Delivered at MB IPB CEO and Entrepreneurial Development Forum
Image courtesy of www.robhartnett.com
~ A anonymous consultpreneur
4 Februari 2014 3
Today’s Agenda
4 Februari 2014 4
Understand Consulting Requirements
4 Februari 2014 5 Image courtesy of Accurateresourcegroup.com
• Hard and soft Skills in expert level
• In-depth and broad Knowledge
• Positive and constructive Attitude
• Network, network, network: client,
contact, resources, partner
• In the end, consultant shall provide expert
advice in particular or a wide range of fields
4 Februari 2014 6 Image courtesy of Matthew Norris
TARGETING the Type, Segment and
Industry
• Ideally, identify which type of consulting field
where the diamond is • If not, at those early days, determine specific
area(s) of consulting that
at the most
• Passion first, expertise (shall) follow suit
• Might decide to start with general consulting
• Later stageto attain clients with specific needs
4 Februari 2014 8 Image courtesy of Patrick van der Pijl
• Next: Which segment are we going to play?
• Micro, Small, Medium, Big – we decide
• Set the industry we put our priority at. Try to in-line with our background and expertise
4 Februari 2014 9 Image courtesy of Patrick van der Pijl
Is Consulting Firm a Necessity?
• Stay as a professional, self-employed, or move it forward. Cast our vote!
• Comfort zone is everywhere
• To grow bigger day in and day out, take the risk as long as we could manage it
• Start a consulting firm
right away. Period.
4 Februari 2014 11
Image courtesy of Accumulate
Try to Do this Exercise First
• Ask ourselves once again, do we really want to become an entrepreneur?
• If yes, then decide: be a single fighter or go along with co-founder(s)
• Do market research by:
– Scouting out similar consultants in our area
– Finding out expertise and services offered
– Figuring out their prices and marketing schemes
• When completed, then:
– What differ us from rivals: quality of deliverable, more reasonable fee, faster execution and completion (?)
4 Februari 2014 13
…Let’s reaffirm ourselves by programming these
words until they are sublimed
“You say I dream too big. I say
you think too small.”
Upon Completion then…
• Decide source of funds: bootstrapped or?
• Name our business. Memorable but not
tacky
• Establish our company profile (objectives,
goals, mission, vision, values)
• Choose legal structure for our venture
• Craft a business plan. Not only for us but for
investor as well
4 Februari 2014 15
Upon Completion then…(cont’d)
• Consider costs and funds for first year as a start
• Obtain proper licenses
• Start to set-up office
• Prepare for office supply, equipment, resources
• Define company policies, processes and
procedures. Formalize them upon completion
• Consider to form and think further of separating
management from governance
4 Februari 2014 16 Image courtesy of Avasant
Start Too Early Only If…
• Blue Ocean as Bulls-Eye
• To win the mind share
• Have adequate funds and
persistence to struggle and survive
• Able and willing to grab other projects
to sustain the business
4 Februari 2014 17 Image courtesy of Peter Nijenhuis
Rolling out Consulting Practice
Market Our Service
• Attend event, mingle and network with others
• Actively contribute for respective organization
and association
• Write at particular publications
• Deliver lecture, training and workshop
• Speak ourselves out at seminar and conference
• Obtain advanced degree, accreditation and
certification
4 Februari 2014 19 Image courtesy of Jean Pierre Dalberra
Market Our Service (cont’d)d)
• Capitalize on internet (blog, social network, any other digital channels)
• Ask for referrals
• Give token for leads
• Offer low price services or more extremely free to build up reputation
Bottom line
Make ourselves and expertise heard and read
(validated, acknowledged, recognized)
4 Februari 2014 20
Image courtesy of Nanagyei
Improve, Enhance and Boost Our Expertise
• Reading
• Practicing
• Training
• Education
• Self-studying
• ….and many more
Cutting the case:
Internet and MOOC rock!
4 Februari 2014 21 Image courtesy of iangrieveson
Leverage Our Networks
• Parents
• Spouse
• Relatives
• Friends
• Colleagues
• Children
• Even our former boss, girlfriend, boyfriend…
4 Februari 2014 22 Image courtesy of iangrieveson
Better Start with Small
• Always dream BIG with our feet
GROUNDED
• Start off with smaller paying clients
• Always eager to go for larger ones ASAP
• Don’t grow too fast unless we have “solid
back office”
4 Februari 2014 23 Image courtesy of Goutama Bachtiar
Be Pragmatic at Early Stage
• Going to where the money flows
• Affordable office: garage, virtual office, co-working space as options
• Host meeting at our client’s office or public service
• Keep a healthy working capital
• Think of rolling out Stock Option Plan (Why not?)
4 Februari 2014 25
The Time We Sign a Client the Day
We Start…Losing Them
• “Difficult” client is not an option
• Watch high churn rate out. No renewal
= (epic) fail?
• Be flexible. Do anything possible to
keep them
• Ad-hoc call or visit might needed to
ensure things going on the right way
4 Februari 2014 26
We are Worth Every Penny, So Show
Them the (Hidden) Money!
• Don’t we ever take crap from
clients; Nothing personal really
• Show them NUMBERS or any
other key metrics esp. financial
figures e.g ROI, NPAT, etc
• Bring in more money by
attaining more revenue or
reducing cost than “our price”
4 Februari 2014 27 Image courtesy of Maclufus
Well oh Well, Dress up Please…
• The better we dress, the higher of consulting rate we can ask for
• This is to show potential clients we are successful
• Boost our confidence
• Client will expect us to bring same success to their company
• Try it and see the result
4 Februari 2014 28
Image courtesy of Alexander Rentsch
Image courtesy of Paul Downey 4 Februari 2014
Set Expectations from Day ONE
• Document important things, particularly
request for changes
• Get the approval as necessary
• Deliverable meets expectation = satisfied
• Raise the bar by always try to exceeds them
• Unrealistic expectations? Silence is not
golden here. Let the clients know why
• Refer other venture if needed
4 Februari 2014 30 Image courtesy of Andrew Evans
Keep Them Happy from Time to Time
• Weekly updates telling what have you been doing and addressing any questions raised
• Monthly reports. Graph and other forms of visuals is worth a try
• Do follow-up by discussing it in an in-person meeting
• Surveys – periodically and when project completed by drawing specific questions, both open and closed
4 Februari 2014 31 Image courtesy of Martin Fisch
Keep Them Happy from Time to Time (cont’d)
• Send industry updates and news regularly
• Go further, do anything to makes them feel special
• They could be KING or PARTNER
4 Februari 2014 32
Our Clients are always Right, EXCEPT…
• Keep “the door” opened by letting clients tell what they want
• They shouldn’t tell us what we should be doing
• Telling the client what is the best. We have the expertise they don’t have, right?
• It’s a winding road thou. Prepare data to back up what we want to do and show how it fits at its best for them
4 Februari 2014 33 Image courtesy of Erik Hersman
The More We Charge, The Less They
Complain
• Big clients have deep pocket so big spending is no big deal
• They know that if they want to continue to grow, they have to spend money
• Messing up with smaller clients, most probably they don’t have enough money for “switching costs”
• In most cases, the less we charge, well, it’s too good to be true
4 Februari 2014 34 Image courtesy of David Goehring
Clients to Pay Less For More
• No bunch of case studies nor years of experience? Take it easy
• Figure out what separates our consulting company from the giants
• If we show we are better than the bigger ones, we will lock them in
• Clients always love to pay and work with senior consultants rather than bigger firms’ junior’s
4 Februari 2014 35 Image courtesy of Surian Soosay
• Our strategy defines how we
uniquely and persistently
deliver value to our clients
• It's all about them, not us. It
always will.
4 Februari 2014 36
Image courtesy of BTO University
4 Februari 2014
4 Februari 2014 38 Image courtesy of Paul Downey