Professional Practice For Consultants

Looking to branch out in to consultancy?

In recent times the number of consultants has grown, as professionals seek opportunities outside of the traditional workplace. Because of downsizing, companies are increasingly out-sourcing for services and expertise that is not available from their own staff. Consultants bring their time and expertise to help fill in the gaps. They are needed because they have skills, experience, or knowledge not perceived to be available in-house. 

This is due to continue, so why not use your expertise to make a living by running your own consultancy business!

To be a consultant you need to: 

• Have passion for your area of expertise, this will come across to clients
• Be an expert in your own right, either through research or experience
• Thrive on working with others in their working environment
• Develop relationships quickly and efficiently

So, if you:

• Want a challenge away from traditional employment 
• Have an urge to try something new
• Think your skills are in demand

Then consultancy may be for you, why not sign up to our course to discover more about how this could work for you!

Lesson Structure

There are 8 lessons in this course:

1. Determining if a Consultancy
   • Practice is for You
   • Attributes of successful consultants
   • Advantages & disadvantages
   • Codes of Conduct
   • Are you ready?
2. Planning a Consultancy Practice: Part 1
   • Methods of getting into
   • consultancy
   • Business structure & name
   • Working from home or an office
   • Insurance
   • Financing
   • Equipment
   • Set up costs
   • Surviving start up
   • Getting assistance
3. Planning a Consultancy Practice: Part 2
   • A comprehensive Business Plan
   • Business Plan Implementation
4. Knowing What to Charge
   • Your costs
   • Available Working Time
   • Different ways to charge
   • Value based fees & justifying your fees
5. Setting Up Your Consulting Practice
   • Letting clients find out about you/Advertising/Marketing
   • Creating a press kit
   • Internet
   • Image
   • Networking
6. Keeping Accounts and Records
   • Keeping Records
   • Source documents
   • The invoice
   • Timesheets
   • Being organized
7. How to Generate Business & Keep It
   • Using agents/brokers
   • Using other consultants
   • Asking advice from clients & potential clients
   • Asking for a reference
   • Tenders
   • Writing articles
   • Successful client relations
   • Keeping clients
   • What to do if a potential client says ‘no’
   • Principles of acquiring business
8. Maintaining Your Consultancy Practice
   • Professional development
   • Hiring staff to expand your business
   • Creating passive income
   • Pitfalls to avoid

Aims

• Analyse current industry requirements and your individual needs to determine if opening a consultancy is appropriate.
• Determine the business structure appropriate for your consultancy practice.
• Produce a business plan and implementation schedule
• Determine costs involved in setting up a practice and how to set fees.
• Describe different communication and marketing techniques.
• Describe different administrative procedures including invoicing and maintaining records and accounts.
• Determine industry best practice for obtaining and keeping your customers
• Recognise responsibility towards yourself and employees in maintaining and expanding your practice, and to develop strategies to cater for increased demand.

Getting Started

A consultant is someone with expertise in a particular area who offers advice to others. A consultant may be regarded as having expert knowledge because what they specialise in is beyond the scope of most people's awareness. Usually, a consultant is employed on a temporary basis until a particular task has been completed. They are needed because there is no-one within a company or institution with the type of knowledge which is sought. In business, a consultant may be hired to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of a business.

Once you have decided upon your consultation services, you need to consider how you are going to present your services and yourself well. Presenting your services in the right way is important because you want people to have a clear understanding of what it is you have to offer. You do not want to be consulted for services which are outside your realm of expertise.  

Presenting Your Services

Some consultants may gain most of their customers through word of mouth, and build a business organically. They may become quite successful in their chosen field and develop a good reputation and so people will tell others about how good or competent they are until eventually they are able to find clients through word of mouth and reputation alone.

Some consultants may be fortunate enough that their name becomes well known in a certain job so that when they start consultancy work they are already known within their particular industry.  This is something many would-be consultants might hope for, but not too many consultants will find work in this way to begin with. For most they will have to build their reputation with hard work and dedication. Some may never achieve a sufficient client base from word of mouth and will need to work harder to present their services.  There are many different ways to do this.

Other consultants need to promote their business to get started or to give it the growth momentum they desire.

What Fees Should You Charge?

There are different ways a consultant may decide what to charge. Firstly, they should consider to what extent their services are in demand. If they are the only specialist consultant in their country, they are probably in great demand and can charge higher rates because of this. If there are a lot of similar consultants in the area who offer similar services, then a competitive rate would need to be charged.

Consultants may charge by time by setting an hourly rate, or perhaps even quarter-hourly or half hourly rate. A consultant working in a health profession may decide to work on a sliding scale, charging those who can afford it the full fee and those less privileged a lower amount.

They may set an initial consultation fee and then charge by an hourly rate after a certain time period. Alternatively, they may charge an overall fee for the consultation or project they are to complete. Some consultants may charge different fee levels for different types of work. This may be more applicable to consultancy practices or agencies offering different types of consultative work.

Some consultants will ask for an upfront part payment, then a further payment upon completion of the project. For those with longer term contracts, they may ask for weekly, monthly or fortnightly payments.

What they charge and how they charge will be determined by how the consultant works and the services they offer. In setting fees a consultant should be aware of what other consultants providing similar services are charging. You also need to review your fees regularly. You may find that you are charging too much to remain competitive, or that you are not charging enough to cover your overheads and make a profit. Every time you undertake training to improve your skill set, or expand your repertoire to cater for another market sector, you should review your fees to see whether they need to be amended.

With any consultancy work, it is therefore important to decide what services you wish to offer, how you are going to present the services and yourself. There is no easy answer to any of this. This is something that the consultant as an individual will have to decide after conducting market research and applying their knowledge of their own personality and skills.

WHY STUDY WITH ACS?

There are lots of reasons why you should sign up to do this course with us, including:

• The information is comprehensive and will give you excellent depth to your knowledge about developing your own consultancy business
• Within each lesson you have the opportunity to apply your learning to activities in order to extend your knowledge and research specific areas of interest, enhancing your understanding and building up your consultancy business plan
• Knowledge of how to market yourself will enable you to stand out from others and give you greater confidence
• Understanding about how to build up a consultancy business can take you in to many different industries and sectors, giving you flexibility now and in the future with the opportunities you seek
• Our subject specialist tutors will be there to support you throughout your course, they are only too happy to share their industry knowledge and experience with you
• When studying with us you set your own deadlines, meaning you study at your own pace enabling it to fit around other commitments

TAKE THE NEXT STEP AND ENROL NOW!

You can enrol on the course now, but if you have any questions about the content of the course or studying with ACS, then please get in touch with us today - use our FREE COURSE COUNSELLING SERVICE to get in touch with our expert tutors. They will be pleased to help you!