HOW TO START YOUR OWN
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS
CONSULTING SERVICE
A consultant works with the management of a business to improve the performance,
profitability, and goals of the company. Working with the top leadership to alter the
direction of a company, the consultant is a valuable and highly paid individual. Many
consultants charge in excess of $100 per hour. Others charge several hundred dollars per
day for their services, and others work on an annual retainer fee of $12,000 to over
$30,000 per year from each of any number of large corporations.
The title consultant used to be limited to retired diplomats or high corporate
officers. The consultant's position was more honorary than actual. But that has all
changed dramatically in the past decade. The number of consultants in all areas has
fantastically increased over the past several years! While the computer industry has
accounted for a large portion of this change, business and industry have had their share
of growth as well. The need for consultants is continuing to expand. In fact, independent
consulting is one of the fastest growing businesses in the country today!
A consultant is an expert at recognizing problems and shaping solutions to those
problems. The need for problem solvers to advise businesses both large and small worldwide
has never been greater. The ever changing mood of buyers plus the myriad of crisis
situations daily faced by business have created this "seller's market" for the
alert consultant. Properly prepared, the independent consultant can earn an excellent
income, gaining the respect and economic comfort that comes with this prestigious line of
work.
Reaching for a consultant when problems arise has become a natural exercise for
American business. 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. When businesses encounter a
problem, whether in accounting, computer use, sales, or customer relations, wise
businesses seek the advice of those with a background in the field. To be successful,
business must keep abreast of the ever changing world in which it operates. The consultant
helps businesses of all sizes make the transition between their present level of operation
and the more successful level needed to maintain their share of the market.
Many times a consultant will be called by an overenthusiastic entrepreneur who
rushed headlong into a business in which he has little or no experience. Many such
dreamers invest their life savings in questionable projects without even requesting the
advice of a competent business consultant in analyzing and evaluating their plans. Unless
an entrepreneur's plan is based upon solid research, he may rush headlong into disaster
and financial ruin. That is where you can fit in as a business consultant. Consultants
often must help bring failing businesses up from nearfailure to profitability. Being
able to deliver that advice can make you rich.
It is not necessary for you to have owned or operated a 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
uptodate understanding of the area in which you intend to consult. Insight,
thorough study, and common sense can be joined together as a substitute for years of
experience in a field.
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. Perhaps
you are especially good in such general areas as systems design, marketing, advertising,
distribution, sales, efficiency or time management, scheduling, expediting, or
productivity. There are hundreds of consultants across the country specializing in direct
mail and mail order operations. Most of these enjoyed some measure of success in their
fields then discovered the easier way of advising others on how to operate successfully.
There are consultants for people who want success with a garage sale, party plan
merchandising, or even multilevel marketing. 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 that you enjoy.
Most everyone is afraid of taking on the responsibility involved in consulting others.
They claim they don't have the necessary experience or 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. Why do we doubt our own
abilities?
Almost everyone has had experience in a certain line of work, and they've gone on to
receive special training or education along the same lines. Most people have worked all
their lives along or very close to a specific line of endeavor. Why shouldn't a woman who
has served twenty 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 potential market for their
training, knowledge and experience. To successfully begin, the aspiring consultant must
look over his or her educational strengths and combine them with any special training or
onthejob experience gained in the marketplace. Then he simply offers his
expertise to help others with their problems in the field he knows best. It's almost like
training a new employee to take over your job. You simply share the tips, tricks, and
techniques you've acquired over the years.
You don't need a big, fancy office in order to get started in consulting, especially if
you start your business on a parttime basis. Many consultants work out of their own
homes from a spare bedroom, a section of the basement, or even a corner of the dining
room. If you handle your own bookkeeping and filing, you will need a ledger of some kind
and a file cabinet or two. You must have a good typewriter or word processor if you plan
to do your own correspondence. An alternative is to write all letters, proposals, etc. in
longhand and hire a typist to put them in final form for you. Check the local high school
or college in your area. They may be happy to post your ad seeking a young person for
parttime work.
Whether or not to purchase a typewriter or word processor depends on how good a typist
you are, how well you can write sales letters, and how busy you want to be. There will
always be at least a few letters that you will want to type personally. We suggest that
you consider the longrange possibilities of your business success and rent, lease, or
buy the best and most modern typewriter you can afford. When you eventually move into a
permanent office, the typewriter will be one less piece of equipment to be considered.
Typewriters can be purchased with various features, including automatic spelling check,
letter format and text memory, the ability to use a variety of type faces, etc. If within
your budget, we recommend a personal computer. A computer can be purchased as
inexpensively as a good quality typewriter, and will not only provide for word processing,
but will also allow you to use spreadsheet software for accounting purposes, database
programs for record keeping, the easy storage of large numbers of documents, and the
flexibility to "tailormake" documents for each customer with little
difficulty.
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 businesslike manner
during normal working hours. If you have young children who answer the telephone, the
availability of inexpensive answering machines makes it possible to have the phone always
answered with a message stating your name, the title of your consulting business, and a
brief request for the caller to leave a name and telephone number at which they can be
reached in a few minutes. The caller will simply think that they have reached your
voicemail message at your office, that you are on another line with someone else, and
will return their call shortly. This will allow you to present a more professional
appearance, instilling increased confidence in your clients.
Several of your other office needs can usually be taken care of in a single stop at the
neighborhood quick print shop. You'll need a supply of letterhead stationary, envelopes,
and business cards. Your print shop will most likely have a display of everything you need
with several styles from which to choose. They will help you in selecting wording and
design, and will professionally imprint the materials for you. If you do not choose to
lease or purchase a copier of your own, let the folks at the print shop know that you will
be relying on them for all of your copy needs. By establishing a good relationship with
the staff, you will be able to get the best and most efficient service they can offer,
perhaps at a discount from their normal rates. The print shop will most likely have
facsimile services available also. They can both send and receive faxes of any letters or
other documents you need to transmit. They will charge a small fee plus any
longdistance telephone costs; far less than buying a fax machine yourself.
You will need to save copies of all the sales letters and job proposals you send out.
Whether you rent, lease, or buy a copy machine is up to you, but virtually no business can
get by without file copies. Carbon paper copies are impractical, messy, and often
impossible if you print out from a computer system. Although you will definitely want to
keep a backup copy of any computer files, a hard copy on paper is a must. Running over to
the corner shop to get copies is going to cost you a certain amount of time and money, so
try to fit some sort of copier into your business startup costs. Desktop copiers can
be purchased inexpensively at many of the larger electronics chains or warehouse outlets.
Set up your filing system with your expanding needs in mind, and you'll save a lot of
time as well as frustration. Get file folders that hang from the sides of the file
cabinet's drawers, allowing you to position the file title anywhere across the top of the
folder. As you add clients to your files, you can keep them in alphabetical order without
having a jumbledlooking 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 hopeful accounts in
another, and master copies of all your letters, proposals, business contact information,
and records in still another drawer.
Once you've decided in which area of business consulting you will work, and after you
have your office or working space set up, you must now let people know you're available
for work. Use some common sense and careful study before spending any money on
advertising. Generally speaking, you will pick up some customers, regardless of the area
of your specialization, 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 are a
direct mail, multilevel marketing, or garage and estate sale consultant. Check with
your Chamber of Commerce for a list of trade and specialized business publishers in your
area. Pick up a sample copy of those business journals at the local newsstand or write to
the publisher and ask for a sample. Look through those magazines, journals, and
newsletters catering to the type of businesses you want to serve. Examine the editorial
styles and types of advertising the publications carry, then select the single publication
that most corresponds with your needs. Unless a publication reaches the people to whom you
are trying to sell, don't advertise in it regardless of style, quality, or advertising
rates.
For private consultants, radio and television advertising is generally a waste of
advertising dollars, unless you're offering help with direct marketing or private sales
mentioned above. However, in large metropolitan areas, many cable television companies
offer lowcost advertising on their localonly cable channels. Stations that
feature 24 hour news, weather, or items of local interest often run brief advertising
segments at a low cost to the advertiser. As a business consultant, you may want to
consider advertising on channels that business people frequently watch: worldwide,
uptotheminute news (such as CNN¿), weather across the nation (for business
travelers), or channels running the stock quotes and business reports. The best time for
any broadcast advertising in order to reach your prospects will be in the early morning
hours as business executives are dressing for the day, eating breakfast, and catching the
latest word in their field on television, or in the evening hours after the latenight
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 quality and impact of your commercial is the
key to your success. Definitely use the services of an experienced broadcast copywriter,
making sure the message speaks to your potential customers and convinces them that you can
help solve their problems or improve the profitability of their business. Commercials
should be short, to the point, and memorable. Slogans or catchphrases always help a
potential client remember a particular ad.
Finally, you will definitely need to place a quarterpage 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 clientele, attracting attention to the
possibility of an end to their problems. Always address your ads to the people in your
field of business, 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. Get the name, address, and telephone number of the potential client, and 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 are a number of factors to consider in establishing your fees. In general, until
you line up thirty or more regular clients, you had best keep your fee in the range of $50
per hour. Count on two to three hours per client per day, and on devoting ten days per
month to work on the client's needs. This comes out to $1000 to $1,500 per month from each
client. If you can apply thirty hours per week to directly working with clients, not
including preparing proposals and handling advertising and promotion, you'll be able to
take in approximately $6000 a month in the beginning, before taxes and office expenses.
Not a bad start for a oneman operation.
You can also recruit new clients through direct mail solicitation. This will be 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 cannot supply it, ask them for the
names of suppliers who might be able to help you out. 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
your computer database for you. Putting your list on computer from the start will save you
thousands of dollars in money and countless hours of work. Have the list printed on
peelandstick labels that can be easily applied to your mailing piece. Your
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! Let me show you how to double, even triple the response from your
mailings! Expand your market! Increase your profitability! Whatever your needs, I can
help! Whatever your problems, I can work with you to resolve them! Call now and let me
explain.
DIRECT MARKETING SUCCESS CONSULTANTS
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. Your sales letter should also
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.
To be successful, all of your advertising must follow the AIDA formula of copywriting:
attracting the Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action on the part of the reader. When
composing your sales letter, appeal directly 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. And he's 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. Whether you're composing an advertisement or a sales letter, it's important that
you have your objective clearly in mind when you begin to write. You needn't use a
"hard sell" approach like someone asking for money on the first contact. Simply
state how your client can benefit from utilizing your services.
The advent of personal computers has made the composition and preparation of sales
letters much easier than in the past. You can easily produce a sales letter of the highest
possible quality directly from your office at home with little trouble. However, even
though your computer will allow you to add fancy graphics of all shapes and sizes to your
documents, you will want to maintain an air of professionalism. 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, but not flamboyant, sending a subtle
message of success. Direct mail surveys show that slightly better numbers of responses are
received when a light beige or offyellow paper is used.
All that's left to you now is meeting with the prospect, listening to his problems,
hearing what he wants, then writing out a proposal to solve his problems and satisfy his
wants. This means you must sell yourself to the prospect, assuring him you know what
you're talking about and that you can make him more successful. Lay out a plan to help him
redirect his business over a period of several weeks or months. Your proposal may suggest
a plan for special training sessions for personnel, the purchase of new equipment, or the
adjusting of advertising and sales methods. Tell the client what you will do for him
without revealing specifics. With the proposal, you must convince the prospective
businessman that you have the answers to all his wants and needs. After he accepts, put
the plan into action. If it is rejected, ask him why? Perhaps you misunderstood his need.
What sort of help is he looking for? Sell yourself and your abilities, striving to
convince the client that you alone can help resolve his difficulties.
There you have it: a plan that can lead you to success as a Business Consultant.
Remember: no amount of research, reading, listening, or investment can make you successful
until you do something with it. Action to move yourself into the fast lane toward success
is the single most important ingredient in your recipe for wealth. It's up to you. Your
future is in your own hands. Take control of your destiny today!
