Do You Need a Business Consultant if You’re a Solopreneur?

If you’re thinking that only large corporations need a business consultant, think again. You might be surprised to learn that even a one man or one woman business could significantly benefit from business consulting. The reasonable cost and return on investment will probably surprise you! Small business owners, sometimes referred to as solopreneurs, believe that they need to be able to do it all. If you run your business on your own, you’ll be wearing many hats as an entrepreneur and as a result, you’ll often be in react mode. You’ll motor through each day doing what needs to be done. But how will you plan for the future? How can you proactively plan for growth when you’re flying by the seat of your trousers? A business consultant can help you. Some entrepreneurs that like to work alone are not thrilled with the prospect of someone coming in and telling them what they’re doing wrong. But a business consultant doesn’t work like that. A skilled consultant can help in a non-obtrusive way that doesn’t take over your business --- this can enhance your business according to your own desires and long term goals. An expert adviser can do a lot for a small business owner, on the business owner’s terms. What do business consultants do? A business consultant can do various things for you, such as: • Analyse your existing business infrastructure to help you make positive changes to procedures for productivity and profitability. This can help you find more time and make more money. What could be better than that? • Marketing and advertising services. A business consultant could help you gain more exposure with your target audience and become your outsourced marketing department. • Internet marketing services. Want to take advantage of the vast online audience that could be buying from you? A skilled consultant can help you get found online so you can make more sales. Sure, large companies need consultants but small businesses can benefit form consulting services as well. Working one on one with someone who has accumulated business experience in many areas could help you in a vast way. A consultant will listen to your concerns, find out what’s important to you as an entrepreneur, and come up with a plan that can work for you and do it on your terms. How do you choose a consultancy firm? Finding the right people to help you succeed isn’t always easy. There are some red flags that should set off warning bells for you, such as: • Companies or consultants that promise “the moon” super fast. • Companies that you can’t find background information about. • Companies who don’t offer guarantees. Signs that you’ve found a solid resource include: • Testimonials • A background you can investigate yourself (online and perhaps locally) • A guarantee about satisfaction • Flexible services that suit your specific needs. While most entrepreneurs like to keep a tight rein on their business, the possibilities, when you have someone like a skilled business consultant to help you, can result in your achievement of your goals and dreams much sooner.

Business Marketing with Web 2.0

If you’re planning on using the web for business marketing, it’s a good idea to look at Web 2.0 tools for help. Whilst your website, your blog, and articles directories will all work for you to help you grow your business, web 2.0 tools can give you even more power to: • Build rapport with your customers, • Collaborate, • Develop your brand, • And improve your online presence with search engines. People use many web 2.0 tools to connect with others in terms of business and pleasure. Those connections can benefit your business in many ways. Let’s look at a few examples: Facebook People of all ages are on Facebook. You can market to those who have heard of you through groups and fan pages and you can market to those who you’re interested in appealing to through targeted contextual Facebook ads. There are great advertising opportunities as well as Facebook applications that you can use to appeal to your potential customers. Facebook looks really casual but that’s part of the appeal. Businesses can talk to their existing and potential customers in many ways, such as by talking about promotions, asking for opinions, and sharing information about new products and promotions. Twitter Twitter is a micro blog so while you can’t write a long article about something, you can deliver bite-sized updates and include links that go into more detail. The Dell company used Twitter for business marketing and was able to attribute over a million dollars in sales to that account. They built a Twitter account talking about clearance sales that were on and in a short time was able to search their web analytics software and account for over a million extra US dollars in sales directly related to that Twitter ID. Twitter allows 140 character updates but also allows you to connect with your followers. You can use tools to mine Twitter for information about what people are saying about your brand and you can answer queries as well as talk about promotional things. People can get these updates on the web, their desktop, and their mobile devices and if you’re creative with Twitter you can appeal to many people who may buy from you as a result. Social Bookmarking Social bookmarking tools can help your business be at the centre of online conversations. Submit a great story to Digg.com that gets discussed about in an online water cooler and you can drive traffic to your website as a result. Bookmark blog posts and product announcements and more people have a chance of seeing the info you want to share. Add social bookmarking buttons to your pages and your visitors may share your page with their online followers and bring you new potential customers. If you’re interested in learning more about using the Web for business marketing, I can help. Subscribe to this blog for regular updates that can be delivered to you or visit my website to learn more about my business marketing services.

London Graphic Designer

The world of a graphic designer is not all shapes and colours, I was talking to a London Graphic Designer about the importance of designs.

It is all about that first impression, something I have a real belief in and how important a logo business card, or letterhead design is for a business.
What a good graphic designer will do is create an image which sums up the business and develops a brand image. It is important to be memorable so slightly different from the norm without stepping outside of certain boundaries. The images and designs a graphic designer produces must be pleasing to the eye, memorable and functional.
A good graphic designer will know which fonts are in vogue, which fonts are easy to read and easy to print, which colours compliment and how to put all of this together to meet the business objectives.

Several times in my work with businesses I have seen some very poor examples of design. For example, I once saw a display stand which a company was intending to use at a major exhibition. Who ever had undertaken the design work couldn’t have thought how a display stand at an exhibition is seen. The colours were drab, the writing merged into a dark coloured background and was so small you had to be right up close to be able to read. A waste of an opportunity, if your prospective customers can’t tell in a glance what you are about they will just walk past.

Money is very well spent on having a professional logo, business cards and letterheads undertaken for you. These are your first impressions of what you business is about. It is your lasting investment, get this right and a lot of other ‘rights’ will follow.

If you are in the London area and looking for a London Graphic Designer, then please do have a chat with Jo at www.shishiishi.com First impressions really do count and none more so with all forms of marketing material which represent a company or organisation. If well designed and of good quality such material will present your business in a favourable and professional way and, if required, help you to build your brand image.

How Can An Offline Business Use Internet Marketing to Their Advantage?

Should bricks and mortar businesses use internet marketing techniques? Will they help you grow your business?



If you're an offline business, you might not believe that you need to do internet marketing. But if you don't, you're probably missing the boat on opportunities for growth. Even if you don't sell anything online, you can benefit from having an online presence for your customers and your prospective customers, too.

People who are your potential customers are probably searching the internet to find out where to get whatever it is that you are selling. People today use the web as their personal shopper. Even if they're looking for a taxi, a pizza shop that delivers, or a salon to get their hair done, they're looking on the Internet for phone numbers, addresses, and recommendations.

This isn't just happening with teens and young adults either. The largest demographic of shoppers for anything and everything that's for sale (products and services alike) are Mothers and the vast majority of Mums in the free world have a computer that they use as a time saver to help them.

They use computers to read product reviews, look for skilled professionals, and to read recommendations from other Mums who talk about what they buy and use. People in all demographics want to know who they're buying from as well so they like to research local companies for more information.

If you're doing internet marketing you're also going to take opportunities to communicate with your customers (and prospective customers) because you can use tools to remind people who you are and what you sell. Internet marketing techniques like newsletters, e-mail marketing, white papers, and other marketing tools can help you communicate continually with your clients and today's tools let you put that process on autopilot so that very little work needs to be done by you but with the result that you'll gain more exposure for your business and improve brand loyalty as well. If you're having a big sale, you can tell your customers. If you want to talk about a new product you're carrying, you can send out an announcement. You can create a blog for your website that lets you talk about what you sell and this can help you bring increased business to your doorstep.

Not only can you market to your existing demographic with the internet but you can also learn more about your customers through patterns and data related to your website. The internet is a phenomenal business intelligence tool.

Internet marketing is something that's not an exact science but it's something that you can definitely make headway with, especially if you get expert advice. This can come in the form of books, newsletters, blogs, and through internet marketing consultant services. An experienced internet marketing consultant can look at your business and help you create a marketing plan that suits your business model and improves your chances of growth, profitability, and success.

Managing personal and business debt

Today it seems everybody has debts, governments, banks, businesses and of course people. Many people seek advice on how to manage their debt and try to financially survive in the ‘credit crunch era’. The problem with an increase in individual debt is the increase in companies who promise to solve these problems, when all they after is the maximum amount of commission they can gain. Talking to Debt Counsellors they said there are a couple of key things to make sure of before you agree to any debt management<, debt consolidation, IVA or even bankruptcy. 1. Make sure the company you are dealing with have a consumer credit licence. 2. Ask about the Debt Management Company’s fee arrangements, some company’s charge an upfront fee which can be quite high. 3. Some will only deal with some of your debts, leaving you to deal with the others. 4. Most companies will try and deal with your circumstances from a call centre who are just interested in commission, not in you and your circumstances. By contacting Compass Debt Counsellors they will make sure you have all the relevant information and they will arrange for a sympathetic debt counsellor to visit you and talk about all the different ways which are best for you to manage your debt, whether this is personal debt or business debt. So if in you are doubt of the debt advice you are getting best to ask a second or third opinion and look for a company which has trained debt counsellors, who are able to visit you and discuss your individual >debt management needs.

What Can a Business Consultant do For Your Online Business?

A look at why investing in a business consultant for your online business could be a great investment in your future. Whether you're new in business or are well established but just want a fresh set of sage eyes on your business, a business consultant can help. Let's take a look at what this kind of expert can do for you and your success in online business. New Online Businesses As a new online company, the expertise of an experienced business consultant could make a vast amount of difference in how quick you become successful. Navigating through both the online world and the business world at the same time can be a bit overwhelming and an expert can help you make and then execute a workable business plan. By getting the right marketing and business advice instead of flying solo in an area you're not very familiar with, you'll be able to hit the ground running and ensure that you're operating at a profit quickly. An expert knows how to help you do what you need to do to get your online company set up and getting sales quickly. A lot of new companies struggle in their early days, especially if they're a small business or run by a single entrepreneur. It might seem like there just aren't enough hours in the day to do all you want and need to do. When you meet with a specialist who's experienced enough to know what works and what does not, you can trim a considerable amount of time and effort off your learning curve and be able to accomplish more --- with less. With the right help and advice, you as a new entrepreneur could : develop a marketing and advertising strategy, do competitive analysis to help you stand head and shoulders above your competition, ensure your website gets the right sorts of traffic and that you convert that traffic into customers, establish yourself as an expert in your industry, and more. Improving an Existing Online Company Businesses need to continually evolve in order for them to increase profitability. In fact, evolution is necessary if a company wants to survive and maintain position in their market as well because your competitors are trying to court your customers and divert potential prospects to their website instead of yours. A consultancy firm stays up to date on the latest business and marketing trends and could help you ensure that your business is able to to evolve and grow despite a constantly changing business landscape. Is the expense worthwhile? You could attempt to learn how to launch an online business on your own and avoid the expense of hiring a professional. But, that could result in a longer learning curve than is necessary. You could try to save a struggling business on your own as well. But learning through trial and error could be a costly mistake. The expense of hiring a skilled business consultant firm might be off-putting at first, but when you consider the potential return on investment over time, the fees could suddenly seem well worth the investment.

Business Consultants: Big Business Through the Ages

You may not be aware that today’s business consultants come from a long background of pioneers who offered their valuable services to the business community. In fact, the first consultants can give credit to some amazing, forward-thinking trailblazers from as far back as the 1880s. Take a look at this brief history outlining how business consultants and their jobs have changed over the years. 1880s Over a century ago, people were just beginning to examine business and the way it works. The book, Principles of Economics, was released – one of the first to determine that supply and demand was a major factor in success. Frederick Taylor becomes the first business consultant in the manufacturing industry using principles of Scientific Management. The Emerson Company becomes the first generalised consulting firm that resembles those of today. 1900s The early part of the century witnessed the birth of the first business schools at Harvard and New York University. Bricklaying Systems is published; it detailed the most efficient processes to lay brick and was used as the basis for later consulting methodology. Charles Dawes becomes the first government consultant. 1920s – 1930s Leading UK business consultant Lyndall Urwick publishes The Elements of Administration, which details his experiences offering management advice to factory executives. George S. May becomes famous for advocating commission-based marketing. A firm researches the effect of lighting in worker’s environments on productivity. The Great Depression keeps business consultants busy. Problem solving and clients become the focus of most consultancies. 1940s – 1950s Business and government converge as ex-military officers take over the practice of consulting. Ernest Butten starts his own consultancy firm and advocates the PA Method of Training – still a viable resource for new product development. Future giant Price Waterhouse initiates a consulting department in the rapidly growing firm. The concept of hiring top students from universities becomes an accepted business practice. 1960s For the first time, women begin to start careers as business consultants, buoyed by the success of Harvard’s business school and the new policy to admit women. Experience curve and growth-share matrix are added to the corporate lexicon and the focus becomes market strategy. The Stockholm School of Economics researches organisational behaviour. Shareholder value becomes an important part of a business plan. 1980s Corporate executives turn to the book In Search of Excellence to guide their market strategies and achieve success. Computers in the office become more common, but few executives are trained how to use them – opening the door for business consultants to step in and help. 1990s Salaries of business consultants continue to rise and many firms snap up newly-graduated MBAs. Top talent is in great demand. Price Waterhouse and Coopers merge and experience phenomenal growth in their consultancy branch through a focus on IT and implementation-oriented consulting. Today, business consultants are still in high demand. In fact, as global economies continue to falter, the need for their services is higher than ever. Thanks to those first business men and women who began to study the processes and principles that make a company successful, business consultants have helped shaped modern corporations and the world as we know it today.