How to start a consulting firm business plan. Situations where consulting is needed

What kind of business can you start from scratch? What product will be in demand regardless of the economic upsurge and downturns? What can a novice entrepreneur do with minimal investment, business experience and risks?

Agree that such questions worry many of those who decide to open their own business. So what to do if there is almost no money for a business? And what about the risk of failure?

For many, the following statement will come as a revelation:

Everyone can start their own business from scratch

To do this, you only need to sell what you have and what others do not have. So what is it? Unique information.

In our age of information, it is knowledge that becomes the most valuable and sought-after product. You just need to find out for yourself in which area you have more knowledge than most? And is there a demand for your knowledge and experience? This is where you can start a real business.

The essence of your business will be as follows: "Providing consulting (consulting) services in the area where you are the most knowledgeable."

Agree that this kind of "production" will not require special costs. You will only need to declare yourself and attract customers. But even this will require very little money if you use all the same achievements of information technology - the Internet, social networks, regional and specialized forums and portals.

Advantages and disadvantages of consulting as a business

Of course, first of all, among the advantages of the consulting business, low costs are distinguished at the first stages of activity. In order to start receiving at least some income, all you need is a computer, the Internet and a phone.

Secondly, you may not be a business specialist, because you just need to master the basics of entrepreneurial activity to get started. This applies to marketing analysis and the ability to make a competent commercial offer.

Thirdly, doing consulting, you yourself grow professionally day by day. And this is very important, because working for hire does not always have the opportunity and motivation for professional growth. Here, your income will grow in proportion to your experience and knowledge.

And further. You create your own image of a successful business person, a true professional. And even if you decide to switch to other areas of activity in the future, you will already be known as a professional.

Consulting also has its downsides. And they can be described as follows:

- Great emotional and psychological stress.

You have to work with people, and it's not easy. Especially when they think that for your money you should solve their problem, while you just point them in the right direction.

- Responsibility for results.

You can either create an image of a professional or show everyone your complete incompetence. After all, your recommendations should work. And for this you must be a specialist who in practice is convinced of the veracity of what he says.

So what are the options?

All the variety of options and directions of consulting can be divided into two groups:

• business services,
• services to private individuals.

In turn, enterprises are divided into small, medium and large. Depending on which company you choose will depend on the need for initial costs. In order to work with sole proprietors, you may not need an office and a secretary.

But the heads of enterprises of large and medium-sized businesses will not take you seriously if your appearance and your office are not up to the mark.

The style of work itself can be as follows:

• phone consultations,
• consultations with departure to the client,
• reception of the client in his own office.

How much can you earn from consulting?

For example, one hour of financial advice can cost 800 rubles or 2000 rubles. And maybe even 5000 rubles. It all depends on how complex the issue needs to be resolved.

You can roughly estimate your time and the usefulness of your consultation for the client, and based on this offer your prices. But in any case, you will not remain at a loss.

In a narrow sense, the word "consulting" means the activity of supporting and advising individuals and legal entities. Consulting services can be provided by both a separate independent specialist and a large company. This type of service is still underdeveloped in our country, and the attitude towards it is ambiguous. Traditionally, any company tends to have its own specialists. It seems to the manager that it is better to entrust negotiating, preparing important documents or selecting new employees to a subordinate. After all, its activities can be easily controlled. However, if a large firm can still afford to maintain a whole staff of specialists who are not directly involved in the production process, then this is extremely unprofitable for medium and small businesses. As for individual entrepreneurs and individuals, their need for independent consultants is huge.

Demand creates supply, so the consulting business has excellent prospects for its growth and development. However, when the question of what kind of business to open rises with an edge, many people think about consulting last. It is quite possible that the national mentality is to blame. In the view of most citizens, serious business is associated with production. Another barrier is the persistent belief that only top stars can provide consulting services, and a mid-level specialist cannot break through in this business.

This is not quite the right way of looking at things.

Consulting services are in demand in various areas of life, and it is still not very difficult to occupy one or another niche in this business.

The most important thing is to choose exactly the niche in which you can work most effectively. It depends not only on the level of your education, not only on your professional skills, but also on your business qualities and ability to sell your services.

You know how to build a business - help others

The most popular and widespread type of consulting business is the activity as a business consultant. Of course, in order to become a business expert, you must have sufficient experience in this area. And, of course, this experience should be quite successful. Your business doesn't have to be big. It is quite enough if you have managed to achieve success in a small business. If it turned out to be cost-effective and resistant to market fluctuations, then this is enough for your experience to be in demand among aspiring entrepreneurs.

All you need to get started is the support and positive referrals of your peers, a computer with internet access, and office equipment. At the initial stage, it is not necessary to rent an office. You can even significantly reduce the cost of an advertising campaign if you use your personal connections and acquaintances or contact educational institutions in your city and offer them seminars for start-up entrepreneurs. Since educational institutions are seriously underfunded, they are likely to readily agree. It is only important that your experience and recommendations are credible.

You can contact local print media and offer them a range of business publications. It is only important to consider that the media avoid general recommendations. But if in your articles you tell readers about the prospects for business development in your region and reveal your little secrets, then your articles will be published with pleasure. Be sure to use numbers and facts, demonstrate your competence and awareness. This will give more weight to your words and attract more customers to you than you think.

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Everyone needs a business plan

Another popular direction in the field of consulting services is the conduct of marketing research and the development of a business plan. Many people want to open their own business, but most of them are well aware of how risky this venture is. Everyone would like to have more confidence that they will succeed in their chosen field, and you can give them the support they need if you give them the confidence that their aspirations are justified.

In addition, it is no secret to anyone that starting a business from scratch is difficult, and often simply futile. Any business requires some financial investment, so you need at least a minimum start-up capital to get started. In order to get a loan from a bank or attract the attention of serious investors, you need a competent and reasonable business plan. It is also necessary when a business needs to expand, modernize and reach a new level.

If you are a competent enough specialist in this area, not only start-up entrepreneurs, but also owners of medium-sized businesses can become your clients. An additional plus in this case will be your sociability and a wide range of communication. Try to get acquainted with accountants, lawyers, bank employees. They will serve as an excellent source of information for you and, if necessary, provide the necessary assistance.

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Presentation? It's important, it's necessary

Help in creating presentations. This is another type of consulting business. Conducting presentations is a very important part of the whole complex of marketing activities. Today in Russia, more and more entrepreneurs understand that the success of the enterprise as a whole depends on how a product, service, commercial offer, or even the image of the company itself is presented. A potential buyer and potential partner will not consider your offer made casually, by hand or on your knees. Today they pay attention to whether the material is presented professionally enough. If earlier they said that they met by clothes, but they saw off according to the mind, now they very often see off by clothes.

The competition in the market is so high that amateurism is an unheard of luxury and only billionaires can afford it. Even grandmothers in the markets selling fresh herbs are beginning to understand this. If you have a successful presentation experience, then you can offer your services to a very large number of entrepreneurs. To do this, just use the search on the Internet, select sites, products and services that are not presented in the best way. Send site owners your commercial offer. Of course, you can offer your services to local entrepreneurs as well. If you really have the right skills, then there will be no shortage of clients.

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Smart Marketing Makes Money

Independent marketing consultant - there is no need to talk much about the role of this type of activity in consulting. Today it is clear to everyone that without complex competent marketing, any business is simply dead. If you know the market and people's needs well and can prove it in practice, then your services will always be in demand and well paid. you can offer your customers a very wide range of services, which includes the development of marketing plans, and the calculation of the budget for marketing activities, and step-by-step marketing instructions. In addition, you can train salespeople, advise on advertising campaigns, conduct market research and look for new markets to sell products.

As more products are bought and sold online, you can become an independent online marketing consultant. On the Internet, there are many shops and sites created for making money. Not all of them are successful. you can find such sites on the web daily and send your commercial offers to site owners. you can offer your customers to increase traffic or create an affiliate network to sell their products, create better content. Of course, in order to engage in such activities, you need to have sufficient experience in creating and promoting your own websites and products, to understand the technical intricacies of website building.

Such services are now in great demand and highly valued in the business environment, because not every entrepreneur has the time and opportunity to deal with websites and promote them. It is much more convenient for him to turn to an independent consultant. On the other hand, your contribution to any commercial project can bring you a lot of money if you really manage to increase traffic and sales for your client.

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If you need to negotiate

Assistance in conducting business negotiations and concluding a deal. This activity also fits the definition of "consulting business". If you know business ethics, if you have extensive experience in negotiating with partners, you can offer your services to less experienced entrepreneurs. Many aspiring entrepreneurs simply do not know how to approach this issue, sometimes they cannot even arrange a meeting with the right person. Also, they are not always able to formulate their proposal in such a way that a potential partner sees a benefit in it for himself and makes a decision that is desirable for the entrepreneur.

In such a situation, a novice businessman will willingly pay for the services of a consultant if the negotiations are successful and bring him great benefits. Not every novice entrepreneur knows how to draw up a contract correctly. It's no secret that any oversight in the execution of a contract can cost a lot of money, so you can give a budding entrepreneur a security guarantee. Security is highly valued, so your services will not be neglected.

In fact, you can take over all business correspondence, communication with representatives of regulatory authorities, with lawyers, with bank employees and with business partners. It is enough for you to find just a few regular customers for yourself, and your business will acquire a quite stable position in the market. This will keep your costs to a minimum. All you need is a computer, office equipment and a phone. For solidity, you can rent an office, but this is not a necessary condition.

Hello! In this article we will talk about consulting.

Today you will learn:

1. Definition and types of consulting;
2. What are the benefits of consulting for doing business;
3. What are the stages of consulting activity.

Any business owner or company, large or not very often, needs outside consulting help. A person cannot know everything, but it also happens that a fresh look at an existing problem is required.

What is consulting in simple words

In the staff of a company, even the largest one, it is not possible to contain several experts in different fields. But if an enterprise has a goal to develop, conquer the market, sooner or later the advice of such experts will be needed. So what is consulting?

Consulting is a process of advising managers, management personnel and other employees on financial, legal, investment and other issues.

A bit of history

Domestic consulting as a professional activity began to develop in Russia in the 90s. This is directly related to the change not only in the economic system, but also in the political one. In 1991, there were only about 20 consulting companies.

With the development of market relations, the consulting services market began to experience rapid growth. These services have become more understandable to managers, more professional. Gradually, the level of competition began to rise, large players from the West came to the Russian service market, this put the consulting sphere on a qualitatively new level.

Consulting company - what is it?

Companies of this kind are engaged in providing their clients with consulting services. Most often they are external companies and are related to the companies of their clients. They provide assistance in various areas of their activities.

At the same time, they do not bear full responsibility for the result that will be obtained in the end. There is no unequivocal answer to the question of what consulting companies do.

In general, their activities are as follows:

• Providing assistance in various areas;
• Consulting services;
• Planning organizational and management activities.

Principles of work of consulting companies

In their activities, consulting companies adhere to the following principles:

• All of them use evidence-based data in their work;
• Use in their work of such tools as information technology;
• Specialists have the right to offer the customer their own scientific idea, if it helps in solving the problem that the customer has.

Types of consulting

In the modern economy, there are several varieties of consulting. We will consider and give a brief description of the most common of them.

Financial consulting

It is a set of services that are designed to build a reliable and functional financial management system. It includes: conducting an analysis and audit of the company's activities, consulting on finance and budgeting, introducing methods to strengthen the company's financial system.

Management consulting

It helps to establish which areas of the company are most vulnerable, corrects the company's activities as a whole.

It, in turn, is divided into several groups:

• Strategic – allows you to analyze the market in the global and local sense, calculate possible risks;
• Marketing- helps to develop the company's strategy, diagnose the target audience. Its main goal is to increase sales, as well as reduce advertising costs;
• personnel – advice on the selection and training of employees , creation and development of corporate culture .

In addition to all of the above, this type of consulting helps to solve the following tasks:

• Improve the work of all company management structures;
• Learn new management techniques;
• Develop a system to motivate employees;
• Optimize business processes.

Investment consulting

When company executives choose schemes for investing capital, or attracting such from outside, they mainly rely on the recommendations of professionals who can provide the necessary assistance.

Functions of investment consulting:

• Implementation of interactions with credit institutions, insurance companies and authorities;
• Assistance in the development of investment projects;
• Legal investment advice.

HR consulting

HR consulting is getting more and more popular.

Such consulting includes:

• Personnel certification;
• Personnel accounting;
• Personnel audit;
• Analysis of personnel policy;
• Document flow analysis;
• Analysis of the compliance of personnel policy with the norms of labor legislation.

Through HR consulting, you can:

• Form a certain corporate culture;
• Conduct a diagnosis of how loyal employees are to the company;
• Increase the efficiency of the entire personnel management system;
• Develop criteria for evaluating the work of personnel.

This type of consulting allows management to build work not only with the team as a whole, but also with each employee individually.

Legal consulting

In today's business environment, it is often necessary to resolve emerging legal situations. And the situation itself is difficult to call transparent, then the manager will definitely need the help of a professional. And if there is no full-time lawyer in the company, then one cannot do without the involvement of a specialist from a consulting company.

Accounting consulting

The purpose of accounting consulting is to increase not only the efficiency of accounting. accounting, but also to control its correctness. Usually such services are provided by highly qualified specialists.

Accounting consulting services consist of:

• Services for the development and formation of accounting policies;
• Consultations on the construction of the accounting system. accounting;
• Assistance in the preparation of accounting reports;
• Assistance in preparing reports to the Federal Tax Service;
• Consideration and consultations on disputable situations in accounting.

Educational consulting

The practical significance of this type of consulting is that the consultant:

• Conducts seminars;
• Organizes lectures and trainings;
• Develops teaching aids.

Simply put, consultants train the personnel of the customer's company.

Expert consulting

Its essence is as follows: the client sets a task for the consultant, and he, in turn, using his own experience and knowledge, as well as relying on various sources, issues a ready-made solution. In addition to developing a solution to a problem, an expert can also diagnose a problem.

The client does not participate in the development of a solution to the problem.

Project consulting

Project consulting is the joint work of a consultant and company employees, during which a decision is made on how to optimize the company's activities. This type of counseling is called long-term.

Internet consulting

This area of ​​consulting activity can include:

• Development of information technologies taking into account the needs of a particular company;
• Maintaining technology at a high level;
• Identification of existing problems;
• Creation of high-quality information infrastructure.

What tasks do consulting companies solve?

Consulting professionals can help in the following situations:

• When you need to adjust business process management;
• When is a business reorganization required?
• To restore the solvency of a company or enterprise;
• Support in the merger of companies;
• When advice is required on the acquisition of property;
• Budgeting;
• Development;
• When you need to prepare a financial forecast and so on.

This list of services is not complete and may be supplemented by other items.

Stages of implementation of consulting activities

Any company can be called a living, constantly evolving organism. If the body fails, then a doctor is required. But the treatment should be done by a professional, not an amateur. That is, a consulting company should be with serious practical experience.

1.The customer acknowledges the existence of a certain problem. If the customer realizes that he cannot solve the problems that have arisen in the company without the help of professionals.

Example: the head of the confectionery company set himself the task of increasing the volume of products. But a problem arose: the manager himself and the company's specialists do not have enough knowledge for this. To achieve the goal, a decision is made to invite outside experts. And this decision will be reasonable and justified.

2.Conducting initial consultations and conclusion of the contract. When a suitable company is selected, you need to consult with its specialist. Then the contract is signed.

The following items must be included in the contract:

• The period during which the work will be performed;
• A complete list of services with an indication of the cost;
• Conditions in connection with which the amount of the consultant's fee can be changed;
• Conditions for early termination of the contract;
• Responsibilities of both parties.

The contract can be concluded both once and for a long period. The contract can be concluded in the form of, and in the form of a work contract.

3. The data necessary for cooperation is being collected. The specialists of the consulting company at this stage of cooperation collect and analyze data that will help determine how serious the problem is. The main thing here is to establish what the problem is, as well as develop a plan to solve it.

4. The process of developing a solution to a problem. This stage can be called the main one. Having established the problem and its causes, specialists draw up a plan according to which the problem will be eliminated.

5. The process of implementing decisions and monitoring their implementation. All procedures specified in the plan are carried out under the supervision of consultants. Also in the process, training of company employees is possible.

6. The process of evaluating the results obtained. An objective assessment of the results can be given only after a certain period of time. The head of the company together with representatives of the executing company will sum up the results.

7. Production of final financial calculations. If all the activities were carried out on time, production indicators increased, the company's income increased - this is an indicator that the activities carried out were effective, you need to make a final settlement with the consulting company. The amount specified in the contract is transferred to the account of the executing company.

Situations where consulting is needed

• The management and employees of the company have no new ideas, the company has entered a period of stagnation;
• The leader lacks certain knowledge or experience;
• The company is developing a serious project, but cannot implement it in full due to lack of knowledge;
• The company is required to conduct an audit with the participation of independent specialists;
• The company needs the management apparatus to work more efficiently;
• Companies need to recruit a number of qualified professionals.

This list of situations cannot be called exhaustive, since in fact there may be more than a dozen of them.

How to find a serious consulting company

If your company has a number of problems that it is not possible to solve on your own, the next step is to choose the right company that specializes in providing consulting services.

There are criteria following which you can choose a company and not make a mistake:

1. Collect the maximum amount of information about the company with which you plan to enter into an agreement. Look at her official website, find out how much the company is on the market;
2. Read reviews about the work of the company in the media, on the Internet;
3. Ask if the company has a portfolio: each specialist is proud of his achievements and usually fixes them;
4. Check if there are serious businessmen in your region among the clients;
5. Focus on the cost of the company's services, too low should alert, as well as clearly overpriced.

It is best to have several companies in stock, and after a personal meeting and communication with specialists, make the final decision.

Requirements for companies and consultants

If a company or consultant has a high level of qualification and provides a wide range of services, then they must meet certain requirements, which we will discuss later.

1. The consultant must: have knowledge and skills in strategic planning, be able to analyze and predict the economic situation, be proficient in diagnosing the situation at the enterprise, be able to establish contacts with specialists of different levels;
2. The consultant (or consulting company) should not depend on the rules and unwritten laws, as well as the traditions that have developed in a particular company. The opinion of the consultant must be free and objective;
3. The consulting company should provide assistance based on its experience and current legislation;
4. A consulting company, in addition to consultations, should be engaged in gaining experience, accumulating, analyzing and processing data;
5. The activity of a consulting company should also have a learning effect for its clients.

We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the table, which presents the main features of professional consultants and those who only consider themselves to be such.

What is the difference between a professional consultant and an amateur

Pro Consultant	Amateur
Examines in advance the activities of the client's company	Does not undergo preliminary training, learns about the current situation from the client
All offers are prepared taking into account the characteristics of the company	All developed proposals are not informative, but general, almost advertising in nature.
Since the beginning of cooperation, he gives practical advice and recommendations to the client.	Emphatically obsessively talks about his achievements, puts himself an order of magnitude higher than the client
In the process of communication, shows awareness of the situation in the client's company	Talks about experience in the same industry
Asks questions, seeks the opinion of the customer	Speaks without objection
Able to listen to the client	Prefers to talk rather than listen
Answers additional questions	Additional questions are ignored
Always responds to customer objections	Does not take into account the objections of the client, prefers to communicate by e-mail rather than in person

Advantages of consulting

It should be noted that more and more often, not only those who have just joined the ranks of entrepreneurs, but also serious companies that have been on the market for a long time are turning to consulting companies for help. What are the benefits of consulting?

• Consultants have a higher level of knowledge than regular company specialists (which does not detract from the merits of conscientious employees);
• Consultants are more experienced due to communication with a large number of clients;
• Consultants have enough time to deeply and comprehensively study the problem;
• Consultants usually have an unbiased opinion, they are guided by the interests of the customer.

A clear advantage of consulting is that the company's specialists with a fresh look from the outside can identify problems that are simply invisible to the company's employees.

Consulting and coaching: differences between methods

Before figuring out the similarities and differences, let's find out what kind of animal this is - coaching.

coaching is a method of consultation in which the client and the trainer jointly look for ways to improve or solve a problem.

Skeptics may say that this technique just duplicates a number of others that are already familiar. Why invent something else if there are trainings and consulting? But it is coaching that does not repeat all previously known practices.

Coaching and consulting are not duplicative methods for one simple reason: the coach guides and advises his client to achieve the goal, and the consulting consultant is limited to making recommendations, leaving the client the opportunity to continue to act independently.

Who can consulting companies work with?

Consulting firms may partner with:

• Public and private enterprises that produce any products, provide services;
• With foreign companies operating in Russia (legally);
• With government organizations;
• with government agencies.

So, dear readers, now you know what consulting is, what its goals are and what it is for. If you take advantage of consulting conditions in a timely manner, then your business will successfully grow and develop. Your company will survive all crises and become a serious competitor for others.

* Calculations use average data for Russia

The economic activity of any enterprise should be based on an understanding of business processes, a strategy developed by managers, which includes the definition of the ultimate goals of the enterprise and methods for achieving them. But it is no secret that today entrepreneurs are people who are far from the economy, who poorly understand the features of the functioning and life of this or that business, who have only an idea, but do not know how to put it into practice.

Small business very often has great prospects for its development, it keeps a large part of the market and the existence of the entire economic system, which involves government services, all types of enterprises and end consumers. Only people who have undergone special training, who perfectly understand what the economy is and what it is based on, as well as having considerable experience working with business entities of various types and directions, can understand all the connections and features of the interaction of all elements of this complex system. Sometimes the help of such specialists is critically needed not only for start-up businessmen, but also for large enterprises that already have their own market share and understand relatively well the specifics of activities in the chosen field. Often, crisis resolution is impossible without the intervention of third-party specialists who can impartially assess all elements of the enterprise, identify its weaknesses and strengths, and give recommendations to management on optimizing and improving their business processes.

In Russia, in general, the word business and economics are very misunderstood. Despite the developing institute for training economic specialists, today entrepreneurs are engaged in people without education, who have gained a lot of experience, but do not understand the theoretical subtleties at all. Many organizations are still surviving on the methods that were developed at the end of the last century, but many more such organizations are failing because they cannot adapt to new market demands. The policy of the organization, to help it get out of a difficult situation or simply increase its effectiveness, is called upon by business consultants, who are those specialists who have been trained and gained experience. It is hardly worth expecting that someday amateurs will completely stop trying to build their own business, it is better to learn how to make money from it by offering their help to aspiring entrepreneurs. In many cases, this will support a unique idea that gives impetus to the overall development, brings something new to the life of society and supports small and medium-sized businesses that are so necessary for the effective development of the economy. This is a feature of capitalism and post-industrial society, when business and free competition, creative development and raising the standard of living of mankind occupy one of the most important parts of modern society.

Services for advising entrepreneurs on existing and possible business processes are commonly called consulting today. This word is just fashionable, in its essence it is consulting, only accompanied by help in solving absolutely all business-related issues. Consulting is not just recommendations, it is a whole range of services aimed at real improvement of the position of the consulted company. Consulting can fundamentally change the economic activity of an enterprise, and ultimately can affect the situation on the market as a whole. It is clear that only professionals who do not invent anything, but act in accordance with economic laws and personal experience, should deal with it. In this regard, opening your own consulting agency is the prerogative of people who understand the economy in general and the specifics of entrepreneurship in particular.

However, a talented economist can start his activity in advising enterprises as an additional expert, who, on an equal footing with top managers of the company, analyzes complex issues, analyzes the activities of the enterprise, finds non-standard solutions, develops and optimizes all areas of activity, acts as a freelance professional, to whom one turns for advice in a difficult situation. You should not even try to engage in consulting if you do not have knowledge and experience, or at least talent, a desire to develop and quickly learn everything new. If a layman takes up consulting, this will sooner or later become known to clients, the reputation will be hopelessly damaged, and it will be difficult and not interesting for the entrepreneur himself to engage in this type of activity.

Ready-made ideas for your business

Consulting can be general and specific, business development consulting refers to general economic development. Special cases of consulting are consulting only on separately ecology, finance, training, marketing, IT, HR, etc. Consulting differs from outsourcing in that it does not take on the duties of an entrepreneur, but looks for ways out of the situation with him. Consulting does not require the client to understand the issue, but aims to teach their own knowledge and qualified support, the consultant works together with the employees of the enterprise, often acting as an observer or even a leader. The agency offering consulting services, in this case, should conduct general consultations on the business as a whole and on its individual elements, that is, be able to resolve all issues sometimes in these cases of consulting. This is what can be called business consulting. Hence the need to maintain a large staff of employees who understand any field of activity: from accounting to operational management.

A company engaged in consulting services may carry out its activities in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation without obtaining a special educational license. It is enough to simply register as a business entity, in which case it is more preferable to register as a legal entity. In order to be able to use the simplified taxation system, it is better to choose the form of a limited liability company. However, it should be borne in mind that consulting activities fall under the definition (OKPD 2) 70.22 Consulting services in the field of enterprise management, and in accordance with this, the OKVED code is selected. However, it is possible to provide business consulting services by working alone, and not by organizing a large enterprise, and then you can simply register as an individual entrepreneur.

It can be said that for a beginner in this type of business, it is better to start by opening a small company, in which, in fact, only the entrepreneur himself works, because the newly opened enterprise does not have the trust of customers, and the businessman is faced with a very serious task of earning his reputation. To start cooperation with large organizations, you will first have to engage in consulting for individual entrepreneurs and small firms. Of course, in this case you won’t have to count on big fees, but at this time the entrepreneur earns invaluable experience, learns in practice to understand the features of running different types of business and independently faces all the difficulties that await entrepreneurs in general. A business consulting specialist is a broad-skilled specialist, who will subsequently work with diversified professionals, but the manager must be able to understand absolutely any issue in order to help even his employees in controversial moments.

After you have managed to work with a large number of enterprises and entrepreneurs, study different areas of business and face various kinds of problems, and most importantly, when you already have a reputation in the consulting services market, you can start actively promoting your offers for large and successful companies that turn to consulting, expecting to get the help and experience of specialists who understand more than full-time top managers. At this stage, the organization should already employ a considerable number of people, each of whom is engaged in his own business and advises on a narrow range of issues.

Ready-made ideas for your business

The office of the company in this case should be located in the business districts of the city, which helps to increase confidence in the consulting company. The representative office itself will employ employees who are engaged in more auxiliary activities, these are extras, analysts, financiers, marketers who study the market for products and services, identify the needs of consumers in general and find new non-standard ideas for promoting types of products. A separate category is people who develop new concepts, create new products or improve old ones (we are not talking about production directly, but about design). These are people who are engaged in more scientific activities than direct consulting. This is necessary in order to offer our clients completely new, unparalleled developments, which is also part of consulting.

In order for consulting services to be as effective as possible, a company needs to conduct a comprehensive study of the internal system of the corporation and the external one that surrounds this corporation. In other words, you need to be able to identify not only the strengths and weaknesses of the company, but also all the factors surrounding it that affect performance indicators and directly affect business processes. We are talking not only about SWOT analysis, but about obtaining the most complete data on all industries and areas of the company. This is what generalists, who are directly business consultants, do. After they have identified the problems and named the business processes that need to be optimized, specialists of a narrower profile enter the business, who are engaged in more detailed analysis and offer solutions.

Thus, consulting is inextricably linked with marketing. Conducting marketing research is critically necessary to obtain reliable knowledge about the external environment, without which consulting simply cannot be consulting. Moreover, a consulting company constantly conducts marketing research for its client, collects statistics and determines the development opportunities that the external environment gives it. After receiving this information, the financial and other capabilities of the enterprise are determined, the capabilities and resources are compared, and already on the basis of this, methods for achieving the goals set are identified. Consulting is always designed for the long term, work with the customer should ideally be open-ended, so research is carried out not only to achieve the goals stated by the customer, but also to improve the overall performance of the company as a whole.

This is followed by strategic planning of the company's business processes, painstaking and thorough development of plans, improvement of organizational structures, improvement of management systems, optimization and logistics, work with personnel. At this stage, consulting begins to resemble the work of training companies and assessment centers. The same principles are used here, training employees, evaluating their activities, certification, identifying the level of interest in achieving the company's goals (motivation), determining the organizational structure of personnel management, and, if necessary, a complete change in the company's image as an employer or a change in personnel policy. In order for this stage of consulting to be as effective as possible, the team should include not only HR specialists, but also psychologists and conflict resolution specialists.

Ready-made ideas for your business

Further fulfillment of the task already depends directly on the goals set, in connection with which various methods of achieving them can be used. Consulting is usually turned to when there is a lack of new ideas. This includes companies that are expanding the market, trying to increase the range of products or trying to attract new categories of consumers, who cannot compete with competitors who simply experience stagnation in development or even regression. Beginning companies often need someone else's experience and knowledge, a consulting company that has worked on the market for more than one year can give newcomers a lot of valuable information and significantly change their position in the market. In this case, consulting becomes more of a support, an opportunity to get valuable advice from more experienced professionals.

Often consulting acts as a company that can help the customer complete a complex project or complete a task that he has accepted from his client. In this case, it may be necessary to have competent specialists from completely different fields of knowledge, including engineers, builders, technicians, IT specialists, etc. Here, consulting is already more like a professional team of specialists in the performance of certain works, from which execution is required, and not consulting directly. In companies with a complex management system or simply imperfect, it is often necessary to attract specialists who can become a link between the company's divisions and solve administrative issues, as well as teach customer managers how to effectively manage. Finally, many large firms need to involve third-party experts who evaluate an already finished project or possible risks, based on their assessment, a decision is made by the customer's management, but the method of expert assessments may not be taken into account in further activities. Here, the consulting company provides experienced experts who come to the project once and no longer participate in it.

The pricing system in the consulting services market is rather complicated. Currently, there are several types of payment, but everything can be roughly divided into three different types, as well as a combined payment, which includes the amount of funds calculated in different ways. The simplest is a lump-sum payment, in simple terms, a fixed one. In this case, the consulting company has its own list of prices for certain types of services and offers them to its customers only at the price that was originally set, while various unforeseen factors that can significantly simplify or complicate the task of the consultant are usually not taken into account. On the other hand, this method is used where risks are minimal: training, analysis, certification, and so on. The second type of payment is similar to the lump sum, is called time-based and is calculated based on the actual time spent on the customer's task. The next type of payment is a percentage of the cost of the completed object or depending on the result obtained. In this case, the consulting company is particularly interested in the effectiveness of its activities.

It can be noted that today the cost of the services of a consulting firm in Russia is much lower than in developed capitalist countries, this is due not least to the fact that consulting by many firms is considered a non-priority item of expenditure. It is rather difficult to name average numbers, because a lot depends on the task, but in the case of a percentage payment, it rarely exceeds 5% of the project cost. Also, many firms today prefer to pay consulting firms through barter or transfer of shares in their company, and in the latter case, the consulting firm is particularly interested in good order fulfillment, because higher economic efficiency increases the value of their shares.

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Recently, many promising areas of entrepreneurial activity have appeared. Consulting services have become especially popular. If you plan everything correctly and find the target audience, such a business will bring a good income. Consulting services, what they are and why they are needed, we will understand in this article.

What is consulting?

Any, the most successful company, in the course of its activities, periodically turns to specialists for help. These services are provided by consulting firms. Their employees provide clients with professional advice, as well as practical assistance in their work. For example, a person is interested in To get an answer to this question, he turns to a consulting company for help. Specialists will collect all the documents that will be needed for registering an enterprise, as well as draw up a detailed business plan, which will become a reliable help in further work.

As a rule, such companies employ professionals who have narrow but in-depth knowledge in a particular area. They can resolve any issues related to the commercial activities of a legal entity and give all the necessary recommendations. Employees of the company are familiar with the intricacies of marketing and management work, so they can provide real assistance in the development of the enterprise.

Many aspiring entrepreneurs are wondering why the services of a consulting company are so popular? Recently, almost all areas of entrepreneurial activity began to develop rapidly. In addition, technologies are constantly changing, large companies are absorbing small enterprises, or merging with them into corporations. In this regard, the need for professional consulting services is constantly increasing. A few years ago, such specialists occasionally visited companies. Today, almost all enterprises need the provision of consulting services on an ongoing basis, so this type of commercial activity brings a good profit.

Main types of consulting

It should be noted that the sphere of consulting services is a fairly universal business, which includes several areas:

Scheme: types of consulting

• Credit consulting. Many companies that do not want to withdraw funds from circulation take loans to expand and develop the enterprise. Specialists will help you develop and implement a project that will not only cover the interest on the loan, but also make a good profit;
• Management consulting is very popular, because any business cannot exist without competent management;
• Small business consulting is one of the most promising areas of activity. Small companies that are not financially able to hire competent specialists need professional support. Therefore, they seek help from organizations that provide consulting services to businesses. Thanks to this, small companies achieve success and reach a new, higher level.

Advantages and disadvantages of external consulting

Consulting is a new line of business, so newcomers can easily take their place in the market for these services. Highly qualified consultants are required everywhere, especially in the regions. If you decide to do such a thing, you can safely start working in this direction. To organize consulting services, you do not need a large start-up capital. In addition, you do not have to buy equipment or raw materials. In order to work as a consultant, you do not need to provide special certificates or diplomas. These are the main advantages that attract beginners to this type of activity.

Business registration

Now let's figure out how to open a consulting firm. The Business Consultant must meet the following requirements:

• Age 30-35 years, because young people do not inspire confidence in customers;
• Respectable appearance;
• Work experience;
• Psychological stability.

As for the legal form of the enterprise, it is best to open an LLC. To do this, you need to develop constituent documents and pay a fee.

It will take a lot of time to organize a consulting firm. If you cannot do this on your own, seek help from specialists who, for a fee, will draw up all the necessary documents.

List of services

To achieve success in this business, it is necessary to draw up a competent business plan for a consulting company, which will help organize its work in the right perspective.

Most requested services:

1. Accounting. Any enterprise, regardless of its scale, cannot do without it. Professionals will correctly place all the accents in the documentation, which will significantly increase the profitability of the business;
2. Audit. Consultants check the financial statements and control the feasibility of costs;
3. Help in development. Experts give specific advice on how to improve the work of the enterprise;
4. Tax consultants offer clients legal ways to reduce tax payments;
5. Legal support of transactions;
6. Search for qualified employees for employment in the company;
7. Marketing researches of the market;
8. Public relations and advertising.

Before you draw up a business plan for a consulting company, you must first determine the list of services that you will offer clients and find specialists who have experience in this area.

Anyone can open a consulting company, regardless of social status or age. The most important thing is knowledge and experience in a certain area. For example, you have been involved in charity work for several years and are familiar with all the nuances of this activity. In that case, why not sell your knowledge to those people who are interested in . Useful advice and recommendations from an experienced specialist will help them quickly resolve all organizational issues and get to work.

Another example - you helped your friend start his own business in the field of education, so you know, and establish a learning process. Such knowledge is needed by people who plan to work in this area, but do not have free time to organize their own business. They are willing to pay money for someone to take over all this work for a fee.

This activity is profitable for both parties. Businessmen get the opportunity to quickly open their own business and get a positive result, and the entrepreneur will receive a certain payment for his work.

conclusions

Before you open a consulting company, carefully consider the prospects for its development and make plans for the near future. In order not to lose your business, you need to work hard and constantly look for new customers. Don't forget about staff development as well. Remember that success largely depends on how seriously and responsibly you take the matter.