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HOW TO START YOUR OWN 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!
A consultant is an expert at recognising problems and shaping solutions
to those problems.
The need for problem solvers for business problems - among large and
small businesses world-wide - has never been greater.
The ever changing moods of the buyer plus the myriad of crisis
situations faced by businessmen 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 analyse 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 pre-requisites 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 non-existent 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 recognised for
your abilities.
You might be especially good in general areas as system design,
marketing, advertising, distribution, sales, or even efficiency, time
management, scheduling, expediting or productivity.
There are hundreds of consultants across the country specialising in
Direct Mail and Mail Order operations.
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 I 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 I advised
her to become a consultant to people looking for work or to start her
own CV 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 endeavour.
So, why shouldn't a women who has worked 20 years as a waitress
represent herself as a consultant to the training programme for
waitresses within a restaurant organisation?
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 realise 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 book keeping, and 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 long hand, and hire
someone to put them in final form for you. Check your local home
typists.
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 and frustration. keep your files
in alphabetical order. It is 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 contacts information,
and records in still another drawer.
You'll need business cards and you should have a copying machine.
Once you have decided what kind of business consultant you want to be,
you need to let people know you are available for work.
Generally speaking, you will pick up some customers, regardless of the
problem area you specialise in, by advertising in your most popular
local paper. However, I wouldn't recommend much more than a small ad in
the weekend 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 specialised
business publishers.
Either pick up a copy of the business journal at the local WH Smiths,
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 advertising would be a complete waste of
advertising money, unless you're offering help with direct mail, multi
level marketing or car sales.
The best time for any broadcast advertising in order to reach your best
prospects seems to be in the evening hours after the late night news,
when these people are either still labouring 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 an ad in the local yellow pages. 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, emphasising 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 names, addresses, and telephone numbers, then explain your
services in general.
Set up an appointment to look over their operation, analyse their
needs, and make a written proposal to solve their problems.
Another way to find new clients is by direct mail. This is done by
either using a postcard or sales letter mailings. For your mailing
lists, contact your Chamber of Commerce or a list broker from Yellow
Pages, or look up the names of businesses most likely to be interested
in your service in your areas business directory.
Your postcard solicitation should basically be an elaboration of your
printed advertising. An ad for a Direct Mail Consultant might be
transferred to a postcard along the lines of the following:
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 the 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; B = 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 a 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 need not 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 write out 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. Your future is in your own hands!