods of the buyer plus the
myriad crisis situations businessmen face almost daily, have
created this "seller's market" for the alert consultant.
Reaching for a consultant when problems arise is as natural
as looking for the sun to come up every morning. When you're not
feeling well, you call for the services of a doctor. If your car
isn't running right, you take it to a mechanic. And so it is with
a businessman when he encounters a problem - whether it be in the
field of accounting, legal, sales or customer relations.
Another side of this need for consultants is in the case of
the over-enthusiastic entrepreneur who rushes headlong into a
business in which he has little or no experience. Many such
dreamers invest their life savings in questionable projects
without even considering the idea of bringing in a competent
business consultant to analyze and evaluate their plans.
Even experienced people are prone to overrate their own ideas.
The image of the end result, and dedicated enthusiasm toward the
attainment of one's goal are the prime prerequisites for success;
however, unmerited enthusiasm and dedication can also be very
dangerous as well. Unless it is based upon solid research, it may
cause people to chase headlong after nonexistent rainbows. And
that's where you can fit in as a business consultant.
It is not necessary for you to have owned or operated a
successful business to become a successful business consultant.
Nor is it imperative that you have been in management or have held
a titled position. You will, however, need the ability to sell
yourself, and an up-to-date understanding of the area in which you
intend to assist others.
The first step is to make an honest evaluation of your own
training and experience. You might be an ambitious tax consultant
who was never recognized for your abilities. You might be
especially good in such general areas as systems design,
marketing, advertising, distribution, sales, or even
efficiency, time management, scheduling, expediting or
productivity. There are hundreds of consultants across the
country specializing in Direct Mail and Mail Order operations.
There are thousands involved in internet marketing, advertising,
design, promotion, and plain old computer and network savvy.
Most of these people enjoyed some measure of success in those
fields, and then discovered the easier way - advising others on
how to operate successfully. There are consultants for people who
want success with a garage sale, party plan merchandising, or even
multi-level operations. The important thing is to choose an area
in which you've had some experience; an area that you have spent
some time learning about and of course, an area of work that you
enjoy.
Almost everyone is afraid of the responsibility involved.
They claim they don't have the experience or the knowledge. Such
was the case of a young lady we know who was seeking work as a
personnel clerk. She had worked five years as assistant to the
personnel manager of a large manufacturing plant, yet when we
advised her to become a consultant to people looking for work or
to start her own resume writing service, she pleaded lack of
knowledge, experience and ability.
Just about everyone has had special training in a certain line
of work, and they've gone on to absorb special studies or
education along the same lines, and most people have worked all
their lives along or very close to a specific line of endeavor.
So, why shouldn't a woman who has worked 20 years as a waitress
represent herself as a consultant to the training program for
waitresses within a restaurant organization? A shipping and
receiving clerk would be a natural for setting up efficient
operations and for solving problems for businesses just beginning
or expanding their production output.
The point is, most people don't realize how much expertise
they really have, or the probable marketability of their training,
knowledge and experience. The important thing is to look over
your educational strengths, combine that with any special training
or on-the-job experience, and then offer your expertise to help
others with their problems along the lines you know best.
You don't need a big, fancy executive type office in order to
get started, especially if you start your consulting business on a
part-time basis. A spare bedroom, a section of the basement, or
even a corner of the dining room, will do very nicely. If you
handle your own bookkeeping/filing, you will need a ledger of some
kind, and a file cabinet or two. You will need a good typewriter
if you plan to do your own correspondence. An alternative is to
do all letters, etc. in longhand and hire someone to put them in
final form for you. Check the local high school or college. They
may be happy to post your ad for a young lady looking for part-
time work.
Instead of going to the expense of paying for a business
phone, use your residence phone and train all members of the
family to answer it in a business-like manner during normal
working hours. Save copies of all the sales letters you send out,
and of course, all job proposals you submit. Set up your file
system with your final plan in mind, and you'll save a lot of time
as well as frustration. Get the kind of file folders that hang
from the sides of the file cabinet's drawers, allowing you to
position the file folder title anywhere across the top of the
folder. Then as you add clients to your file, you can keep them
in alphabetical order without having a jumbled-looking file drawer
in which you have to search for each title. It's also a good idea
to keep your active accounts in one drawer, your "hoped for"
accounts in another, and master copies of all your letters,
proposals, business contact information and records in still
another drawer. You'll also need business cards. Your nearest
quick print shop can usually order these and help you in selecting
wording and design. Of course, a modern PC with a printer and a
scanner will handle all these chores with ease while keeping the
paper under control!
Whether to rent, lease or buy a copy machine is up to you.
But virtually no business can get by without file copies. Carbon
paper means a loss of efficiency, and running over to the corner
shop to get copies is going to cost you time and money, so be sure
to fit some sort of copier into your business start-up costs. If
impossible at the very first, use the old carbon paper - you must
have a copy for your file. Again, using a PC with a scanner can
be a solution to your copy problems.
Just how good a typist are you, how well you can write sales
letters, and how busy you want to be, should be the deciding
factors about the typewriter. If you type at all - and there will
always be at least a few letters that you should type personally -
we suggest again that you go for the long haul probabilities and
rent, lease or buy the best and most modern computer you can
afford. Later on, when you do move into that "dream" office, that
will be one less piece of equipment you will have to be concerned
about.
Once you've decided what area of business consulting you want
to be in, and have your office or working space set up, the next
thing is to let people know you're available for work. Definitely
use some common sense and applied knowledge before spending any
money on advertising. Generally speaking, you will pick up some
customers, regardless of the problem area you specialize in, by
advertising in your area's most popular newspaper. However, we
wouldn't recommend much more than a small ad in the Sunday
editions, unless you're a direct mail, multi-level or garage sale
consultant.
Check with your Chamber of Commerce for a list of trade and
specialized business publishers in your area. Either pick up a
sample copy of the business journal at the local newsstand or
write to the publisher and ask for a sample. Look through those
catering to the type of business you want to serve. Check the
editorial styles and types of advertising they carry, then select
the one that corresponds with your needs. Basically, unless a
publication reaches the people you are trying to sell to, don't
advertise in it regardless of style, quality, or advertising
rates.
Radio or television would probably be a complete waste of
advertising dollars, unless you're offering help with direct
mail, multi-level marketing or garage sales. The best time for
any broad cast advertising in order to reach you best prospects
seems to be in the evening hours after the late-night news, when
these people are either still laboring over their special
projects or relaxing before going to bed. If you do use
broadcast advertising, the commercial is very important. Really
concentrate on this, and use a lot of common sense in writing
the message. Even if you engage the services of an experienced
broadcast copywriter, make sure the message speaks to your
potential customers, and convinces them that you can help solve
their problems or improve the profit picture of their business.
Finally, where to advertise. Go with a quarter-page ad in the
yellow pages of your telephone directory. The space salesman will
help you with the ad, but remember, you want it to catch the eye
of your particular client, and offer a promise of an end to his
problems. Always talk to your kind of people, emphasizing the
benefits of your services. It's not good practice to quote or
even discuss prices in either your advertising or on the phone
when people respond. Always get name, address and telephone
number, then explain your services in general. Set up an
appointment to look over their operation, analyze their needs, and
make a written proposal to solve their problems.
There may be a number of factors involved in establishing your
fees, but starting out with beginning and small businesses, and
until you line up 50 regular clients, your best bet would be $50
per hour. Count on two to three hours per client per day, and
devoting 10 days per month to work on their needs, you're talking
about $1,000 to $1,500 per month from each client. Multiply that
times 50 clients, and you'll be grossing $5,000 to $7,500 per
month. As a one-man operation, you'll be plenty busy.
Insiders in this business say a person can leave his regular
job on Friday, start a consulting business on Monday, and within
six months, have an income of more than $100,000 per year.
Suffice it to say that a beginning business consultant should earn
from $30,000 to $60,000 before taxes and office expenses, in his
first year in the business.
There's still another very important method of finding new
clients, and that is via Direct Mail solicitation. This is done
either by postcard or sales letter mailings. For a mailing list
of local businesses, check the yellow pages of your telephone
directory, under the heading "Mailing Lists." Tell the advertiser
the kind of mailing list you need - if they don't have it, ask
them for the names of suppliers who might be able to supply your
needs. Alternately, you could compile your own mailing list of
prospects most likely to be interested in your services. Mark the
names you want in the area business directory, and pay someone to
input these names into a computer for you. The computer operator
should be able to supply you with peal-and-stick address labels at
a nominal cost. Putting your list on computer from the start
will save you thousands of dollars in money and count less
hours of work. Do not overlook a web site on the internet either.
Even for local businesses, a web site can pay handsome dividends.
But stay away from direct email advertising (except to targeted
lists). You may end up causing problems for your business and
alienating large numbers of people.
Your postcard solicitation should basically be an elaboration
of your printed advertising. In other words, an ad for a Direct
Mail Consultant might be transferred to a postcard along these
lines:
ARE YOU HAVING TROUBLE GETTING RESULTS
WITH YOUR DIRECT MAIL BUSINESS???
I can help you! Show you how to double, maybe even triple the
response from your mailings! Expand your market! Increase your
profitability!
Whatever your needs, I can HELP! Whatever your problems, I
can SOLVE THEM! Call now, and let me explain.
After the message on the postcard, add your telephone number
and your name, followed by your identification as Direct Mail
Consultant.
A direct mail solicitation sales letter simply uses more words
than the postcard, reads smoother, and forces the reader to
respond as you direct him. Your sales letter can be any length
needed to tell your story and achieve the objective. To be
successful, though, it must embody and follow the "AIDA" form: A
= Attention; I = Interest; D = Desire; A = Action on the part of
the reader.
Another point to remember when writing sales letters: Always
appeal to the needs and wants of the person who's going to be
reading the letter. He will start reading to see if your services
can benefit him. He is greatly interested in more profits,
reduced production costs and higher efficiency. He is looking for
answers to his most pressing problems. Keep these elements in
mind when you write a sales solicitation letter, whether for
yourself or for a client.
People receiving sales letters are somewhat more responsive to
a letter that is typed, as opposed to one that is typeset. But
the typed letter must be "letter perfect," and not of a different
or unusual style of type. As a consultant, your letterhead should
be simple while still conveying to the reader a sense of class.
Your paper should be the best quality you can afford - not
flamboyant, but sending a subtle message of success. Direct mail
surveys show that slightly better numbers of responses are
received when a light beige or off-yellow paper is used.
Basically, your letter should do what the postcard does for
you - move the recipient to call you and allow you to set up an
appointment to discuss his needs as your client. Whether you're
writing an advertisement or a sales letter, it's important that
you have the objective clearly in mind - what you want the reader
to do. With this in mind, you needn't use the "hard sell"
approach quite as forcefully as someone asking for money on the
first contact.
All that's left is meeting with the prospect, listening to his
problems, and hearing what he wants, then writing a proposal to
solve his problems and satisfy his wants. This means selling
yourself to the prospect - assuring him you know what you're
talking about, and that you can make him more successful.
There you have it - a plan that can lead you to success as a
Business Consultant. Remember, though, no amount of research,
reading, listening or investment can make you successful until you
do something with them. Action on your part is the absolute
ingredient that must be added, and that's up to you.
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Edited by the Staff of Computer Expertise Ltd.
http://www.cybervalue.com
http://www.sohostore.com