Free Business Consulting Services

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 recognizing problems and shaping solutions to those problems. The need for business problem solvers - among large and small businesses worldwide - has never been greater.

The ever changing moods of the buyer plus the myriad of crisis situations businessmen face 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 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 an 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 general areas as systems design, marketing, advertising, distribution, sales, or even efficiency, 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 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 we know who was seeking work as a personnel clerk.

She had worked five years as assist ant 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.

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 shouldn'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 their 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 and 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 will 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 having a jumbled-looking file drawer in which you have to search for each title.

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 contact information and records in still another drawer.

You will also need business cards. You nearest quick print shop can usually order these and help you in selecting wording and design.

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 recognizing problems and shaping solutions to those problems. The need for business problem solvers - among large and small businesses worldwide - has never been greater.

The ever-changing moods of the buyer plus the myriad of crisis situations businessmen face 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 are not feeling well, you call for the services of a doctor. If your car is not 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.