Consultancies are based on giving advice and helping others to make the most from their business. There are many considerations that you should think about when you are initially setting up your consultancy business, from how to gather loyal customers to know how to market your business. However, once your business has settled, you may now be looking at the best ways to grow your consultancy.
If this is the case, read on to discover the most efficient ways to grow your consultancy and expand outside your local community.
Step 1: Get the Right Qualifications
Getting the right qualifications to assist your consultancy business can be beneficial to both you and your customers. As a consultant’s job is focused on using an individual’s personal skills and knowledge to advise another business, qualifications can help you to gain the right knowledge that you need. Additionally, many courses allow you to garner real-world experience to give you direct insight into different sectors and roles. Qualifications can also help you in the business management side of your business. For instance, taking a data sciences masters will help to improve your knowledge of analysis techniques and the data behind marketing campaigns. James Cook University offers year-long courses in data science which can help to provide you with the relevant knowledge of business from an expert perspective.
Step 2: Market Your Company Efficiently
To enable you to grow your consultancy business, you should also take pains to continue to market your company efficiently past its first year. This is especially important for consultancies as they are normally run between one or two individuals that need to reply on self-promotion to succeed.
Popular ways to market your consultancy business are to utilize social media such as LinkedIn and Facebook to connect with potential customers and other businesses. LinkedIn and other business networking sites are often the best options for consultancies as they will link you with individuals who are more likely to be looking for advice and expertise in specialist areas. It is also important not to diminish the importance of physical marketing, just as creating business cards and leaflets which can establish and provide information on your personal brand.
Step 3: Outsource Your Work
As consultancies are independent firms that rely on the expertise of a few employees, you should consider out-sourcing work. You should outsource work that you are not able to fit into your busy schedule. You should also consider outsourcing work that is less important or that you would feel comfortable not having direct control over. This can include financial aspects of your business and even your marketing campaigns, such as producing content online and designing your website. By outsourcing your work, you can focus on the important aspects of your business such as finding and securing clientele. Additionally, you can ensure that you are supported by a team of specialized experts which can help to influence your decisions on aspects which you are less knowledgeable about.
Step 4: Make Your Company Digital
With some studies showing that Canadians spend the most time online a day, it is vital that your company turns to digital methods to help you to market your business and source customers. For instance, you should create a professional and vibrant website that can help to promote your business. Your website should include all of the basic information about your company, along with the benefits that you can provide for your customers.
Another way to allow your company to have an extensive online presence is through social media. You could use social media platforms for promotional purposes such as running sponsored competitions and creating easily shareable content. Easy shares will allow more people to see your business and send more traffic to your website.
However, the internet does not only have the potential for marketing. By utilizing the benefits of the internet, you can help your company to run more smoothly. For instance, you should consider transferring all your files and data to computer systems such as the cloud. These will help your data to be easily accessible from anywhere and allow our employees to access this on multiple platforms. Additionally, as the manager of your own business, you should utilize the internet for its excellent communication platforms such as Skype. These can make you instantly available during an emergency or even if you are off sick.
Step 5: Network Constantly
However, you should not dismiss physical events that could help you to gain custom and connections. Networking events are excellent for consultancies as they allow you to gather knowledge of other businesses and help to promote your personal brand. They also allow you to correspond with other businesses who may be looking for advice and help to grow.
You should always remember to take business cards to networking events as these will allow other businesses to remember you when they need your services. Not only this, but networking is also an easy way to gather referrals. Referrals are important as they help you to establish your business as trustworthy and knowledgeable both in real-life and online, and can provide backlinks and reviews for your website.
Step 6: Find Your Unique Selling Point
You should also be able to consider your business’s unique selling point and rely on this to advertise your services. Your unique selling point will normally be your key skills or the type of services that you provide to your customers. For instance, if you are particularly skilled in a certain area or believe that you have an approach that no other consultancy agency has, then you should market this. This will be able to show customers why they should invest in your services rather than another company.
Step 7: Showcase Your Knowledge
The biggest selling point of any consultancy is the knowledge that they have. This is because businesses looking for consultancy agencies are doing so because they would like professional advice on how to improve their business from experts. However, this knowledge can be difficult to prove until a business shows interest in your consultancy.
To showcase your knowledge to potential customers, you should attempt to create a business blog that you can update regularly. Centered around your knowledge and specialist area, you can include examples or your knowledge and prove yourself as an expert. Furthermore, updating this regularly will improve your ranking on search engines by allowing Google to see that you are a reliable and valuable company.
