To get ahead of the business plan of a consultancy, you have to be innovative in your initial approach. You better not with an offer-type. You cannot offer the same proposed as a consultant who has spent years in the market. Unless of course you have offered the same service to a new customer segment. You have to sell a turnkey solution and you have to solve a business problem.
Focus on a particular field of activity you master: not want to serve in all areas. You cannot play all the clubs. That shows a lack of maturity of the business plan. In addition, there is always time to expand. If you are good at finance, you cannot also be in technology, for instance… especially if we are talking about a company with two employees.
We must find a balance between specialization and general consulting offer. Many entrepreneurs enter into a consultancy specialized product excessively closing the doors to business opportunities in other areas.
Your service
The motivations for acquiring these services obviously differ from one type of customer and other. However, in your business plan, you always have to approach it from the point of view of the customer: no highlights what you sell, but the problem will solve the customer with what you offer him. It’s a matter of focus.
Business approach
An entrepreneur will always take advice as a cost, and any good entrepreneur must flee incurring excessive costs. Thus, entrepreneurial consulting must turn over how to sell your company; should highlight or savings that will mean that the employer or service solutions that will involve a psychological discharge their problems.
To raise this approach, you have to think to package these services. It is very difficult to sell itself consulting hours. It is better to have different packages (which already include hours). It is converted into solid intangible something. In some cases, they also patent and sell these packages (where they can develop, for example, with software) can.
Location
If you want to launch a consultancy that focuses on SMEs, you do not want to cover all SMEs. Focus on a specific sector of SMEs and whether it can be geographically specific, the better.
The adaptation of the area or territory, that you want to implement to your project in the level of socioeconomic development of the area an important reference. The higher the usually so is the number and degree of specialization of the consultants already working in the field and, therefore, the more important your specialization in a field, namely renewable energies, human resources, production processes.
This specialization requires you to first contact with potential customers whether personal or within very specific promotional material, journals, very specific business associations, among others.
A less mature…
In less developed areas, the approach you have to do is different. If the area in which you develop your business is not as mature, chances are your competition and work for large consulting firms nationwide that outsource work to companies established in the territory. In this case, you will encounter a number of companies that limit the degree of specialization of your consultant. If ascots much the professional field, you see the need to expand your market geographically not have enough customers.
Your prices
Must not bet set very low prices or below market, basically because you will not be able to sustain over time, beyond an initial limited promotional activity. In addition, an image of poor quality in a specialized service that requires a high level of knowledge is offered.
Experts recommend you that moderated in your sales forecasts keeping market prices instead of thinking in higher sales with popular prices.
Financial plan
For consultancies, rather than profitability ratios have to consider your cash flow and calculate well your breakeven. How you will fail in your calculation of sales, it is important to know your cost structure. It serves as an indicator to estimate how much you have to check how many packages have to sell, knowing how many hours I suppose. It’s important because it is a first approximation.
In the financial section of a professional office, you should be very careful with travel costs when providing your services in the offices of your customers. In many cases, they are costs that are undervalued by making a business plan but are an important part. In fact, it is one of the key areas of the costs with staff costs.