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 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!

Reaching for a consultant is an expert at recognizing problems

and shaping solutions to those problems. The need for problem

solvers for business problems---among large and small businesses

worlwide--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.

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 a 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 areas as system design, marketing,

scheduling, expediting or productivity. There are hundreds of

consultants across the country specializing in Direct Mail and

Mail Order operators. 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

planning 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 sometime 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

personal clerk. She had worked five years as assistant to the

personal 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

souldn'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

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 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 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 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.

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 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 a a copy for your file.

Just how good a typist you are, 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--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

typewriter 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 with.

One 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 own area's most popular newspaper. However,we

wouldn't recommend much more than a small ad in the Sunday

editions, unless you're direct mail, multi-level or garage sale

consultant.

Check with your Chamber of Commerce for a list of trade and

specialized business publisher 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 the style, quality, or advertising

rates.

Radio or television advertising 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 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 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 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 convince 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 he 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 you 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 you

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 the

first year of business.

Ther'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 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 onto a computer for you. The computer should be

able to supply you with peel-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 countless hours of

work.

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 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 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 looking for answers to his most pressing

problems. Keep these elements in mind when you write a sales

solicitation letter, whether for yourself or fora client.

People receiving sales letter 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

what 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 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

ingredients that must be added, and that's up to you. Your future

is in your own hands.