How to open a consulting company, consulting activities. Business idea: how to open a consulting firm

Today, consulting is considered one of the most promising areas of business in the service provision niche. To organize his company in this market segment, an entrepreneur must have knowledge in the field of providing consultations, as well as the ability to work with modern technologies.

But even with the high profitability and profitability of such a business, no one is immune from risks, since competition in this segment is constantly high. Moreover, to implement such an idea, a lot of start-up capital will be required.

Opening process

Let us immediately note that a correct business plan must contain an analysis of the market segment for consulting services in the place where you want to open. Thanks to the fact that information about your competitors will be collected, you will be able to:

• understand what kind of experience should be gained in this business;
• avoid the collapse of the company at the initial stage and in the future;
• gather the necessary connections to develop your agency;
• understand how the company’s development process works and where it is best to look for your clients;
• determine how the agency will grow in the future in terms of the direction of service provision.

Initially, you will have to deal with many processes yourself, for example, searching for clients and filling out applications. To be successful in this type of work, it is important to constantly rely on the opinions of your clients, as well as what they require. We also note that the form of registration of your agency will play a big role; it is best to look towards LLC.

Correct organization of all processes

Your regular clients will be entrepreneurs who manage small and medium-sized businesses. To find clients, your business plan must provide market analysis information in the location where your office will be located. Only in this case the analysis should be carried out in terms of the activity of entrepreneurs in all industries. In such an analysis, it is important to address the following questions:

• economic analysis of market efficiency in a selected area or city;
• an approximate number and list of organizations that may initially be potential clients;
• distribution of entrepreneurs by industry to create an overall picture of competition in a particular market segment, which should also help in finding clients.

Please note that if your area or city is currently experiencing an economic freeze and there is no development, it will be very difficult to keep your new agency afloat. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to this question from the very beginning of planning your own business. Find out whether there is support for small and medium-sized businesses, what indicators of economic growth and other nuances are important for determining whether it is necessary to try to enter this market today or is it too early.

Location

For a consulting company, at the initial stage, a medium-sized office will be enough, since large areas will simply lead to large expenses, and this will be of little use.

Regarding the arrangement of the premises, it should have all the necessary equipment to make it convenient to work with clients. It is best to have several rooms in the office: for receiving people, for management, and so on. This will indicate the seriousness of the agency.

It is best to consider looking for offices for rent in the city center, where there is a large variety of small and medium-sized companies that may become your clients sooner or later.

Advertising agency services

As you already understand, the consulting agency has a lot of competition, because today the number of services offered is greater than the need for them.

But the right advertising campaign has been helping to cope with competition for many years. To begin with, it is important to create a website for your company. It is important to include all the necessary information for potential clients about your services. And it is better to entrust the promotion of the site itself to SEO specialists who are involved in bringing sites to the TOP 10 in search engines. The cost of such pleasure per month is approximately 10,000 rubles.

In addition to the website, it is important to use standard methods, including:

• placement of information in the media;
• excellent location of the agency itself in terms of placing a banner on the building.

Cost of entry into a niche

It is best to consider this point based on the experience of competitive small firms that operate in small cities. To register a company and make an authorized capital, you will need approximately 20,000 rubles.

Approximately the same amount will need to be spent on the production of a variety of advertising products, including signs, business cards and advertisements. Purchasing software, computers, and furniture will cost 100,000 rubles. Renting a premises will depend on many factors, but we are considering a price of 20,000 rubles for this item.

Regarding additional costs, we can include the following:

• salary for one employee is around 15,000 rubles;
• the cost of Internet and telephony is 5,000 rubles;
• taxes up to 50,000 rubles;
• various unforeseen expenses up to 10,000 rubles.

Thus, to start such a business, you must have at least 215,000 rubles at your disposal.

Agency profitability

In addition, to attract potential clients, you must constantly develop your client base, which is done through several procedures:

• provide a range of services that your competitors cannot offer;
• try to conclude agreements with those enterprises that are just trying to open or have done so recently;
• try to hire only professionals in their field to provide high quality services. This will help not only to overtake competitors, but also to spread information about your company through word of mouth thanks to your customers;
• Constantly advertising your services through various promotions, discounts and other things that can attract attention specifically to your services.

We also note that pricing also plays a big role in success. At the beginning of its journey, it is best for a consulting agency to make prices lower than those of competitors, and you can also organize different payment options:

• per hour of work;
• payment for a month of work;
• for the project (development and implementation);
• for the result, etc.

Thanks to the right approach to organizing such a business, its payback can be less than 6 months.

Consulting is a very promising type of business if you have unique knowledge, experience or technologies and are ready to provide consulting services to those who need it. Representatives of the business class have long come to the conclusion that it is impossible to know and be able to do everything in the modern economy. Therefore, in order to use the services of professionals in highly specialized industries, expert assistance from outside is necessary.

Goals and risks of the enterprise

Nowadays, consulting in the field of information technology is becoming quite popular, so we present to your attention a sample business plan for a consulting company that provides consulting services and technical assistance for organizations that use computers.

Since it is now difficult to find an enterprise that does not use computer technology in its work, the widest opportunities open up for the activities of your company.

The company's place of business is a regional center located near Moscow.

The main goal of the consulting firm is to make a profit by providing services in the field of computer technology. The company's social mission will be to participate in the activities of charitable foundations in order to thus enhance the company's reputation and contribute to the development of society. To achieve these goals, the company will use modern technologies, as well as the work of competent specialists who make up its staff. Commercial risks that impede the achievement of stated goals include limited funds used to open a company and high competition in the market.

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Selection of office and personnel

Starting a business is often associated with obtaining borrowed funds from credit institutions, but at the beginning of your company it is quite possible to do without them. What will be the costs of starting a company? Registration of your company with obtaining the status of a legal entity and registration with state funds and the tax service will cost you 20 - 25 thousand rubles. But first of all, you need office space. Office space is the face of your company. Of course, you can count on the fact that many clients will contact you using communication networks, but you shouldn’t give up traditional communication with consumers of your services directly in the office.

The best option for locating a company's office space is the business center of the city, and the size of the office should depend on the expected scale of activity. In any case, we are not talking about a cramped room, so renting this room will cost you approximately 50 thousand rubles. Considering the option of locating a company in a microdistrict remote from the center is possible only if you are confident that this will help you attract organizations located there as clients.

If the company premises have old furniture and outdated computer equipment, this will raise natural doubts about the level of the company and the competence of its employees. This means that you will have to spend money on office equipment and the purchase of necessary office supplies, which will cost around 350 - 450 thousand rubles.

Recruiting qualified personnel is the key to the success of your company. After all, it is the employees who will work with clients and provide the services in which the company specializes. For a successful start, you will need 2-3 specialists (it’s best if you know them personally), and, if necessary, additional employees in the person of a secretary, courier, cleaner, etc. This assumes that you will occupy the position of director of the company; at the first stage of the company’s activities, it is better to abandon unnecessary management personnel.

The maximum specified staffing will require monthly wage costs of about 150 thousand rubles. If you cannot afford such expenses when starting a business, then you can limit yourself to hiring temporary employees or choose other options for hiring staff.

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Advertising campaign

Due to the high competition in the market for these services, it is necessary to conduct a competent advertising campaign. Particular attention should be paid to the company’s website. It should not only contain all the necessary information about your company, but also be located quite high in the list of sites when entering the appropriate queries; ideally, it should be in the top ten of Yandex or other popular search engines. The services of organizations involved in SEO website promotion will cost you 5-6 thousand rubles per month. If the qualifications of your employees allow, then you can achieve this on your own. Considering that more and more consumers are finding the goods and services they need via the Internet, this method of advertising should become one of your priorities.

Don't forget about traditional advertising methods. Electronic media services and land-based advertising structures will be too expensive for you at the very beginning of your business activity, but print media should not be neglected. In each regional center there are newspapers with free advertisements, some of which have Internet versions. The most visual advertising material for you will be color booklets telling about the activities of your company. They can be ordered from organizations that provide printing services; the cost of these products depends on the circulation you need. In addition to booklets, you can order stationery with your company logo - they can also be used as advertising.

Be sure to use your company's location. Many organizations will be happy to use your services if your office is “around the corner.” First of all, this applies to small and medium-sized businesses, which widely use computer equipment, but do not have special departments involved in eliminating technical faults.

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What services will your company provide? Firstly, technical assistance and consulting support in case of emergency situations with computer equipment - from equipment malfunctions to protection against DDoS attacks, it all depends on the qualifications of your employees and the capabilities of the company. Secondly, constant maintenance of your clients’ computer systems, and, if necessary, updating hardware and software, network administration. Thirdly, consulting services for the purchase of equipment, installation of software, restoration of computer equipment after serious failures. Fourthly, it is necessary to set goals for expanding the scope of services provided and starting work in such a market segment as the implementation of corporate projects to automate the activities of enterprises.

Thus, we smoothly move on to market research. Before starting a company, you must clearly understand what kind of competition you will have to withstand and what business strategy is best to choose. A special feature of the IT services market is that it has a huge number of large companies, small firms and individual entrepreneurs occupying their specific niches. The competitive advantage of your company should be the competent use of the website and other advertising opportunities, the use of the company’s location, a loyal attitude towards clients and an individual approach to solving their problems, as well as the high professionalism of the employees, which will be manifested in satisfying all the requests of consumers of your services. But all this is not enough; you need to choose the market segment in which you will specialize.

The main target market of your company will be small and partly medium-sized businesses. Your business plan should reflect the dynamics of the main indicators of this market segment. you need to know the growth rate of entrepreneurial activity in your city or region, how many organizations that could potentially become your clients are located in the immediate coverage area of ​​your company. You will need information about the structure of the economy of the regional center in which your company is located, about what percentage are small businesses among all economic entities.

If the economy of the regional center is stagnating, programs to support small and medium-sized businesses are being curtailed or maintained at a minimum level, and the growth of business activity has slowed down or even become negative, then it will be very difficult for you to find your niche in this market. If local authorities support the development of small businesses, business incubators are active, and the size of your target market is experiencing rapid growth, then you will easily find your clients.

Owning your own consulting agency is an opportunity. Many have heard about this business, but not everyone understands its essence. But this is quite a promising and profitable business. What are consulting services? Let’s try to figure it out in this article.

Business Features

Any, even the most popular and productive company, periodically has to turn to professionals for help, that is, to real highly qualified specialists. Experienced employees of consulting companies provide clients with consulting services on a paid basis that help the client optimize his business.

First of all, they analyze the problem, after which they draw certain conclusions. Based on the data obtained, professionals draw up an action plan that will allow them to cope with a difficult situation. The services of a consulting company are quite in demand nowadays, so such a business can safely be called profitable and promising.

Advantages of consulting as a business

• Small initial investment. To get your first profit from this type of activity, it is enough to have a telephone and a computer with Internet access.
• You can work in this business without special education. To get started, you just need to learn how to write commercial proposals and conduct marketing analysis;
• , you can grow professionally. Not every hired job provides such an opportunity;

A consulting business will allow you to create an image of a successful person. Even if you someday change your direction of activity, you will still remain a professional in the eyes of your clients.

Flaws:

A consulting company can provide various services. Among them, the most promising and in-demand areas should be highlighted:

Credit consulting

It is difficult to find a company that, throughout its entire history, has never... Even economically stable companies sometimes need such financial injections. To expand your business, you need to have the funds to do so. It is unprofitable to withdraw them from circulation, so many companies turn to competent consultants in the field of lending;

Management consulting

Any business cannot develop and make a profit without competent management. Providing consulting services in this area allows us to solve many problems;

Small business consulting

Small companies that have limited financial resources often turn to competent specialists for help. It is too expensive to keep experienced consultants on staff, so consulting services for a business that is at the development stage are usually provided by third-party specialists. Thanks to their work, the company’s profit begins to grow, so the work of professionals quickly pays off;

In general, the field of consulting services includes many different areas.

Registration

Before opening a consulting firm, you need to collect an authorized capital of 100 minimum wages. This is a mandatory condition, without which you will not be able to start working. In addition, you will need a bank account.

After this, the company should be registered in the Single Center and a general director should be appointed. It is also important to choose a unique name for the newly created enterprise. You can check his individuality in a special registry.

You will receive confirmation of registration within 10 days. After this, you can rent a legal address. This will cost 6-6.5 thousand rubles per year.

To register a company, you need to collect the following documents

• Memorandum of association;
• Company Charter;
• Applicant's signature (certified by a notary);
• Receipt for payment of state duty (2.1-2.5 thousand rubles);
• Statement.

If you turn to specialists for help, setting up a consulting firm will not take much of your time.

Location and office

To organize consulting services you do not need a large office space. Renting an expensive office is a waste of money.

The premises must be equipped with a separate room in which company employees will work with clients. In addition, you will need a place to store information and documents. Another room should be equipped as the manager’s office. The presence of such premises will indicate the seriousness and solidity of your company.

It is advisable to rent an office in the city center in some modern business center, where many large companies are concentrated.

Equipment

To work in the field of consulting, you do not have to buy special equipment. It is enough to purchase furniture, computers and office equipment.

Since you will be working with clients in the office, this important point should not be overlooked. If you don't have the money to buy stylish furniture, you can rent it. It will cost you much less. But you will have to allocate your own funds to purchase computers.

Staff

The selection of employees for an agency must be taken seriously and responsibly. You can promote this business in different ways, but the most effective of them is competent, qualified personnel who have experience in this area.

You can recruit employees through advertisements in the media. But for this you will have to spend a lot of time. Many aspiring entrepreneurs turn to special agencies for help. They take small commissions for their work, but at the same time show fairly high-quality results.

At the formation stage, you should not promise employees a high salary. This could cause you to go bankrupt a few months after opening your business. Over time, if things go well, the salary can be added.

Business promotion and level of competition

Do not forget to constantly promote the resource so that it is in the TOP 10 search queries. You can also use the advantageous location of the office and advertising in the media.

Business profitability

For a business to be successful, you need to develop a large customer base.

There are several ways to do this:

• Agreements with start-up companies;
• High competence;
• Providing additional services that competitors do not offer;
• Development of a specific market segment;
• If you hire qualified employees and properly build an advertising campaign, the initial investment will pay off in 3-4 months. The profitability of such a business is quite high.

Consulting business Consulting business

Financial investments

Before opening a consulting company, you need to correctly calculate all expenses:

• Authorized capital and registration – 15 thousand rubles;
• Website development and promotion – 30 thousand rubles and more;
• Logo, business cards, printing – from 10 thousand rubles;
• Office furniture and computers – from 3 thousand dollars;

• Rent of premises and utility bills - from 20 thousand rubles and more, depending on the location;
• Telephone and Internet – 5 thousand rubles.

To open a small company you will have to spend 6–7 thousand dollars. Also, do not forget about employee salaries, they are not included in this amount.

Consulting occupies a leading position in the market for providing business services.

For entrepreneurs who are interested in how to open a consulting firm from scratch, and how profitable this field of activity is, a detailed business plan with profitability calculations is drawn up.

What is consulting?

Consulting is the provision of consulting services to firms, enterprises, and individuals on business development issues. The consulting agency employs specialists in analysis, finance, marketing, management, personnel, and IT technologies.

An organization can hire a permanent consultant on issues of interest. Then it will be internal consulting.

External consulting is the conclusion of a service agreement with a consulting firm. The most popular consulting services:

1. Business process analysis and productivity assessment.
2. Suggestions for improvement.
3. Personnel training and selection.
4. Activity audit.
5. Advice on lending.
6. Development of tactics and strategy.
7. Assessment of business risks.
8. Registration, certification, licensing.

Advice on organizing and running business activities is required by representatives of both small and large businesses. Therefore, the consumer audience of consulting agencies is huge:

• trading enterprises;
• light industry;
• heavy industry;
• building sector;
• financial sector;
• energy;
• mining and processing enterprises;
• telecommunications sector.

There are main types of consulting:

1. Financial.
2. Managerial.
3. For tax issues.
4. In the field of design work and medicine.

The work of the agency is usually organized on the principle of sending specialists to the enterprise with which the contract has been concluded. Consultants collect information, delve into the business processes of a particular organization, in order to then draw conclusions and provide recommendations for increasing productivity and profitability.

Business plan

Before opening a consulting firm, you need to draw up detailed instructions for launching a project, calculate the amount of starting investments, plan expenses and income.

• business registration;
• office location;
• equipment;
• staff;
• advertising;
• financial calculations.

One of the areas of consulting activity is assistance in starting a business for aspiring entrepreneurs, which includes developing a business plan and assistance in its implementation.

Download for free as a sample.

Registration

Experts recommend opening a consulting company in the form of an LLC. A legal entity inspires more confidence in clients than an individual entrepreneur, and reputation is the basis for successful business in the consulting business. Another argument in favor of LLCs is that the legislation for individual entrepreneurs provides for restrictions on the number of employees, taxation and types of activities.

It is more difficult to register an organization than an individual; you need to collect a package of documents:

1. Charter
2. Memorandum of association.
3. Establishment decision or protocol.
4. Confirmation of payment of the state registration fee.
5. Certificate of legal address.
6. Statement.

The charter documents contain the name of the company; its choice must be approached with all responsibility - it is not as easy as it seems. Firstly, given the huge number of already operating enterprises, it is difficult to choose a unique name. Secondly, the name should correspond to the direction of the agency’s activities, not be too long and easy to remember.

Legal entities operate using non-cash payments, so you need to open a current account in a reputable bank with more than five years of existence, which will also have a positive effect on your reputation.

To start a consulting business, no special permits or licenses are required. You need to register with the tax office and choose the optimal tax system.

Room

You can open a consulting firm without office space. In conditions of shortage of funds, the optimal solution would be to organize work over the telephone and at the customer’s premises.

If you immediately put your business at a high level, then a spacious office in the business district of the city will give additional weight to the company in the eyes of wealthy clients. When concluding an agreement with the landlord, it is necessary to stipulate the possibility of redevelopment of the premises. Each employee will need to be allocated a separate office, as well as organize a large room for meetings and receiving visitors.

A reputable company will always offer its customers drinks and snacks, so it is necessary to provide an area for storing kitchen utensils and making tea.

The premises in an office center are most likely already prepared for work and equipped with electricity, heat supply, water supply and sewerage. It is enough to make cosmetic repairs in a strict business style, bring in furniture and equipment.

Equipment

The main criteria for choosing office furniture are practicality and comfort. Since work in a consulting agency is mostly sedentary, it is better to take care of clients and employees and purchase comfortable chairs and armchairs.

The list of necessary furniture, equipment and materials includes:

• computer tables;
• large table in the common room;
• cabinets and racks for documentation;
• computers;
• office equipment;
• means of communication;
• blinds;
• lighting;
• Electric kettle;
• microwave;
• stationery.

In consulting, the client and the customer often correspond by email, so it is necessary to ensure constant access to the Internet.

Employees

Consulting as a form of business is entirely based on the professionalism of its employees. The income of the company and the success of the entire project depend on the qualifications, experience, knowledge, and communication skills of the staff.

You can open a small agency with 2-3 generalists. This will be cheaper than hiring an employee for each consulting area.

To provide consulting services on a wide variety of business issues, the consulting firm must have experts in:

1. Financing.
2. Lending.
3. Accounting, tax, production and management accounting.
4. Property valuation.
5. Business activity analysis.
6. Enterprise management.
7. Legal issues.
8. Recruitment and training of personnel.
9. Marketing.

To confirm qualifications, the applicant must have diplomas, certificates, recommendations, and evidence of work experience in the consulting field.

At the initial stage, the founders of a consulting firm can invest in highly paid specialists or hire employees through a recruitment agency, where the rates will be at the industry average.

It is almost impossible to open a consulting company and attract clients without advertising. In order for potential customers to decide to contact the agency, you need to post information about the services provided on the Internet, business magazines, catalogs, and on the streets.

The Internet is the best place to find clients. You need to create a website, fill it with quality content, and pay for promotion to the top lines of search engines. You can use social networks and banner advertising.

At first, the cost of promoting a business amounts to 50-70 thousand rubles a month, which pays off in the first half of the year.

Video: how to open a consulting company?

Economic calculations

To draw conclusions about the profitability of the consulting business, a calculation of initial costs, planned income and expenses is drawn up. As an example, we take a mid-market company with an office in a business center.

Starting investments:

Monthly expenses:

With the development of the company and an increase in the volume of orders, expenses will increase due to costs for staff development, bonus payments and other motivational activities.

The agency’s income in the first months of its existence depends on the advertising campaign and employees, who have their own expertise and client base. New customers are easy to find among novice entrepreneurs. Pricing policy is developed based on the average cost of services in a given market sector. Clients are offered several types of payment:

• hourly;
• fixed;
• Each service is priced separately.

Constant cooperation will become more attractive to clients if discounts are provided depending on the volume and time of work.

The average profitability of a consulting business is 25%, the payback period is 1 year. To do this, the agency must receive 220,000 rubles per month. income.

Consulting is a low-cost business based on the intelligence and professionalism of consultants. The more clients contact the agency, the higher the income and profitability of the enterprise.

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