If you decide to make the switch from employee to business owner, you have to option to start a consulting company. This gives you the opportunity to leverage your expertise and prove that you are worth your weight in gold.
A consulting company is a business based on exchanging expertise for money. This service is often industry-focused and takes the form of sharing advice about particular topics with a client who is looking for guidance. Anyone from any industry can become a consultant.
Consultants are valuable because they help their clients articulate challenges that their business is experiencing, and assist in solving these technical problems. Solving these issues will show quantifiable results in the business.
So, where do you start when starting a consulting company? Let’s take a look.
Find Your Niche
It’s not enough to just decide you are going to start a consulting business. You need to think a little deeper. You need a niche. Your business’s niche is the specialised segment of the market that only your services can address.
Here’s how to find your niche: Take a look at what your expertise is and how you can assist your clients. Does it relate to a specific industry, such as environmental services? Does it focus on a specific topic, such as compliance?
You also need to consider what issues are prevalent in your industry. This is the gap that you can address with your expertise.
Register Your Business
Once you have your niche and you know how you are going to serve your clients, then you can take steps to commence business.
Officially starting a consulting company means you need to set up a business plan. This will include a financial plan with information about the projected start-up costs and includes income and expense projections. Next, you need the following documents when you start your company registration through the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC):
Name
Company Registration Form (CoR14.1A)
Memorandum of Incorporation
Identity Documents
Declaration by directors (CoR14.1A)
Application for registration (CoR51.1)
Notice of incorporation: (CoR14.1)
For more information on these documents, read our article FAQs About Registering a Company in South Africa.
Businesses can be registered with CIPC, on the government portal at Bizportal.gov.za or through your bank. There are also many companies that specialise in assisting small businesses with this process.
Generate an Online Presence and Market your Business
When you register your company with CIPC, you can also reserve your company domain. With your new domain in hand, you can set up your company website.
Your online presence is vital because it builds customer trust. It is also another way for your clients to discover and reach you. What’s more, they can find out more about your services and rates to determine if you are the consultant you need.
When you are marketing your business on social media, you will often redirect potential clients to your website where they can find your contact information, rates and services, reviews from happy clients and any other important information.
Your marketing efforts need to focus on reaching your clients, following up on them and authority building. You need to create meaningful conversations with your clients that show them you are the right person to solve their problems. Furthermore, you build authority for your consulting company by posting content that shows your expertise.
Types of Consulting Business
The type of service that consultants provide is to give high-level advice that addresses specific areas within your client’s business. Here are some forms of consulting that you can do in your firm:
Strategy Consultants
Strategy is a factor that some businesses might struggle with. As you understand the industry you operate in, you can guide business owners or directors about what strategies they can follow.
Marketing Consultants
Although it is common knowledge that marketing helps drive sales, determination and zeal is not enough. Sometimes businesses need to turn to experts to understand the gap they have in their marketing.
Operations Consultants
Clients might be looking for ways to streamline business, enhance productivity and drive efficiency. That’s where operations consultants come in.
Financial Consultants
As the name suggests, financial consultants help businesses with financial guidance.
Human Resources Consultants
Consultants who offer Human Resource assistance include services that cover recruitment, onboarding, training and development, as well as other personnel issues.
Compliance or Legal Consultants
Compliance is at the centre of any law-abiding business. Consultants help guide clients through this. Where compliance is important from a legal point of view, legal consultants can assist.
Sustainability Consultants
Environmental regulations and sustainability are key points in many businesses today, although more important to some businesses than others. Consultants help navigate these issues.
Now that you know what it really takes to start your consulting company, you can confidently commit to it. If you have your niche and you are marketing to the right audience, you clients will soon be contacting you for your services.
Do you want to learn more about vital elements of business to ensure your consulting company’s success? Check out our webinars.
If you decide to make the switch from employee to business owner, you have to option to start a consulting company. This gives you the opportunity to leverage your expertise Read More
