Start Your Own Successful Business Consulting Service

A consultant works with the management of a business to improvethe profitability of the business. Working with the topmanagement, you can rest assured the consultant is a very highlypaid individual. Some consultants charge $100 per hour. Otherscharge $1,500 per day for their services, and still others workon an annual retainer fee of $12,000 to over $30,000 per yearfrom any number of large corporations.
Until a few years ago, the title "consultant" was more or lesslimited to retired diplomats and top corporate officers. In otherwords, until recently, the consultant's position was honorarythan actual. But that has all changed dramatically in the pastfew years.
The number of consultants for almost any problem in life hasincreased by tenfold or more during the past ten years! And thefield of consultants is continuing to grow. In fact, independentconsulting is one of the fastest growing businesses in thecountry today!
Reaching for a consultant is an expert at recognizing problemsand shaping solutions to those problems. The need for problemsolvers for business problems---among large and small businessesworlwide--has never been greater. The ever changing moods of thebuyer plus the myriad of crisis situations faced by businessmenalmost daily, have created this "seller's market" for the alertconsultant.
Another side of this need for consultants is in the case of theover-enthusiastic entrepreneur who rushes headlong into abusiness in which he has little or no experience. Many suchdreamers invest their life savings in questionable projectswithout even considering the idea of bringing in a competentbusiness 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 theattainment of one's goal are the prime prerequisites forsuccess; however unmerited enthusiasm and dedication can also bevery 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 asuccessful business to become a successful business consultant.Nor is it imperative that you have been in management or haveheld a titled position. You will, however, need the ability tosell yourself, and an up-to-date understanding of the area inwhich you intend to assist others.
The first step is to make a honest evaluation of your owntraining and experience. You might be an ambitious tax consultantwho was never recognized for your abilities. You might beespecially good in such areas as system design, marketing,scheduling, expediting or productivity. There are hundreds ofconsultants across the country specializing in Direct Mail andMail Order operators. Most of these people enjoyed some measureof success in those fields, and then discovered the easierway--advising others on how to operate successfully. There areconsultants for people who want success with a garage sale, partyplanning merchandising, or even multi-level operations. Theimportant thing is to choose an area in which you've had someexperience; an area that you have spent sometime learning about;and of course, an area of work that you enjoy.
Almost everyone is afraid of the responsibility involved. Theyclaim they don't have the experience or the knowledge. Such wasthe case of a young lady we know who was seeking work as apersonal clerk. She had worked five years as assistant to thepersonal manager of a large manufacturing plant, yet when weadvised her to become a consultant to people looking for work orto start her own resume writing service, she pleaded lack ofknowledge, experience and ability. Just about everyone has had special training in a certain line ofwork, and they've gone on to absorb special studies or educationalong the same lines, and most people have worked all their livesalong or very close to a specific line of endeavor. So, whysouldn't a woman who has worked 20 years as a waitress representherself as a consultant to the training program for waitresseswithin a restaurant organization? A shipping and receiving clerkwould be a natural for setting up efficient operations and forsolving problems for businesses just beginning or expandingproduction output.
The point is, most people don't realize how much expertise theyreally have, or the probable marketability of their training,knowledge and experience. The important thing is to look overyour educational strengths, combine that with any specialtraining or on-the-job experience, and then offer your expertiseto help others with their problems along the lines you know best.
You don't need a big, fancy executive type office in order to getstarted, especially if you start your consulting business on apart-time basis. A spare bedroom, a section of the basement, oreven a corner of the dining room, will do very nicely. If youhandle your own bookkeeping/filing, you will need a ledger ofsome kind, and a file cabinet or two. You will need a goodtypewriter if you plan to do your own correspondence. Analternative is to do all letters, etc. in longhand hire someoneto put them in final form for you. Check the local high school orcollege. They may be happy to post your ad for a young ladylooking 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 toanswer 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 yourfinal plan in mind, and you'll save a lot of time as well asfrustration. Get the kind of file folders that hang from thesides of the file cabinet's drawers, allowing you to position thefile folder title anywhere across the top of the folder. Then asyou add clients to your file, you can keep them in alphabeticalorder without a jumbled-looking file drawer in which you have tosearch for each title. It's also a good idea to keep your activeaccounts in one drawer, your"hoped-for" accounts in another, andmaster copies of all letters, proposals, business contactinformation and records in still another drawer. You'll also needbusiness cards. Your nearest quick print shop can usually orderthese and help you in selecting wording and design.
Whether to rent, lease or buy a copy machine is up to you, butvirtually no business can get by without file copies. Carbonpaper means a loss of efficiency, and running over the cornershop to get copies is going to cost you time and money, so besure to fit some sort of copier into your business start-upcosts. If impossible at the very first, use the old carbonpaper--you must a a copy for your file.
Just how good a typist you are, how well you can write salesletters, and how busy you want to be, should be the decidingfactors about the typewriter. If you type at all--there willalways be at least a few letters that you should typepersonally---we suggest again that you go for the long haulprobabilities and rent, lease or buy the best and most moderntypewriter you can afford. Later on, when you do move into that"dream" office, that will be one less piece of equipment you willhave to be concerned with.
One you've decided what area of business consulting you want tobe in, and have your office or working space set up, the nextthing is to let people know you're available for work. Definitelyuse some common sense and applied knowledge before spending anymoney on advertising. Generally speaking, you will pick up somecustomers regardless of the problem area you specialize in, byadvertising in your own area's most popular newspaper. However,wewouldn't recommend much more than a small ad in the Sundayeditions, unless you're direct mail, multi-level or garage saleconsultant.
Check with your Chamber of Commerce for a list of trade andspecialized business publisher in your area. Either pick up asample copy of the business journal at the local newsstand orwrite to the publisher and ask for a sample. Look through thosecatering to the type of business you want to serve. Check theeditorial styles and types of advertising they carry, then selectthe one that corresponds with your needs. Basically, unless apublication reaches the people you are trying to sell to, don'tadvertise in it regardless of the style, quality, or advertisingrates.
Radio or television advertising would probably be a completewaste of advertising dollars, unless you're offering help withdirect mail, multi-level marketing or garage sales. The best timefor any broadcast advertising in order to reach your bestprospects seems to be in the evening hours after the late-nightnews, when these people are either still laboring over theirspecial projects or relaxing before going to bed. If you do usebroadcast advertising, the commercial is very important. Reallyconcentrate on this, and use lot of common sense in writing themessage. Even if you engage the services of an experiencedbroadcast copywriter, make sure the message speaks to yourpotential customers, and convince them that you can help solvetheir problems or improve the profit picture of their business.
Finally, where to advertise. Go with a quarter-page ad in theyellow pages of your telephone directory. The space salesman willhelp you with the ad, but remember, you want it to catch he eyeof your particular client, and offer a promise of an end to hisproblems. Always talk to your kind of people, emphasizing thebenefits of your services. It's not good practice to quote oreven discuss prices in either you advertising or on the phonewhen people respond. Always get name, address and telephonenumber, then explain your services in general. Set up anappointment 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 youfees, but starting out with beginning and small businesses, anduntil you line up 50 regular clients, your best bet would be $50per hour. Count on two to three hours per client per day, anddevoting 10 days per month to work on their needs, you're talkingabout $1,000 to $1,500 per month from each client. Multiply thattimes 50 clients, and you'll be grossing $5,000 to $7,500 permonth. As a one-man operation, you'll be plenty busy.
Insiders in this business say a person can leave his regular jobon Friday, start a consulting business on Monday, and within sixmonths, have an income of more than $100,000 per year. Suffice itto say that a beginning business consultant should earn from$30,000 to $60,000, before taxes and office expenses, in thefirst year of business.
Ther's still another very important method of finding newclients, and that is via Direct Mail solicitation. This is doneeither by postcard or sales letter mailings. For a mailing listof local businesses, check the yellow pages of your telephonedirectory, under the heading "Mailing Lists." Tell the advertiser the kind of mailing list you need---if they don't have it, askthem the names of suppliers who might be able to supply yourneeds. Alternately, you could compile your own mailing list ofprospects most likely to be interested in your services. Mark thenames you want in the area business directory, and pay someone toinput these names onto a computer for you. The computer should beable to supply you with peel-and-stick address labels at anominal cost. Putting your list on computer from the start willsave you thousands of dollars in money and countless hours ofwork.
Your postcard solicitation should basically be an elaboration ofyour printed advertising. In other words, an ad for a Direct MailConsultant might be transferred to a post card 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 andyour name, followed by your identification as Direct MailConsultant.
A direct mail solicitation sales letter simply uses more wordsthan the postcard, reads smoother, and forces the reader torespond as you direct him. Your sales letter can be any lengthneeded to tell your story and achieve the objective. To besuccessful, though, it must embody and follow the "AIDA" form:A=Attention I=Interest D=Desire; A=Action on the part of thereader.
Another point to remember when writing sales letters: Alwaysappeal to the needs and wants of the person who's going to bereading the letter. He will start reading to see if your servicescan benefit him. He is looking for answers to his most pressingproblems. Keep these elements in mind when you write a salessolicitation letter, whether for yourself or fora client.
People receiving sales letter are somewhat more responsive to aletter that is typed as opposed to one that is typeset. But thetyped letter must be"letter perfect," and not of a different orunusual style of type. As a consultant your letterhead should besimple while still conveying to the reader a sense of class. Yourpaper should be the best quality you can afford---not flamboyant,but sending a subtle message of success. Direct mail surveys showwhat slightly better numbers of responses are received when alight beige or off-yellow paper is used.
Basically, your letter should do what the postcard does foryou---move the recipient to call you and allow you to set up anappointment to discuss his needs as your client. Whether you'rewriting an advertisement or a sales letter, it's important thatyou have the objective clearly in mind---what you want the readerto do. With this in mind, you needn't use the"hard sell" approachquite as forcefully as someone asking for money on the firstcontact.
All that's left is meeting with the prospect, listening to hisproblems, and hearing what he wants, then write out a proposal tosolve his problems and satisfy his wants. This means sellingyourself to the prospect---assuring him you know what you'retalking about, and that you can make him more successful.
There you have it--a plan that can lead you to success as aBusiness Consultant. Remember, though, no amount of research,reading, listening or investment can make you successful untilyou do something with them. Action on your part is the absoluteingredients that must be added, and that's up to you. Your futureis in your own hands.