components of a consulting business plan

How To Write A Consulting Business Plan

Creating a business plan is essential for any business, but it can be especially helpful for consultants who want to establish their credibility and get ahead in the industry.

A well-crafted business plan not only outlines your vision for the company but also provides a step-by-step process of how you are going to accomplish it. In order to create an effective business plan, you must first understand the components that are essential to its success.

This article will provide an overview of the key elements that every consultant should include in their business plan.

Download the Ultimate Consulting Business Plan Template

What is a Consulting Business Plan?

A consulting business plan is a formal written document that describes your company’s business strategy and its feasibility. It documents the reasons why you will be profitable, how you can succeed in your market, what will set your product or service apart from others, and includes information about your team members, if applicable, to convince investors and lenders (if needed) that you have what it takes to make your venture successful.

Why Write a Consulting Business Plan?

A consulting business plan is required for banks and loan companies, and it is often requested by investors. This document is a clear and concise guide of your business idea and the steps you will take to make it profitable.

Entrepreneurs can also use this as a roadmap when starting their new company or venture, especially if they are inexperienced in starting a business.

Writing an Effective Consulting Business Plan

The following are the key components of a successful consulting business plan:

Executive Summary

The executive summary of a consulting business plan is a one to two page overview of your entire business plan. It should summarize the main points, which will be presented in full in the rest of your business plan.

• Start with a one-line description of your consulting firm
• Provide a short summary of the key points of each section of your business plan.
• Organize your thoughts in a logical sequence that is easy for the reader to follow.
• Include information about your company’s management team, industry analysis, competitive analysis, and financial forecast.

Company Description

This section should include a brief history of your company. Include a short description of how it all started, and provide a timeline of milestones the company has achieved.

If you are just starting your consulting business, you may not have a long company history. Instead, you can include information about your professional experience in this industry and how and why you conceived your new venture. If you have worked for a similar company before or have been involved in an entrepreneurial venture before starting your consulting firm, mention this.

Industry Analysis

The industry or market analysis is an important component of a consulting business plan. Conduct thorough market research to determine industry trends, identify your potential customers, and the potential size of this market. 

Questions to answer include:

• What part of the consulting industry are you targeting?
• Who are your competitors?
• How big is the market?
• What trends are happening in the industry right now?

You should also include information about your research methodology and sources of information, including company reports and expert opinions.

Customer Analysis

This section should include a list of your target audience(s) with demographic and psychographic profiles (e.g., age, gender, income level, profession, job titles, interests). You will need to provide a profile of each customer segment separately, including their needs and wants.

You can include information about how your customers make the decision to buy from you as well as what keeps them buying from you.

Develop a strategy for targeting those customers who are most likely to buy from you, as well as those that might be influenced to buy your products or consulting services with the right marketing.

Competitive Analysis

The competitive analysis helps you  determine how your product or service will be different from competitors, and what you are using as your unique selling proposition (USP) that will set you apart in this industry.

Complete a SWOT Analysis. Your SWOT analysis should include:

• Strengths : what are your strengths?
• Weaknesses : what are your weaknesses?
• Opportunities : how can you take advantage of competitive weaknesses and strike back at them with your strengths and possible new product or service offerings?
• Threats : what are the potential threats to your company? How can you prepare for them? What can you do to mitigate potential risks?

You will then use this information to develop your own competitive strategy. Determine your competitive advantage and how you will differentiate your business from these competitors.

Marketing Plan

Your consulting marketing plan is where you determine how you are going to reach your target customer(s). Your marketing strategy should be clearly laid out, including the following 4 Ps.

• Product/Service : Make sure your service offering is clearly defined and differentiated from your competitors, including the benefits of using your service.
• Price : How do you determine the price for your service? You should also include a price strategy that takes into account what customers will be willing to pay and how much the competition within your market charges.
• Place : Where will your customers find you? What channels of distribution will you use to reach them?
• Promotion : How will you reach your target market? You can use social media or write a blog, create an email marketing campaign, post flyers, pay for advertising, launch a direct mail campaign, etc.

You should also include information about your paid advertising budget, including an estimate of expenses and sales projections.

Operations Plan

The operations plan should include the following information:

• How will you deliver your service to customers? For example, will you do it in person or over the phone only?
• What infrastructure, equipment, and resources are needed to operate successfully? How can you meet those requirements within budget constraints?

The operations plan is where you also need to include your company’s business policies. You will want to establish policies related to everything from customer service to pricing, to the overall brand image you are trying to present.

Management Team

Include a list of team members including names and titles, as well as their expertise and experience relevant to your specific consulting industry. Include brief biography sketches for each team member.

Financial Plan

Now include a complete and detailed financial plan. This is where you will need to break down your expenses and revenue projections for the first 5 years of operation. This includes the following financial statements:

Income Statement

Your income statement should include:

• Revenue : how will you generate revenue?
• Cost of Goods Sold : These are your direct costs associated with generating revenue. This includes labor costs, as well as the cost of any equipment and supplies used to deliver the service offering.
• Net Income (or loss) : once expenses and revenue are totaled and deducted from each other, what is the net income or loss? 

Sample Income Statement for a Startup Consulting Firm

Balance Sheet

Include a balance sheet that shows what you have in terms of assets, liabilities, and equity. Your balance sheet should include:

• Assets : All of the things you own (including cash).
• Liabilities : This is what you owe against your company’s assets, such as accounts payable or loans.
• Equity : The worth of your business after all liabilities and assets are totaled and deducted from each other.

Sample Balance Sheet for a Startup Consulting Firm

Cash Flow Statement

Include a cash flow statement showing how much cash comes in, how much cash goes out and a net cash flow for each year. The cash flow statement should include:

• Income : all of the revenue coming in from clients.
• Expenses : all of your monthly bills and expenses. Include operating, marketing and capital expenditures.
• Net Cash Flow : the difference between income and expenses for each month after they are totaled and deducted from each other. This number is the net cash flow for each month.

Using your total income and expenses, you can project an annual cash flow statement. Below is a sample of a projected cash flow statement for a startup consulting business.

Sample Cash Flow Statement for a Startup Consulting Firm

You will also want to include an appendix section which may include:

• Your complete financial projections
• A complete list of your company’s business policies and procedures related to the rest of the business plan (marketing, operations, etc.)
• A list of your hard assets and equipment with purchase dates, prices paid and any other relevant information
• A list of your soft assets with purchase dates, prices paid and any other relevant information
• Biographies of the key employees listed in the executive summary section above.
• References to people you have done business with who are willing to confirm their positive business holdings with your company.

Writing a good business plan gives you the advantage of being fully prepared to launch and grow your consulting company. It not only outlines your business vision but also provides a step by step process of how you are going to accomplish it. Sometimes it may be difficult to get started, but once you get the hang of it, writing a business plan becomes easier and will give you a sense of direction and clarity about your consulting company.  

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BUSINESS STRATEGIES

How to create a consultant business plan

• Nirit Braun
• Oct 30, 2023
• 13 min read

When launching your consulting business, one of the essential first steps is crafting a well-structured and detailed business plan. Your consulting business plan is like a strategic playbook that lays out your goals, tactics and financial projections. It not only steers you toward success but also equips you to adapt and thrive in the dynamic world of consulting.

Keep reading for tips on how to build a strong business plan for your business. Use the template provided at the end to get started on your own plan.

Looking to kick off your consultancy business? Create a business website today with Wix.

Why create a consultant business plan? Top benefits to consider

A business plan forces entrepreneurs to thoroughly evaluate their business idea, target audience and competitive landscape. This process clarifies their vision and mission, ensuring that they have a clear understanding of how their consultancy will provide value to clients. A business plan helps you in the following ways:

Create a business blueprint : With a business plan in place, entrepreneurs looking to start a business can make informed decisions based on a solid foundation of research and analysis. They can choose the most effective strategies for marketing, pricing and service delivery, enhancing their chances of success. Your business plan can also be used to explain what type of business you'll start - whether that's an LLC, Corporation or something else. Learn more about how to start an LLC .

Secure funding : The cost to start a consultancy business can range from around $60 to several thousand dollars . For those seeking external funding, a well-developed business plan demonstrates credibility and professionalism. Investors and lenders are more likely to support a venture with a thought-out plan that showcases its potential for growth and profitability.

Set measurable goals : A business plan sets measurable goals and performance metrics, which is vital with this type of business . This allows entrepreneurs to track their progress, adapt strategies as needed and celebrate milestones along the way.

Want to remind yourself of the basics? Learn more about how to start a service business .

How to create a successful consultant business plan in 6 steps

In this section, we'll break down the key components involved in crafting a successful consultant business plan in six steps.

Executive summary

Business and domain names

Market analysis and research

Operations plan

Marketing and advertising plan

Financial plan

01. Executive summary

An executive summary serves as a concise overview of the consultant's business plan, providing a snapshot of the key components and the business' essence. It's usually the first section investors, lenders and stakeholders read, so it must encapsulate the business' value proposition, objectives, strategies and projected growth. To write a clear executive summary for a consultant business make sure to keep it succinct yet informative. Clearly state the purpose of the business, the services offered, the target market and the unique value proposition. Avoid technical jargon that may confuse readers.

Then you can mention the business' strengths, such as the expertise of the consultants, unique methodologies or specialized services. Emphasize factors that set your consultancy apart from competitors.

Briefly discuss the market need for your services and how your consultancy plans to fulfill it. It’s worth noting that strategy and management consulting, as well as technology consulting, financial consulting and HR consulting are in high demand . Highlight any trends or changes in the industry that your business can capitalize on.

Remember to include a snapshot of your financial projections, indicating expected revenue, costs and profitability. This provides a glimpse into the business' potential financial success.

Example of an executive summary for a consultant business

"XYZ Consulting is a boutique consultancy firm specializing in digital transformation for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). With a team of seasoned professionals, we offer tailored solutions to help businesses harness the power of technology for growth. Our unique approach blends strategic consulting with hands-on implementation, ensuring tangible results. In a rapidly evolving tech landscape, XYZ Consulting is poised to be the partner SMEs need to thrive. Our financial projections forecast a steady growth trajectory, with a focus on achieving profitability within the first two years. With a proven track record and a finger on the pulse of industry trends, XYZ Consulting is well-equipped to guide businesses toward digital success."

02. Business and domain names

Knowing how to name a business is crucial for a consultancy venture and a key step before you register your business . It's the foundation of your brand and influences how clients perceive your services. With Wix , you can use a free business name generator or consulting company name generator as helpful tools for brainstorming unique and memorable names. Ensure the name reflects your expertise and the services you offer.

Similarly, the domain name for your business website is vital. It should be easy to remember, relevant to your services and ideally, match your company name. Check the domain's availability using domain registration platforms. Ensure the domain name aligns with your consultancy's focus and services. Generally, this means keeping it short and easy to spell and pronounce.

Learn more: How to make a consulting website

03. Market analysis and research

Incorporating a thorough market analysis within your consultant business plan is essential. Understand the competitive landscape, target audience and market trends. Research your competitors' strengths and weaknesses, pricing strategies and client base. This information will shape your business strategies and help you identify gaps in the market that your consultancy can fill.

04. Operations plan

The operations plan outlines the logistical aspects of your consultancy. It covers location, premises, equipment and staffing requirements. Determine whether your consultancy will be home-based, have a physical office or operate virtually. Define the equipment and software needed to deliver services effectively. Outline your staffing needs, including the roles and expertise required.

05. Marketing and advertising plan

Your marketing and advertising plan outlines how you will promote your consultant business. Identify the most effective strategies to reach your target audience. Consider content marketing, social media campaigns, networking events and speaking engagements to showcase your expertise. Emphasize how your marketing efforts will build brand awareness and attract clients.

You’ll need to develop a suite of brand assets to use in your marketing as well, starting with a company logo. You can use a free logo maker to get a professional logo in minutes.

06. Financial plan

The financial plan is a critical component of any business plan. It outlines how you will raise money for your business initially and provides a timeline for reaching profitability. Detail your startup costs, including equipment, marketing expenses and personnel. Present your revenue projections, taking into account different pricing models and growth scenarios. Highlight your break-even point and the strategies you'll employ to achieve profitability.

By addressing each part of their plan, entrepreneurs can create a robust business plan that guides them toward achieving their business goals and building a reputable consulting brand.

Consultant business plan examples

These templates illustrate two hypothetical consultant business plans, each tailored to a specific niche. These are just templates and should be adapted to your specific business goals and industry dynamics.

Consultant business plan template 1: XYZ Digital Consultants

XYZ Digital Consultants is a pioneering consultancy firm focused on digital transformation for businesses seeking to thrive in the digital age. Our team of experienced professionals offers strategic guidance and hands-on implementation to drive growth through technology adoption. With projected profitability within two years and a commitment to excellence, XYZ Digital Consultants is poised to lead businesses into a successful digital future.

Company and domain name

Company name: XYZ Digital Consultants

Domain name: xyzdigitalconsultants.com

Market opportunity: The rapid shift toward digital operations has created a substantial demand for expert guidance. Our analysis reveals a gap in the market for holistic digital transformation solutions tailored to the needs of SMEs.

Competitor research: We've identified key competitors and their strengths, which informs our strategy to emphasize personalized service and comprehensive implementation.

Location: Primarily virtual, with occasional in-person consultations as needed.

Premises: Home-based setup with access to modern communication tools.

Equipment: High-speed internet, latest software tools and virtual meeting platforms.

Staffing: Founder and lead consultant, supported by contract specialists as projects demand.

Content marketing: Regular blog posts on digital transformation trends, case studies and client success stories.

Social media campaigns: Active presence on LinkedIn and X to engage with potential clients and share valuable insights.

Networking events: Participation in industry webinars, seminars and local business events to showcase expertise.

Speaking engagements: Leveraging speaking opportunities at conferences and workshops to establish authority in the field.

Startup costs (equipment, website development, marketing materials): $15,000

Revenue projections (year one): $150,000

Revenue projections (year two) : $300,000

Break-even point: Achieved by the end of year one

Funding: Initial investment and savings from the founder

Consultant business plan template 2: LeadersEdge Consultants

LeadersEdge Consultants is a dynamic consultancy dedicated to leadership development and organizational excellence. Our experienced team offers customized programs that empower leaders to drive positive change. With a projected growth trajectory and a commitment to fostering impactful leadership, LeadersEdge Consultants is poised to transform organizations and elevate their success.

Company name: LeadersEdge Consultants

Domain name: leadersedgeconsultants.com

Market opportunity: Our analysis reveals a growing need for leadership development programs in diverse industries.

Competitor research: We've identified competitors' offerings and recognized an opportunity to provide a unique blend of coaching, training and strategy implementation.

Location: Virtual consultations, with the option for on-site workshops

Premises: Virtual office setup with video conferencing capabilities

Equipment: High-quality audiovisual tools, assessment software and learning platforms

Staffing : Founder will serve as the lead consultant, supported by certified leadership coaches

Customized workshops: Designing tailored leadership development programs for individual organizations.

Webinars: Hosting webinars on leadership best practices to showcase expertise and engage potential clients.

Thought leadership content: Publishing whitepapers, eBooks and video content on leadership topics.

Collaborations: Partnering with HR and talent development professionals to expand reach.

Startup costs ( making a website , training materials) : $10,000

Revenue projections (year one): $120,000

Revenue projections (year two): $250,000

Break-even point: Achieved within the first six months

Funding: Initial investment from the founder.

How much should you be charging as a consultant?

The amount you charge as a consultant will depend on a number of factors, including:

Your experience and expertise

The type of consulting services you offer

The value you provide to your clients

The market rate for consulting services in your field

In general, consultants charge between $100 and $500 per hour. However, some experienced and highly specialized consultants can charge upwards of $1,000 per hour.

To determine your consulting rate, you can use the following formula:

Consulting rate = Hourly rate * Value multiplier

Your hourly rate should reflect your experience and expertise, as well as the type of consulting services you offer. For example, if you have 10 years of experience and you offer specialized consulting services, you can charge a higher hourly rate than a consultant with less experience and who offers more general consulting services.

Your value multiplier should reflect the value you provide to your clients. For example, if you can help your clients to achieve significant results, you can charge a higher value multiplier.

Here is an example of how to use the formula:

Consultant: Experienced consultant with 10 years of experience offering specialized consulting services

Hourly rate: $200 per hour

Value multiplier: 2

Consulting rate: $200 per hour * 2 = $400 per hour

Can a consulting business be profitable?

Yes, a consulting business can be profitable. In fact, consulting is one of the most profitable industries in the world. According to a report by IBISWorld, the average profit margin for consulting businesses is 20%. This means that for every $100 in revenue, consulting businesses generate $20 in profit.

There are a number of factors that contribute to the profitability of consulting businesses. First, consultants are able to charge high fees for their services. Second, consulting businesses have relatively low overhead costs. Third, the demand for consulting services is high, and it's only expected to grow in the coming years.

Of course, not all consulting businesses are successful. Some consultants struggle to find clients or to charge high enough fees. Others may not be able to deliver the results that their clients expect. However, for consultants who are able to overcome these challenges, the potential rewards are great.

Here are some tips for increasing your chances of success as a consultant:

Specialize in a high-demand area of consulting. This will allow you to charge higher fees and attract more clients.

Build a strong reputation and network of clients. This will help you to generate word-of-mouth referrals and land new clients.

Market your services effectively. Make sure that potential clients know about your services and how you can help them.

Deliver high-quality results. This is the most important thing you can do to ensure that your clients are satisfied and that they continue to use your services in the future.

How much does it cost to start a consulting business?

The cost to start a consulting business can vary depending on a number of factors, such as the type of consulting services you offer, the size of your business and your location. However, in general, you can expect to spend between $10,000 and $50,000 to start a consulting business.

Here is a breakdown of some of the typical start-up costs for a consulting business:

Business formation: $100 to $1,000

Website and domain name: $100 to $2,500

Marketing and advertising: $500 to $5,000

Office equipment and supplies: $500 to $5,000

Professional liability insurance: $500 to $1,000

Other miscellaneous expenses: $500 to $5,000

Total start-up costs: $10,000 to $50,000

You can reduce your start-up costs by working from home, using free or low-cost marketing tools and purchasing used equipment. You can also start your consulting business part-time while you continue to work your full-time job. This will give you a chance to generate revenue and build a client base before you leave your full-time job.

If you need financial assistance to start your consulting business, you may be able to qualify for a loan from a bank or credit union. You may also be able to find investors who are willing to invest in your business.

Which clients to avoid and which to take on?

Here are some tips on which clients to avoid and which to take on in a consulting business:

Clients to avoid

Clients who aren't willing to pay your rates. If a client isn't willing to pay your rates, it's a sign that they don't value your services.

Clients who are unrealistic about their expectations. If a client has unrealistic expectations about what you can achieve, you're likely to set yourself up for failure.

Clients who are difficult to work with. If a client is demanding, rude or disrespectful, it's best to avoid them.

Clients who aren't a good fit for your business. If a client isn't in your target market or if their business isn't aligned with your values, it's best to decline working with them.

Clients to take on

Clients who are willing to pay your rates. This shows that they value your services and are committed to working with you.

Clients who have realistic expectations. This makes it more likely that you will be able to meet their needs and exceed their expectations.

Clients who are easy to work with. This will make the consulting process more enjoyable and productive for both of you.

Clients who are a good fit for your business. This means that they're in your target market and that their business is aligned with your values.

In addition to the above, here are some other factors to consider when deciding which clients to take on:

Your own skills and experience. Make sure that you have the skills and experience to help the client achieve their goals.

The client's budget. Make sure that the client has a budget that's sufficient to cover your fees.

The client's timeline. Make sure that you have the time and resources to meet the client's timeline.

Your gut feeling. If you have a bad feeling about a client, it's best to trust your gut and decline working with them.

It's important to be selective about the clients you take on. By avoiding difficult clients and focusing on good-fit clients, you can set yourself up for success in your consulting business.

Consultant business plan FAQ

What qualifies you as a consultant.

To qualify as a consultant, you need to have the expertise and experience in the area that you're consulting in. You also need to be able to communicate your ideas effectively and build relationships with clients.

How do you start off as a consultant?

How to make 6 figures as a consultant, how do you pay yourself as a consultant, do consultants pay their own taxes, want to create another business plan.

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Consulting Firm Business Plan Guide

Starting your own business, or scaling up is intimidating. we’re here to break it down piece by piece so you can create your very own plan., in this free , you will learn:.

• Why Create a Consulting Firm Business Plan?
• The Key Components of a Business Plan
• How to Use a Business Model Canvas
• How to Bake Productization Into Your Business Plan

You’re in the right place if…

○ You have an idea for a consulting firm, and you’re ready to take the next step ○ You’ve started a business, and you need focus and direction

○ Your consulting company needs to bring in partners or funding

Starting a consulting business is no small task, so setting a clear action plan is essential. This comprehensive guide will give you a step-by-step breakdown of how to create a consulting business plan, why you need one, and how a business model canvas can help you along the way.

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Consulting Business Plan: Complete Consultant Template & PDF

This consulting business plan is a comprehensive copy/paste example that includes an operating and marketing plan for any kind of consulting business. You can download it and make edits to create a plan for your business, whether you’re a startup consultant business or an existing consulting firm that wants to grow faster.

(Estimated reading time: 19 minutes)

Table of Contents

Consulting Business Plan Template

This plan for consultants contains in-depth information to build your own version. Simply modify the examples in this consulting plan to fit your specific line of work and you can quickly create a plan for industries such as (but of course not limited to):

• management consulting business plan
• advertising and marketing agency business plan
• healthcare consulting business plan
• IT consulting business plan
• fintech consultant business plan
• environmental consulting business plan
• security consulting business plan
• software consultant business plan

This business plan for consultants covers the following topics that go into a plan: your service list and descriptions, target market, marketing strategies for consultants, competition, and financial projections. You can download this example plan as a Google Doc for easy editing in Google Docs, Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, or save it as a PDF:

How to Use This Consultant Business Plan to Attract Clients

• Consulting Business Plan Template – This section provides guidance on what to include in each part of your business plan.
• Sample Consulting Business Plan Text – This part includes actual text from a real consulting business plan example that you can use as-is or modify to fit your specific needs.

Since many consulting businesses are established by solo practitioners, this consulting business plan example will focus on one-person firms. However, if you have partners or are part of a larger company, you can easily adapt this plan by replacing singular pronouns (I) with plural forms (we).

To help you chart a revenue course to starting your consulting business, this business plan example also includes a brief overview of a marketing plan. I recommend taking a look at (even downloading) my detailed marketing plan example as a model for yours.

Sample Consulting Business Plan

Let’s begin with the sections that make up your consulting business plan. I include sample text below the description of what to focus on within each section.

The first section of your business plan introduction is critical for framing your consulting practice.

1. Consulting Business Plan Executive Summary

Here are the key topics to focus on in this section of your consultant business plan:

• An introduction to your consulting business and the services you offer
• A summary of your target market and their needs
• Your key differentiators and what sets your consulting business apart from competitors
• Your approach to delivering high-quality consulting services and achieving measurable results
• A summary of your marketing strategy and how you plan to reach your target market

Consultant Business Plan Executive Summary Example

I specialize in strategic planning, market research, and growth strategies for small and medium-sized technology businesses that cater to the financial sector (i.e., fintech). Additionally, I offer consulting resources such as training programs, workshops, and customized solutions tailored to each client’s unique needs.

My consulting business is built on the belief that every business has the potential for growth and success. To achieve this, I work closely with my clients to understand their goals and challenges, and develop customized solutions that help them achieve their objectives.

My target market consists of small and medium-sized businesses in the financial technology industry, a.k.a. fintech, who are looking to make their operations more efficient based on data and methodical research. My management consulting services are tailored to meet their unique needs, and my approach is focused on delivering measurable results that align with their business objectives.

What sets my consulting business apart from competitors is my focus on collaboration and transparency. I believe in working closely with my clients to develop solutions that are customized to their specific needs, and I keep them involved in the process every step of the way.

To reach my target market, I will establish a strong online presence through content marketing and search engine optimization (SEO for consultants). I will leverage social media platforms to engage with potential clients and showcase my expertise in the fintech industry as a top consultant.

My consulting business is committed to helping businesses solve challenging business management problems that require rigorous analysis and careful calculations. With a focus on delivering innovative solutions and building strong relationships with my clients, I am confident in my ability to help businesses succeed and thrive in today’s competitive market.

2. Consulting Business Plan Service Description

Every consulting business description is slightly different. I’ve provided two variations in this section so that you can identify which one resonates best with your goals. Each version provides similar information, but is structured differently. I have also included consulting service description examples for each version.

Version 1: Service Description

Focus on these elements for this section of your business plan:

• The types of consulting services you offer and their value proposition
• A description of the types of clients you serve and the problems you solve for them
• A summary of your consulting methodologies and tools
• An explanation of the benefits your clients can expect to receive from your services

If you are an independent consultant or small group, even in serving in a consulting capacity at a different firm, you can introduce the fact that your years of experience enable you to offer the same caliber of services that larger more expensive firms provide at significantly higher rates.

Sample Consulting Service Description

• Achieving product-market fit
• Improving operational efficiency
• Enhancing strategic planning and decision-making processes
• Implementing change management initiatives
• Developing growth strategies and market expansion plans
• Optimizing financial performance and risk management

My consulting methodologies are based on a data-driven approach that combines qualitative and quantitative analysis to identify and solve business problems. I use a variety of tools and techniques, including process mapping, benchmarking, and SWOT analysis to develop customized solutions for each client.

Working closely with my clients, I help them develop actionable plans and implement them efficiently to achieve measurable results. By leveraging my expertise and experience, my clients can expect to:

• Improve profitability and reduce costs
• Increase efficiency and productivity
• Enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty
• Expand into new markets and drive growth
• Stay ahead of the competition and achieve sustainable success

I will share examples of past projects that provide a detailed framework along with results to show clients what they can achieve by hiring my consulting business.

With my 15 years of niche industry experience and wealth of successfully completed projects, I am able to offer exceptional high caliber service at lower overall rates than larger firms. My management consulting services are designed to help businesses achieve their full potential and thrive in today’s competitive marketplace.

Version2: List of Business Consulting Services

Before you start writing this section, ask yourself the following questions to help define and refine your consulting services. For this consultant business plan example, I’ve included the following prompts to focus on what a management consultant would focus on. Tweak these as needed for your line of consulting.

• Types of consulting services : Describe the different types of management consulting services you offer, such as strategy consulting, organizational design, change management, or project management.
• Delivery methods : Explain how you deliver your consulting services, such as through workshops, one-on-one consultations, or online platforms.
• Benefits : Highlight the benefits of your consulting services for clients, such as increased efficiency, optimized performance, improved profitability, or streamlined operations.
• Unique value proposition : Describe how your consulting services are unique and different from those of competitors. This could include your methodology, tools, experience, or industry knowledge.
• Website URL : Include the URL of your website where clients can learn more about your consulting services and contact you for more information.

Below is my example of a management consulting services write up, including descriptions of each service, the benefits they provide, and your unique approach to delivering them. You can modify this section of your consultant business plan to fit your exact services offered.

This version is a little shorter than the one above and also includes a case study example link, since content like that will help clients understand the value you bring to the table. You can add a link like this in version 1 above as well.

Example: Management Consulting Services Offered

• Strategy consulting : We work with businesses to develop effective strategic plans that align with their mission and vision and drive business growth.
• Organizational design and development : We help businesses optimize their organizational structure and processes to improve performance and efficiency.
• Change management : We assist businesses in managing organizational change effectively to minimize disruption and achieve desired outcomes.
• Project management : We provide project management services to help businesses plan, execute, and deliver projects on time and within budget.
• Performance management : We help businesses implement performance management frameworks that align employee goals with business objectives and drive results.

Our management consulting services are delivered through a combination of workshops, one-on-one consultations, and online platforms. We use a data-driven approach that combines qualitative and quantitative analysis to identify and solve business problems. Our unique value proposition is based on our extensive experience working with businesses in diverse industries, combined with our personalized approach and commitment to delivering results.

Clients can expect to achieve a range of benefits, including improved organizational performance, increased profitability, enhanced employee engagement, and optimized project outcomes. See our go-to-market strategy case study example for details on the types of results clients can expect from our team.

3. Consultancy Business Plan Target Market and Buyer Persona

It is important to focus on a niche rather than offering generic services.

Consulting as an industry is highly competitive, so prospects may not be able to determine who is the best consultant for them. When you focus, your marketing efforts can be customized to the niche you specialize in.

Think of it this way: if you were to implement Salesforce or Hubspot in your business, would you hire a general IT consultant or a specialist in the product? A general IT consultant may have experience with different systems but may not be as familiar with the intricacies of how to set up Salesforce or Hubspot in a way that makes the most sense for your company.  A specialist, however, will have in-depth knowledge and experience and most all will use best practices for your business.

You would pick the Salesforce or Hubspot specialist without question. In my prior companies, I went through this exact exercise and hired specialists for each of these products.

Similarly, your management consulting business plan should focus on a specific target group so that you become known as a specialist for your niche.

Additionally, create a buyer persona – or a few – to get a clear picture of who you plan to target.

What Goes Into a Buyer Persona for a Consultancy

• Sample Name, Job Title and Role : I always like to give each persona a name to make it more real. Then, include the specific job title and role of the individual who is most likely to hire a management consultant, such as a CEO, CFO, or HR Director.
• Industry and Company Size : Add the industry and size of the company that the individual works in, as the challenges and needs of a small startup may be different from those of a large corporation.
• Goals and Objectives : Be sure to list the most common goals and objectives that the individual is trying to achieve, such as improving operational efficiency, increasing revenue, or expanding into new markets. These should tie into your product or service offering.
• Pain Points and Challenges : Know the pain points and challenges that the individual is facing, such as difficulty retaining top talent, ineffective decision-making processes, or lack of innovation.
• Decision-Making Criteria : Identify the factors that the individual considers when making a decision to hire a management consultant, such as experience, reputation, price, or industry expertise. This can include the influences – or rather, influenc ers , that the buyer relies on to make final purchasing decisions.
• Communication Preferences : Add what you believe to be the preferred communication channels and styles of the individual, such as email, phone, text or in-person meetings.
• Personal Characteristics : You can include the personal characteristics of the buyer, such as their values, beliefs, and personality traits, which may impact their decision-making process.

I’ve created several samples that you can download and have also provided one for this consulting business plan below.

Download 5 Free Buyer Persona Examples →

Sample Management Consulting Target Market

Given my strong background in financial technology (fintech), I specialize in working with fintech startups and small to mid-sized financial institutions.

My clients are typically looking for help in implementing new technology solutions, improving their operational efficiency, or expanding into new markets. As a fintech consultant, I help them identify market expansion opportunities where they could increase their total addressable market ( TAM ) and clarify the marketing plan to penetrate deeper into existing accounts, also known as the land-and-expand strategy.

My consulting services are tailored to each client’s specific needs and can include everything from strategic planning to project management. By working with me, my clients gain access to my expertise in fintech, as well as my extensive network of contacts in the industry.

4. Marketing for Consulting Firms

As a consultant starting a new business or growing an existing one, it is crucial to have a well-planned marketing strategy to acquire clients. In the Marketing Strategy section of your consulting business plan, you should outline how you will promote your consulting firm and services to potential clients. This section should also include information on your consulting branding strategy and how you position yourself in the consulting market.

Here are ten marketing ideas to consider when developing your consulting marketing plan, written as tactics that you can copy/paste into a consulting business plan template or PDF. You can even use ChatGPT, Bard, or other AI-writing tools to create a starter outline, but be sure to include your own original content.

Sample Marketing Plan for a Consulting Firms

To acquire new customers and expand deeper within existing clients, I will deploy the following marketing ideas for consultants and leverage partners to expand my brand’s reach:

• Developing an educational website : My website will contain information on my services, but more importantly it will include case studies and thought leadership content. The key to success will be my educational content as part of my long-term content marketing strategy. I will add lead capture forms on each high-intent article to convert website visitors into leads that I can nurture through email marketing and social media.

• Leveraging SEO : I will identify specific high-intent keywords related to my fintech consulting niche and optimize my website content accordingly. This will help my website rank higher on search engines and attract more potential clients through my educational content. Many of my articles and guides will include videos because research shows that content with videos and images enhances SEO. While many firms rely on paid advertising, using long-tail keywords can be an effective and cost-saving approach. By targeting “low keyword difficulty” and “high search volume” phrases, I can tap into organic search traffic that can continue to generate leads even after the initial investment. Therefore, as a consulting firm, I will prioritize SEO as part of my overall marketing strategy to increase my online visibility and attract potential clients. I will use MoreBusiness.com’s SEO Coaching services to accelerate my footprint online to drive sales from organic traffic.
• Podcasting with thought leadership content : I will share my knowledge and expertise by starting a podcast . This way, I can repurpose the content I create into multiple channels, including writing articles, blog posts, and white papers and using clips to sprinkle throughout my social media channels. I will also produce webinars and slide decks from these podcasts to educate my target market. Having experts as guests on the podcasts will allow me to expand my reach when the guests share posts on their social channels as well.
• Attending industry events : I will attend relevant industry events to network with potential clients and showcase my expertise. I will identify 10 unique events every quarter and inquire about speaking to build my reputation and attract new clients. My goal is to speak at least twice each quarter to new audiences.
• Partnering with complementary businesses : Partnering with complementary businesses can help me reach new clients and expand my services. These businesses would provide services such as IT managed services, accounting, legal and HR, which can lead to referral business.

• Building a referral network : I will leverage my existing network to generate referrals by first providing opportunities for others to get more business. This approach builds trust first, which can lead to getting referrals from others.
• Advertising on industry-specific platforms : I will advertise on industry-specific platforms such as trade publications, industry associations, and job boards and look at the cost-benefit of Google and LinkedIn advertising.
• Using email marketing : I will send regular email newsletters with business consulting topics to stay in touch with clients and prospects. I will send newsletters with trending topics, case studies, and other relevant content to keep them engaged and informed about the industry as a whole as well as projects related to my services.

5. Consulting Business Plan Financials

To calculate your projections, your business model needs to consider several factors such as your revenue streams, cost structure, market size, and growth potential. You’ll also need to look at any historical financial data you have to create realistic projections.

It’s important to keep in mind that financial projections are not a guarantee of your business’s future performance, but rather an estimate based on the information you have available. That’s why it’s essential to make sure the assumptions in your business plan are realistic and backed up by data.

Overall, the financial projections section of your consulting business plan is a critical component that helps you understand the financial feasibility of your business and attract investors or lenders. In the example below, I’ve included an outline of what an individual business plan consultant might put into their business plan. If you are operating with partners as part of a larger entity, modify this example to accommodate for your team’s output and productivity. This consulting plan example also includes various sources of revenue, not just billable time.

Sample Financial Projections for Consulting Business Plan

As a consulting firm, I have several sources of revenue aside from billable hours. These include:

• Retainer Fees : Some clients prefer to pay a fixed monthly fee in exchange for a set number of hours or a specific scope of work. This can provide a predictable revenue stream for the firm.
• Project-Based Fees : For larger projects with a defined scope, I may charge a fixed fee based on the work required. This allows clients to budget more effectively and can provide a higher profit margin for the firm.
• Commission Fees : For certain types of work, such as sales, I may earn a commission on the results achieved. This can be a win-win for both the client and the firm, as the client only pays for results achieved and the firm is incentivized to achieve those results.
• Product Sales : I will develop proprietary online courses to share my expertise in fintech consulting and grow advisory services with those who are not yet ready or unable to afford my consulting services. These will provide an additional revenue stream and can also be used as a freebie given to select clients to share with their staff.
• Referral Fees : By referring clients to other businesses or consultants, I may earn a referral fee. This not only provides an additional source of revenue, but can also help to build relationships and expand my firm’s network.

By diversifying revenue streams, my consulting firm can create a more stable and profitable business model. Our expected revenues for the first three years are as follows:

Year 1 Consulting Firm Financial Projections:

• Billable hours: 1,000 hours x $300/hour = $300,000
• Retainer clients: 3 clients x 10 hours/month x $300/hour x 12 months = $108,000
• Product sales: 5 sales x $197 = $985
• Commissions/referral fees: $10,000
• Total revenue: $419,985

Year 2 Consulting Firm Financial Projections:

• Billable hours: 1,400 hours x $300/hour = $420,000
• Retainer clients: 3 clients x 10 hours/month x $350/hour x 12 months = $126,000
• Product sales: 7 sales x $197 = $1,379
• Commissions/referral fees: $15,000
• Total revenue: $562,379

Year 3 Consulting Firm Financial Projections:

• Billable hours: 1,800 hours x $300/hour = $540,000
• Retainer clients: 3 clients x 10 hours/month x $400/hour x 12 months = $144,000
• Product sales: 10 sales x $197 = $1,970
• Commissions/referral fees: $20,000
• Total revenue: $705,970

6. Consultant Business Plan Conclusion

The conclusion section of a consulting business plan should summarize the key points of the plan and reiterate the main goals and objectives as you start your consulting firm. It is similar to your executive summary and should reinforce the value that your consulting firm brings to clients and how it will address their needs and solve their problems.

Your goal is to leave a positive and lasting impression on the reader, highlighting your consulting firm’s strengths and capabilities and conveying a sense of confidence in your ability to build a successful consulting business. Again, as in previous sections, I’ve written the example below for an individual consultant, which you can easily modify as you need.

Consulting Business Plan Conclusion Example

My consulting firm is well-positioned to provide exceptional services to our clients in the fintech industry. I have a highly experienced team through partnerships with individuals who have a track record of success in this fintech consulting, and we are committed to helping our clients achieve their business goals through innovative and effective solutions. I believe that by leveraging our expertise in operations management and technology, we can help our clients optimize their operations, increase efficiency, and ultimately, drive growth and profitability.

Through strategic partnerships, I’m able to offer a comprehensive suite of services to meet our clients’ needs, from project management and process improvement to software implementation and data analytics. My goal is to establish long-term relationships with our clients and become a trusted partner in their success.

I understand the challenges facing the fintech industry and are constantly adapting and evolving to stay ahead of the curve. I am committed to staying up-to-date with the latest trends, technologies, and best practices in my field, and we are excited to bring this knowledge to clients.

Overall, I am confident in my ability to deliver exceptional value to our clients and achieve the business goals outlined in this plan. I am excited to embark on this journey and look forward to the opportunities that lie ahead.

Start Your Consulting Business

Ready to get started? Download this consulting business plan template and save it as a PDF or doc file for future reference as you build out your business model and growth path.

Connect with me at MoreBusiness.com to help you grow faster! I’ve built several businesses and can help you fast-track your marketing and sales, especially through a managed podcast and thought leadership.

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Table of contents, a comprehensive consulting firm business plan.

• 13 June, 2024

Consulting Firm Business Basics

Before diving into the intricacies of starting a consulting firm business, it’s important to understand the fundamental aspects that lay the groundwork for success. This section will explore two key components: defining consulting services and the importance of business planning.

Defining Consulting Services

Consulting services encompass a wide range of expertise and assistance provided to businesses and organizations. Consultants offer specialized knowledge and guidance to help clients address specific challenges, improve operations, and achieve their goals. From strategy and management consulting to IT and marketing consulting, the services provided can vary depending on the consultant’s area of expertise.

Consultants act as trusted advisors, leveraging their expertise to analyze problems, develop strategies, and implement solutions. They bring an external perspective to the table, providing valuable insights and recommendations to drive business growth and success. By defining your consulting services, you can clearly communicate your expertise and target the right market segments.

Importance of Business Planning

A comprehensive business plan is essential for establishing a consulting firm. It serves as a roadmap that outlines your business goals and strategies, providing a clear direction for your operations. A well-crafted business plan not only guides your decision-making but also demonstrates your professionalism and commitment to potential investors and partners.

Business planning involves conducting market research, defining your target market, identifying competitors, and establishing your unique value proposition. It also includes financial projections, which are crucial for predicting future business outcomes and securing financing. By creating a financial forecast, you can assess profitability, anticipate cash flows, and adjust to market conditions.

Moreover, a business plan helps you identify potential challenges and develop contingency plans. It serves as a reference point for evaluating your progress and making necessary adjustments along the way. By having a comprehensive business plan, you can navigate the complexities of starting and running a consulting firm with confidence.

To learn more about the components of a consulting business plan and financial projections, refer to our sections on developing a business plan and financial projections and analysis . These resources will provide you with valuable insights and guidance to kickstart your consulting firm business successfully.

By defining your consulting services and developing a robust business plan, you lay a solid foundation for your consulting firm. These steps ensure that you have a clear understanding of your offerings and a roadmap for achieving your business goals. As you progress, you can explore pricing strategies, marketing techniques, and methods for establishing a strong online presence, which we will cover in the subsequent sections.

Understanding Target Markets

Before starting a consulting firm, it is crucial to have a deep understanding of your target market. Conducting a thorough target market analysis can provide valuable insights that will shape your business strategy and help you effectively reach your ideal clients. This section will explore target market analysis and the importance of demographic and psychographic data in understanding your audience.

Target Market Analysis

A target market analysis is a systematic examination of the potential customers for your consulting services. The goal is to identify the most valuable markets, develop buyer personas, find gaps in the market to fill, assess the viability of your services, and improve your overall business strategy. By conducting this analysis, you can better understand your target market’s needs, preferences, and behaviors, allowing you to tailor your services and marketing efforts to meet their specific requirements.

To perform a target market analysis, consider the following key factors:

Demographic Data : Demographic data provides insights into characteristics such as age, location, gender, income, education level, relationship status, and occupation. This information helps identify the most effective marketing channels, where to sell your services, how to price them, and the ideal language to address your customers ( BigCommerce ). Analyzing demographic data can also assist in developing buyer personas, which are fictional representations of your ideal customers, helping you understand their motivations and needs.

Psychographic Data : Psychographic data reveals the types of products customers value and the brands they want to associate with. It goes beyond demographics to explore customers’ attitudes, interests, opinions, and lifestyle choices. Understanding psychographic data helps you gain insights into customer preferences and behaviors, allowing you to tailor your services and marketing messages accordingly ( BigCommerce ).

By conducting a comprehensive target market analysis, you can identify the most lucrative segments within your target market and refine your service offerings to meet their specific needs. This analysis will also help you understand your competition and find unique opportunities to differentiate your consulting firm.

Demographic and Psychographic Data

Demographic and psychographic data play a crucial role in understanding your target market. Let’s take a closer look at each:

Demographic data provides valuable insights into the characteristics of your target market. By analyzing demographic data, you can determine the most effective marketing channels, understand where your potential clients are located, and tailor your messaging to resonate with their specific demographics. For example, if your consulting services primarily target young entrepreneurs, you may find that social media platforms like Instagram and LinkedIn are effective channels to reach this audience. On the other hand, if your services cater to established businesses, traditional marketing channels such as industry conferences and trade publications may be more effective.

Psychographic data dives deeper into the preferences, interests, and motivations of your target market. Understanding psychographic data allows you to connect with your audience on a deeper level, as it reveals the types of products they value, the brands they want to associate with, and the factors that drive their decision-making. By leveraging psychographic data, you can tailor your consulting services to align with your target market’s values and interests, ensuring a stronger connection and higher likelihood of engagement.

By combining both demographic and psychographic data, you can create a well-rounded understanding of your target market. This knowledge will guide your marketing strategies, help you refine your service offerings, and enable you to deliver a personalized and compelling consulting experience. Conducting thorough target market research is crucial for professional services firms, like consulting firms, to better understand their audience, shape their services, pricing, marketing, and business development strategies.

Developing a Business Plan

When starting a consulting firm, developing a comprehensive business plan is essential for success. A well-crafted business plan serves as a roadmap, guiding you through the various aspects of establishing and running a consulting business. This section will explore the components of a consulting business plan and the importance of financial projections and analysis.

Components of a Consulting Business Plan

A consulting business plan is a document that covers all aspects of your future consulting business, outlining your vision, goals, and strategies to achieve them. It removes the guesswork from how you will run your consulting business and provides a solid foundation for decision-making and growth.

A typical consulting business plan consists of the following components:

Executive Summary : This section provides an overview of your consulting business, highlighting its purpose, unique value proposition, target market, and financial projections. It should be concise yet compelling, capturing the attention of potential investors or partners.

Company Description : Here, you provide detailed information about your consulting firm, including its legal structure, mission statement, core values, and the consulting services you offer. This section helps establish your firm’s identity and sets the stage for your market positioning.

Market Analysis : Conduct a thorough analysis of your target market, including the industry trends, competitive landscape, and target audience. By understanding the needs and preferences of your potential clients, you can tailor your services and marketing efforts to meet their expectations.

Marketing and Sales Strategy : Outline your marketing and client acquisition strategies to attract and retain clients. Define your unique selling propositions and describe how you will position your consulting firm in the market. Consider allocating a significant portion of your budget towards marketing, as suggested by Gartner’s research ( PandaDoc ).

Organization and Management : Provide an overview of your consulting firm’s organizational structure, including the roles and responsibilities of key team members. Highlight their expertise and qualifications to instill confidence in potential clients and investors.

Financial Projections : Financial projections and analysis are critical components of a consulting business plan. Forecast your projected revenue, expenses, and profits for at least the first three years. Consider factors such as billable hours, fixed fees, and client retention rates when calculating potential project expenses and revenue ( PandaDoc ).

Financial Projections and Analysis

Accurate financial projections and analysis play a crucial role in the success of your consulting firm. They provide insights into the financial feasibility of your business and help you make informed decisions about pricing, budgeting, and growth strategies.

When developing financial projections, consider the following:

Revenue Forecast : Estimate your monthly earnings based on projected billable hours or fixed fees. Take into account factors such as market demand, competition, and your marketing efforts. It is advisable to assume a client retention rate between 80%-90% ( PandaDoc ).

Expense Analysis : Identify and categorize your business expenses, including overhead costs, employee salaries, marketing expenses, and professional services. This analysis will help you determine your break-even point and make informed decisions about resource allocation.

Profitability Analysis : Calculate your profit margins and monitor the financial health of your consulting firm. Regularly review your financial projections and compare them to your actual performance to identify areas for improvement and make necessary adjustments.

Funding and Investment : Scaling a consulting firm beyond 20% annually usually requires strategic financial partnerships with investors, banks, or other financial institutions. Consider whether self-funding or seeking external investments aligns with your growth plans and explore the available options.

Remember, a well-developed business plan is not only a tool for securing funding but also a guide for your consulting firm’s growth and success. Regularly review and update your plan as your business evolves, ensuring that it remains aligned with your goals and market conditions.

Pricing Strategies for Consultants

Determining the right pricing strategies is crucial for the success of a consulting firm. It requires careful consideration of various factors such as the nature of services offered, target market, and industry standards. In this section, we will explore key pricing strategies and discuss how to set consulting fees effectively.

Key Pricing Strategies

There are several pricing strategies that consultants can employ to structure their fees. Here are five common strategies:

Hourly Billing : This strategy involves charging clients based on the number of hours worked. It is a straightforward approach that allows consultants to track their time and bill accordingly. However, hourly billing requires diligent record-keeping and may invite scrutiny from clients. It is important to clearly communicate the hourly rate and any additional charges upfront.

Retainer Agreements : Retainer agreements establish an ongoing relationship with clients by offering a set number of consulting hours or services each month in exchange for a fixed fee. This strategy provides stability and allows consultants to plan their workload effectively. Retainer agreements are particularly beneficial once trust and rapport have been established with the client.

Productized Services : Consultants can offer pre-packaged services or deliverables at a fixed price. By creating standardized service offerings, consultants can streamline their processes and enhance efficiency. Productized services are attractive to clients who prefer clear deliverables and predictable costs.

Value-Based Pricing : This strategy involves pricing services based on the perceived value they deliver to the client. Consultants consider the client’s specific needs, the impact of their services on the client’s business, and the value they bring in terms of expertise and results. Value-based pricing allows consultants to capture the value they create and positions them as partners in the client’s success.

Pay for Results : In some cases, consultants may opt for performance-based pricing, where their fees are tied to achieving predetermined outcomes or goals. This strategy aligns the consultant’s success with the client’s success and provides a strong incentive for delivering exceptional results. However, it requires careful negotiation and clear performance metrics to ensure fairness for both parties.

Each pricing strategy has its own advantages and drawbacks. It’s important for consultants to carefully evaluate their business model, target market, and client preferences to determine the most suitable approach. For more detailed guidance on pricing your consulting services, refer to our article on how to establish a consulting firm .

Setting Consulting Fees

When setting consulting fees, it is common practice in the industry to have a 100% markup rate on primary costs ( PandaDoc ). For example, if the total cost for an hour of consultation is $150, applying the 100% markup rule would bring the final hourly rate to $300. This ensures that the consultant covers their costs and generates a profit.

However, pricing decisions should not be solely driven by accounting. Consultants should also consider factors such as customer value, target market, and costs to determine the ideal price that falls within the customer’s acceptable range. Conducting market research and analyzing competitors’ pricing can provide insights into industry benchmarks and help consultants position their services effectively.

It’s important to strike the right balance between competitive pricing and capturing the value of your expertise. Competitive pricing strategies may involve cooperative pricing (matching competitors’ prices), aggressive pricing (offering a lower price to outperform competitors), or dismissive pricing (ignoring competitors’ pricing to maintain market share) ( BDC ). Consultants should carefully evaluate the implications and potential risks associated with each pricing approach.

Remember, pricing strategies may evolve over time as your consulting firm grows and adapts to market dynamics. Regularly reassessing and adjusting your pricing strategy based on client feedback, market trends, and changes in your service offerings can help ensure your consulting fees remain competitive and reflect the value you provide.

In the next section, we will explore effective marketing techniques and strategies for consultants to promote their services and attract clients.

Marketing Strategies for Consultants

To ensure the success of a consulting firm, effective marketing strategies are essential. By implementing the right techniques, consultants can increase their visibility, attract potential clients, and establish a strong reputation in the industry. This section will explore two key marketing strategies for consultants: effective marketing techniques and building a strong network.

Effective Marketing Techniques

To effectively market a consulting firm, consultants should consider a range of proven marketing techniques. Here are some strategies to consider:

Hosting Events: Hosting events, such as webinars or meetups, provides consultants with an opportunity to interact with potential clients, demonstrate expertise, and build relationships. These events create valuable face-to-face interactions and attract individuals interested in the consultant’s services.

Direct Outreach: Proactively reaching out to potential clients through methods like cold emails or direct mail can be an effective way to stand out and secure work. While direct outreach may require multiple follow-ups and persistence, it can yield positive results in generating leads and acquiring clients ( Copper ).

Networking Events: Attending industry-specific events, conferences, and networking meetings is a highly effective marketing strategy for consultants. These events provide opportunities to connect with potential clients and establish valuable professional relationships. By actively participating in networking events, consultants can expand their reach and increase their chances of acquiring new clients ( Copper ).

Establishing Thought Leadership: Consultants can establish themselves as thought leaders by leveraging platforms like blogging and speaking opportunities. Sharing expertise through these avenues allows consultants to reach a broader audience, enhance their credibility, and increase their visibility in the industry ( MBO Partners ).

Building a Strong Network

Networking plays a crucial role in the success of a consulting firm. Building a strong network allows consultants to establish valuable connections and open doors to potential clients. Here are some strategies to build a robust professional network:

Attend Industry Events: Attending industry-specific events, conferences, and seminars provides consultants with opportunities to meet fellow professionals and potential clients. By actively engaging in conversations and exchanging contact information, consultants can expand their network and establish meaningful connections.

Join Professional Associations: Joining professional associations related to the consulting industry can provide access to a community of like-minded professionals. These associations often host networking events, workshops, and conferences where consultants can meet others in their field and build relationships.

Utilize Online Platforms: Online platforms, such as LinkedIn and industry-specific forums, offer opportunities to connect with professionals on a global scale. By actively participating in online discussions, sharing insights, and engaging with others’ content, consultants can expand their network and establish their online presence.

Maintain Relationships: Building a strong network is not just about making initial connections. It’s crucial to nurture and maintain relationships over time. Engage with your network regularly by attending social events, sending personalized follow-up messages, and offering support or advice when needed.

By implementing effective marketing techniques and building a strong network, consultants can increase their visibility, attract clients, and establish a reputable presence in the consulting industry. These strategies, when combined with a well-developed business plan , can contribute to the long-term success and growth of a consulting firm.

Establishing a Strong Online Presence

In today’s digital age, establishing a strong online presence is crucial for starting a consulting firm and effectively reaching potential clients. Two key strategies for enhancing online visibility are creating a Google My Business account and focusing on personal branding and thought leadership.

Google My Business Account

Creating a Google My Business account is an essential step for any consulting firm looking to establish an online presence. This free tool allows businesses to provide key information that potential clients may be searching for, such as open hours, services offered, contact information, and a description of services. Through a Google My Business account, consultants can also add office photos and encourage clients to leave reviews, which can appear in search results.

By having a Google My Business account, a consulting firm can improve its visibility on Google search, making it easier for potential clients to find and learn more about the business. This increased visibility can enhance credibility and attract new clients. It’s important to regularly update the account with accurate and relevant information to ensure potential clients have the most up-to-date details about the consulting firm.

Personal Branding and Thought Leadership

For independent consultants, personal branding plays a vital role in establishing credibility and attracting clients. As an independent consultant, you are your brand . It’s crucial to present yourself online in a way that reflects positively on your consulting business. Building a strong personal brand can help differentiate yourself from competitors and position yourself as an expert in your field.

To create a strong personal brand, focus on ensuring visibility on the internet, in the community, and among colleagues. Develop a professional website and optimize it with relevant keywords to improve search engine rankings. Actively engage on professional networking platforms, such as LinkedIn, and share valuable insights and content related to your area of expertise.

Blogging and speaking opportunities are highly effective tools for establishing yourself as a thought leader in the consulting industry. By sharing your expertise through blog articles, whitepapers, or speaking engagements, you can reach a broader audience and enhance your credibility. This can lead to increased visibility for your consulting firm and attract potential clients who are seeking your specialized knowledge.

Remember, building a strong online presence takes time and consistency. It’s important to regularly update your website and social media profiles with fresh content that showcases your expertise and provides value to your target audience. By investing in your online presence and personal brand, you can position yourself as a trusted and reputable consultant in your field.

By implementing these strategies, consulting firms can establish a strong online presence that attracts potential clients and sets them apart from competitors. A comprehensive online presence, combined with effective marketing techniques and a strong network, can help consulting firms thrive in today’s digital landscape.

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• Sample Business Plans

How to Write a Consulting Business Plan + Free Template

Are you someone people usually come to to get valuable business advice? Or do you really like sharing valuable business insights to help businesses grow? Well, starting a consultancy business can be one efficient move to monetize your expert skills.

Now, you wouldn’t start a business without solid planning, would you? Well, how about you take the first step and write an actionable management consulting business plan for your business idea?

Writing a business plan can be tough. But we are here to make it easier for you.

This step-by-step guide is here to help you write a forward-thinking, realistic plan in easy actionable ways and offers a free management consulting business plan template to kickstart your writing process. .

So let’s get started.

Key Takeaways

• Craft a remarkable executive summary summarizing the concept, strategies, objectives, financial projections, and mission values of your consulting business plan.
• Conduct in-depth industry analysis and market research identifying emerging trends and shifts that are likely to influence your consultancy business.
• Introduce the services of your consultancy firm along with its pricing plan to give readers a thorough idea of your service offerings.
• Conduct a SWOT analysis of your key competitors and determine your competitive edge over them to strengthen your competitive analysis.
• Lay down a clear organizational chart highlighting the key skills, salaries, and experience of people working in your consulting firm. .
• Create realistic financial projections for sales, revenue, costs, expenses, and cash flow for your consultancy after making room for contingencies and emergencies.
• Draft a detailed operations plan highlighting the processes and procedures for everyday activities at your consultancy.
• Devise a diversified marketing and sales plan to promote your business effectively to your target audience.

Key Elements of a Management Consulting Business Plan

• Executive Summary
• Company Overview
• Competitor and Market Analysis
• Service Offerings
• Marketing Plan
• Management Consulting Team
• Operational Plan
• Financial Outlook

Since we are talking about a consulting business plan, let us walk you through this step-by-step outline to help you write a stellar plan covering all the essential facets.

1. Executive Summary

The executive summary is the first and foremost section of your consulting business plan that will engage your readers and persuade them to dive further into details.

Begin by offering a brief overview of your business idea highlighting what it does. Take reference from the below example written using Upmetrics AI assistant .

Further, paint a picture, briefly highlighting your consulting services, market scenario, competition, USP, marketing and sales strategies, and financial objectives.

Ensure that you adopt a storytelling approach while crafting your executive summary. Ideally, this section of your business plan should concisely summarize your entire business plan in a page or two.

So ensure that you strategically place the information within this section to keep the readers hooked.

Now be smart and revisit this section after you are done writing for every other section of your plan. A thorough understanding of your business plan at that time will enable you to craft a compelling summary easily.

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2. Company Overview

This section of a business plan helps the reader get a thorough understanding of your consulting firm.

The company overview offers a detailed description highlighting what type of consultancy you would run, its physical location, legal structure, mission objectives, history, and all such related information.

Begin by clearly stating the concept and niche of your consulting firm. Further, highlight whether you would be running a sole proprietorship or partnership, and if it’s the latter discuss the profit-sharing ratio.

Don’t forget to mention your business structure and whether or not will you run a Limited Liability Company (LLC).

This section is your chance to introduce your business objectives, core value proposition, and mission objectives. Highlight any milestones you plan to achieve or have already achieved and make this section insightful.

Refer to this example describing the short-term objectives of a consulting firm from an Upmetrics plan.

3. Competitor and Market Analysis

An in-depth analysis of the consulting industry, market, and competitors is essential to build a successful consulting business. This is the most crucial part of your consultancy business plan helping you identify your target market, emerging trends, competitors, and your advantage over them.

Market analysis

The market analysis section of your consultant business plan will help you evaluate the market condition, target market, and business growth opportunities for your consultancy business.

Begin by researching and analyzing the consultancy market size and the serviceable obtainable market of your specific consultancy.

Further, determine your target audience by creating a buyer’s persona of your ideal customer. In this customer analysis section, determine their demographic and psychographic details to get a clear understanding of who your customer would be.

Refer to this buyer’s persona written using Upmetrics AI assistant:

Lastly, identify the emerging market trends within your industry, potential risks, and the shifts in consumer behavior likely to influence your business.

Competitors analysis

In the competitive analysis section of your plan, identify the consulting firms and other businesses that offer direct or indirect competition to your business.

Your direct competitors are other consultants in your local market, while your indirect competitors are in-house experts, software solutions, and an industry-specific business community extending resourceful help.

Conduct a SWOT analysis of your key competitors and analyze them based on their service offerings, target demographics, pricing, and other relevant factors.

Highlight your competitive advantage over these firms, suggesting that there are ample opportunities for you to succeed despite the competition.

Here’s an example of a competitive advantage for a consultancy business using Upmetrics.

4. Service Offerings

Consulting businesses offer a variety of consulting services. In this section of your consulting business plan, you will create a clear list of all the services you will be offering.

The list can include various business consulting services such as:

• Strategy consulting
• Operation consulting
• Human resources consulting
• IT Consulting
• Risk and compliance consulting

Now, elaborate on these services to help your readers understand what it truly entails. Refer to this example of legal and compliance services brief description:

As part of our risk and compliance service, the company will offer:

• Draft, negotiate, and conclude ‘Joint Venture Agreements’, and ‘Memoranda of cases for one of our key clients. 
• Legal Advice & Consultation
• Case Litigation & Pleading
• Legal Translation
• Business Start-up Advice
• Management Consultancy
• Representation and Attorney Services
• Legal Compliance

Determine the pricing of these services and place it alongside your service list. Ideally, you should create differential and tiered pricing plans for your services to cater to different target audiences.

All in all, make this section an informative read for your readers helping them understand your unique business offerings.

5. Marketing Plan

A well-defined marketing plan is among the most important components of your consulting firm’s business plan. Well, It’s time to design your marketing strategies using your market research about the target customers and the potential clients.

Multifarious marketing efforts are essential to make your new business visibly famous in the market. Well, here are a few strategies that a successful consultant follows religiously:

Social media marketing

Choose different social media platforms to build your consultancy brand online. LinkedIn can be a good choice for a consultancy business followed by FaceBook and Instagram. Create your marketing plans for different platforms and be consistent with your posting there.

Informative website

Build an informative website for your consulting business and enhance its ranking on search engines by creating a dedicated content marketing program.

Email marketing

A well-defined email marketing program to attract new clients, newsletters for subscribed customers, and promotional services offer to convert a potential customer base.

Targeted advertising

Running a paid ads program to reach targeted small businesses and potential clients.

Refer to this example of marketing and promotion programs for your consultancy from Upmetrics.

In this section of your consulting business plan, also highlight your marketing budget and its allocation to different marketing activities.

6. Management Consulting Team

Introduce your managerial team in this section of your consultant business plan by showing how you have the right people to run a successful consultancy.

Begin by introducing the people at top managerial positions and offer a brief description depicting their skills, expertise, and experience in offering specific consulting services.

Refer to this example introducing the managing director of a consulting agency.

Mr. Ashton will serve as the Managing Director of CCI. A highly motivated and dynamic individual, Thomas boasts vast experience in the field of aesthetics having spent a career spanning 14 years essaying various white-collar roles for aesthetic companies across America. His ability to multi-task and expertly weave through operational pitfalls equips him with exceptional management and administrative skills. The US operations include sourcing, interacting, and building client relations across the industry value chain involving professional salons and end-user clientele. Mr. Ashton’s expert management and industry-specific skills will play an instrumental role in achieving the parent company’s goal of establishing a sustainable and reliable aesthetic brand in the US.

Don’t limit this section to the introduction of owners and managers. Instead, introduce every person who’s an asset to your business and can contribute significantly to your business goals.

In this section, you will also highlight the organizational design to offer a clear understanding of the hierarchy in your consulting firm. And lastly, don’t forget to add the salaries and wages of these people alongside their roles while creating your management plan.

7. Operational Plan

The operations plan shows that you don’t only have the means but also the knack to operate the consulting business efficiently.

This section of your business plan highlights the processes and procedures essential to run the everyday operations of your consulting business and the milestones you wish to achieve.

Confused what should you include in your operations plan? Let’s check this out:

Hiring plan

Mention the number of project managers, analysts, BD, administrative, and support workers needed for your business. Briefly describe the qualifications, skill sets, and experience for these roles and lay your hiring plan to hire employees.

Refer to this example of a hiring plan for a consultancy by Upmetrics.

Operational processes

Briefly explain the different processes and procedures of your business in the consulting industry. This includes processes for client acquisition, service delivery, project management process, quality assessment, and client retention.

Tools and equipment

Mention all the equipment you will require to deliver quality consulting services to the clients. Also, include the pricing of these equipment and how you plan to source them from the market.

Overall, think of smaller nuances and make this section as brief and detailed as possible. Consider it as a guidebook that will answer all the operational queries that arise while running the business.

8. Financial Outlook

A comprehensive financial plan is the most crucial component of your business plan and sometimes it is the only section investors or readers might be interested in.

So work on putting together a well-detailed financial plan with realistic financial forecasts to increase the weight of your consulting plan.

The projections in a financial plan are important because they help the readers gauge the financial viability of your business idea. They offer a clear picture of the profitability, growth potential, and cash-generating capacity of your consulting business.

To create a befitting plan, begin by offering a detailed insight into your startup costs, revenue streams, profit margins, operational costs, and cash flow projections. Gather these projections to work on your key reports.

Refer to different business plans to see what more could you add to your financial section apart from these key essentials:

• Balance sheet
• Profit and loss statement/ Income statement
• Cash flow statement
• Break-even analysis
• Investment plan

While making a financial plan, ensure that you figure out the calculations for the next 3-5 years. And yes, we agree that calculating all these financial projections from scratch can get overwhelming. However, with this financial forecasting tool from Upmetrics , the entire task of creating a detailed plan will get much easier and more effective.

Simply enter the details in the tab and let the tool undertake all the manual calculations and create engaging visual reports to add to your plan.

Get Your Free Management Consulting Business Plan

Need help writing the contents of your management consulting business plan? Well, here you go. Download our management consulting business plan pdf and start writing.

Our intuitive and modern consulting business plan template offers a step-by-step guide with relevant examples to speed up your process of writing an effective business plan. It will get your actionable plan ready while ensuring that you add all the crucial details to it.

The Quickest Way to turn a Business Idea into a Business Plan

Fill-in-the-blanks and automatic financials make it easy.

Start preparing your business plan with Upmetrics AI

And here we are. Now that you are aware of how to write an effective business plan using our consulting business plan template, you are one step closer to starting your business with a bang.

But that’s not it. What if we tell you that your business planning process can be made easier and more efficient with a few cutting-edge tools? Well, the Upmetrics business planning app is here at your service.

With an AI assistant to speed up your writing process, financial forecasting tools to help you with projections, and thousands of free educational guides to help you set up the business- we think you get it all with Upmetrics.

Get started now.

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Frequently asked questions, what are the key components of a management consulting business plan.

While there are no fixed rules regarding what to include in your consulting business plan, you can ensure that you don’t miss adding these key components to your plan:

• Executive summary
• Company overview
• Market and competitor analysis
• Service offerings
• Management team
• Operations plan
• Financial plan

What financial projections should be included in the business plan?

While making your consulting business plan, ensure that you add the financial forecasts for startup costs, expenses, revenue, cash flow, sales, and expected profitability to your plan.

How often should I update my Management Consulting Business Plan?

Ideally, you should update your business plan at least once a year since you operate in a highly dynamic industry. However, if you feel that the yearly updates are insufficient, you can also review and update your plan every quarter.

How should I approach the funding section of my business plan?

Begin by calculating your startup costs and the actual monetary situation to evaluate the funding needs for your business. Thereafter check the potential funding sources and their application procedure to avail required funding.

As a consulting business, you can choose one of these funding sources:

• Private loan
• SBA approved loans
• Angel Investors
• Venture Capitalist firms
• Crowdfunding

Can the business plan help in securing funding or investments?

Absolutely it does. Investors, credit lenders, and banks will look after your business plan before accepting the funding request for your business. This is because a business plan offers a clear understanding of your business idea while simultaneously vouching for the financial feasibility of your plan.

What legal considerations should I include in my business plan?

Here are a few of the legal considerations you should make while writing your business plan:

• Business licenses and permits
• Health safety compliance
• Insurance coverage
• Legal business structure
• Employment laws

About the Author

Vinay Kevadiya

Vinay Kevadiya is the founder and CEO of Upmetrics, the #1 business planning software. His ultimate goal with Upmetrics is to revolutionize how entrepreneurs create, manage, and execute their business plans. He enjoys sharing his insights on business planning and other relevant topics through his articles and blog posts. Read more

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Consulting Business Plan: 5-Step Plan For A Successful Firm

If you want to start a consulting business , then you need to write your consulting business plan.

I’ve watched countless starry-eyed entrepreneurs “start” their business with a 50-100 page business plan.

They spend weeks — or even months — toiling away at their desk after their 9-5 detailing everything about their future business.

After they’ve written it, they beam with pride.

“This plan is the key to my success in consulting! With this plan, I can’t fail.”

Then, they take their plan out to the real world.

The real world isn’t as perfect and pretty when starting your business.

And that golden business plan? Well, it almost always doesn’t work the way they’d hoped.

All of the projections they made? Naw, not even close.

So they scurry back to their desk to revise the plan — and the cycle continues.

Here’s the truth about consulting business plans…

You don’t need a long, complex business plan.

If your business plan is more than 5 pages, every extra page you write is almost certainly wasting your time.

All you need is a 1-3 page document to cover the foundations of your business.

By the end of this post, you’ll write your 5-part entrepreneurial consulting business plan — and have everything you need to start a successful consulting business.

Let’s begin with the first part: your consulting business model.

1. Consulting Business Model

• “What kind of consulting business do you want to build?”

That’s the first question you want to answer for your consulting business plan.

Understand what type of business you want to build first before you start building it.

Six-Figure Blueprint

That way, you’re building a business to support your lifestyle and not the other way around.

At Consulting Success®, we believe that your business shouldn’t consume your life .

Your consulting business should enrich your life and create a fulfilling lifestyle for you and your family.

For your consulting business model, you have 4 options:

1. Solo Model : The classic independent consultant . Your business is just you (and maybe a few contractors). From delivering projects to marketing and sales, you are responsible for every part of the business.

(To see the pros and cons of each model, see our post on The 3 PROVEN Consulting Business Models .)

2. Firm Model : The typical large consulting firm. Your firm consists of consultants, associations, junior and senior people. Your role starts off as doing a bit of everything — but eventually, your role becomes hiring, training, and managing your team.

3. Productized Model : This model comes out of one of the above models. You identify a particular problem your clients have, and you build your business around solving that problem with a focus on efficiency. This model is all about systems, efficiency, and scale.

4. Hybrid Model : The hybrid model is a mix of the models above. For example, you might offer a productized consulting offer — but also do some solo custom consulting. Once you’ve mastered one of these models, the hybrid model helps you add new products and services to create more revenue.

Pick one of the models above. If you’re unsure about which one to use, start with the solo model. You can always change it in the future. Chances are, your business will evolve in the future anyways.

With your consulting business model selected, let’s move to the next part of your consulting business plan — clarity around your ideal client.

For every hour you spend on planning, you should spend 4 hours on putting your plan into action.

2. Ideal Client Clarity

• “Who is the ideal client my consulting business will serve?”

That’s the second question you’ll answer with your consulting business plan.

This is all about how you’re going to specialize .

As an entrepreneurial consultant, specialization is crucial.

You can’t offer everything to anybody.

You’ll have to begin by choosing a specific type of client to serve — your niche.

A niche is a certain subset of people whom you might potentially serve — SaaS companies, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, etc.

To find your ideal client, you’ll have to test out different niches.

This is why we teach the Niche Scoring Method in our Clarity Coaching Program .

Using this scorecard, you score each potential niche from 1 to 5 based on the following factors:

• EXPERIENCE . How would you rate your experience with this niche?
• EXPERTISE . How would you rate your status as an expert within this niche?
• RESULTS . How would you rate your confidence that you can deliver results for this niche?
• POTENTIAL . How would you rate this niche’s growth and how willing they are to hire consultants?
• INTEREST . How would you rate your interest in this niche?
• ACCESS . How would you rate your ability to speak with ideal clients in this niche?

In the Clarity Coaching Program for Consultants , we also teach you about the different layers of specialization, how to find and validate your ideal client’s potential, how to do outreach to potential clients, and more.

By going through these exercises, you’ll figure out which niche is best for you to start with.

Picking a niche and defining your ideal client is the foundation on which you’ll build your business — and get clients.

You shouldn’t move on with your consulting business plan until you’ve defined your ideal client.

Once you’ve done that, you can move on to the next part: Magnetic Messaging.

3. Magnetic Messaging

• “What message will get my ideal client’s attention?”

That’s the third question you’ll answer on your consulting business plan.

You’ve picked your business model.

You’ve defined your ideal client.

Now, you’ll write a message designed to get your ideal client’s attention.

We’ve created a formula to make writing this message as simple as possible: Magnetic Messaging.

Here’s the formula:

I help [WHO] to [solve WHAT problem] so they can [see WHAT results]. My [WHY choose me]…

Let’s break each part of the formula down.

• WHO : Who you serve.
• WHAT (Problem): What problem you solve for them.
• WHAT (Result): What result you create for them.
• WHY : Why they should choose you.

Why does this message grab your ideal client’s attention?

• It speaks to who they are.
• It mentions what problem they have.
• It showcases what result they can get.
• It differentiates you from others who might provide a similar service.

When your message contains these 4 elements, it will draw interest from your ideal clients. They’ll want to learn more.

They’ll browse your marketing materials, read your articles, sign up for your email list, and reach out to you for conversations.

Effective messaging is the foundation of your marketing: what you communicate to the marketplace to get your ideal client’s attention.

You won’t write the perfect message on your first try.

But you do need to write a first draft — and actually put it to work in the marketplace.

Once you’ve written down your first magnetic message, it’s time to start planning your strategic offer.

4. Strategic Offers

• “What can I offer my ideal client — and at what price point?”

That’s the 4th question you’ll answer on your consulting business plan.

With clarity around your ideal client and a message that grabs their attention…

…you must create an offer — a service — that solves their problems and gets them the result that they want.

The classic custom consulting service is the “full engagement.”

After you engage in a meaningful sales conversation with your prospective client, you’ll send them a consulting proposal .

In your proposal, instead of including one option, you’ll include three:

Option 1 – $

• Basic offer
• Minimum effort required
• Provides value
• Lowest investment

Option 2 – $$

• Help them reach results quicker than option 1
• Provides more value than option 1 (ideally, without having to spend more time)
• Higher investment

Option 3 – $$$

• If money isn’t an issue
• Best results
• Shortest time to result
• Highest investment

Map out the different options you’ll offer your prospects.

Take a look at the marketing consulting example below for an idea of how the 3 different options might look:

However, we recommend you start with a discovery offer .

A discovery offer is a smaller service (priced at $1.5K to $15K). You design it to get your client a quick, low-risk win.

Your discovery offer helps get your “foot in the door” with the client. Once you get them that quick, low-risk win, they’ll trust your expertise. This will open the door for larger projects with the same client.

Discovery offers are easier to sell, create, and deliver.

Here’s our discovery offer checklist:

• Align with what the buyer wants
• Is a logical first step
• Leads to the next steps
• Ranges between $1.5K to $15K
• Provides tangible benefits (growth, clarity, etc)

Of course, you’ll also have to set your consulting fees .

You can use the hourly method, the fixed-rate method, the value-based method , or the retainer method.

Pricing is an incredibly complex and deep topic. But you’ll have to pick a price to start with and adjust it based on the feedback you get.

Never sell yourself short. Remember: pricing is marketing. If you can deliver your clients results, then charge what you’d feel good about.

Once you’ve mapped out your 3 engagement options and a discovery offer, you’re ready to take your offers to the marketplace — and start winning consulting business.

5. Marketing Engine/Sales Pipeline

• “How am I going to create conversations with my ideal client?”

This is the final question you’ll answer on your consulting business plan.

And it’s where you start to see real results: winning clients, delivering projects, and earning revenue.

However, according to our How To Become A Consultant Study , marketing and sales are where consultants struggle the most.

Your Marketing Engine is what you’re doing every day to get in front of your ideal clients.

Your Sales Pipeline organizes all of the leads who come into contact with you.

Let’s start with your pipeline.

Your pipeline is organized into 6 columns:

• LEAD . You’ve identified the prospective client and have begun reaching out to them to set-up a conversation.
• CONVERSATION . You’ve had a sales conversation with the prospective client.
• PROPOSAL . You’ve sent a proposal to the prospective client.
• WIN . The prospective client has accepted your proposal and you won the business.
• LOSS . The prospective client has declined your proposal and you lost the business.
• NURTURE . Most people you reach out to won’t be ready to buy or make a decision right away. In fact, even people who say ‘No’ to a proposal now, may buy from you later as long as you stay top of mind through your nurture process.

All of your prospective clients fit into one of these 6 categories.

Using a CRM to create and organize this pipeline will help you organize your marketing and sales efforts.

Marketing is what fills up your “lead” column.

Without marketing, you won’t have any leads. And without leads, you won’t have the chance to win new business.

We organize marketing for consultants in 3 different categories:

• Outreach: Reaching out to your ideal clients to initiate conversations.
• Follow-Ups: Following up with your ideal clients to initiative conversations.
• Authority Building : Creating content for your ideal clients that demonstrates your expertise and adds value — and helps create conversations.

A basic Marketing Engine will have you doing a mix of these different methods every day.

Every day, you want to be reaching out to new clients, following up with your leads, and creating content that demonstrates your expertise and adds value.

The type of marketing you focus on also depends on the stage of your business .

If you’re a newer consultant, you’ll rely more on outreach. You don’t have as much of an audience for authority content to work yet.

But if you’re a later-stage consultant, you’ll rely more on content. Your content and consulting website has a farther reach, and can generate leads at scale.

For your business plan, focus on setting up a pipeline that is easy to track, and creating the right marketing habits to fill up your leads column.

At this stage, your plan is done.

It’s time to start taking action.

Imperfect Action: Write Your Entrepreneurial Consultant Business Plan

By answering these 5 questions…

…you’ll write a consulting business plan that enables you to take action.

We’ve included dozens of articles, case studies , and guides on how to answer these 5 questions.

However, in consulting, execution is more important than your plan.

So, use our resources to help answer these 5 questions — and go build your consulting business.

Ready to Take Your Consulting Business to the Next Level?

Apply to join our Clarity Coaching Program , the place where dedicated consultants go to get a personalized plan, strategy, coaching and support to grow a successful consulting business.

If you’re committed and serious about growing your consulting business, then this customized coaching program is for you.

We’ll work hands on with you to develop a strategic plan and then dive deep and work through your ideal client clarity, strategic messaging, consulting offers, fees, and pricing, business model optimization, and help you to set up your marketing engine and lead generation system to consistently attract ideal clients.

Schedule a FREE growth session today to apply for our limited-capacity Clarity Coaching Program by clicking here .

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Privacy Overview

• Business plans

Consultant Business Plan Template

Used 4,999 times

An example of a document outlining your strategy for launching or expanding your consulting firm is a Consultant Business Plan Template. The essential elements include a summary of the company, team, sector, rivals, target audience, and an operations and marketing strategy.

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Created by:

​ [Sender.FirstName] [Sender.LastName] ​

​ [Sender.Company] ​

​ [Sender.Title] ​

​ [Sender.Email] ​

​ [Sender.Phone] ​

Prepared for:

​ [Client.FirstName] [Client.LastName] ​

Business Overview

​ [Sender.Company] is led by [Manager.FirstName] [Manager.LastName] who graduated from (add school and educational background if applicable) and has (number) years of experience as a business consultant in the (name) industry.

The business model [Sender.Company] uses is (describe business model, e.g., subscription, flat fees, hourly fees, etc.).

Management Team

In addition to [Manager.FirstName] [Manager.LastName] , [Sender.Company] has a strong management team with extensive experience in the consulting industry.

Chief Financial Officer

(CFO.FirstName) (CFO.LastName) has (number) years of experience in the consulting industry, including work experience with (companies).

Chief Operating Officer

(COO.FirstName) (COO.LastName) graduated from (school name) and has since accumulated (number) years of experience in the consulting industry. Some of his/her most prominent work experience includes stints (companies).

Chief Marketing Officer

(CMO.FirstName) (CMO.LastName) has held leadership positions at companies like (company names) and has spent (number) years achieving positive results like (positive work results).

Customer Analysis

​ [Sender.Company] ’s target market is composed primarily of (describe your ideal client).

The demographics of these clients are as follows:

Businesses in (industry)

An average income of $(XXX,XXX)

Largely owner/operator

In business (XX) years on average

Industry Analysis

After a thorough analysis of the industry, [Sender.Company] has discovered a multitude of trends and statistics that bode well for the business, including:

Share some statistics that illustrate the opportunity for your business, e.g., the size of the consulting industry and your niche, the growth rate, results from surveys of your target market, the average income of consulting practices, etc.)

Competitive Analysis

​ [Sender.Company] will operate in an industry with multiple competitors, and these are some of the most prominent competitors that have been identified:

(Outline 2-3 competitors by describing their business in terms of how long they've been around, how many employees they have, and anything especially distinct about their business.)

Success Factors

​ [Sender.Company] is positioned to overcome its competitors because:

The product/service being offered has unique advantages.

The price point is more attractive than the standard market price.

The operators have extensive experience in this industry.

The company has relationships in place that will generate positive results.

Marketing Plan

​ [Sender.Company] plans to use (type of marketing strategy, e.g., paid advertising, SEO, content marketing, social media, etc.) to generate customers.

Specifically, [Sender.Company] 's marketing plan will involve executing these tasks:

Build a website.

Create SEO-friendly content.

Launch paid advertising campaigns.

Engage prospects with email marketing campaigns.

(Add more tasks as needed)

Operations Plan

​ [Sender.Company] has determined that the following departments and personnel will be essential for the success of the company:

Human Resources

​ [Sender.Company] 's human resources department will be critical in hiring essential talent and maintaining happy employees. The company assesses that a team of (number of full or part-time employees, contractors, etc.) will be needed.

A marketing department consisting of (number of full or part-time employees, contractors, etc.) will be needed to generate buzz and create customers for [Sender.Company] .

Customer Service

​ [Sender.Company] 's business will involve servicing many clients, so a customer service department consisting of (number of full or part-time employees, contractors, etc.) will be important to maintain strong relationships.

Financial Plan

​ [Sender.Company] is seeking funding in the amount of $(amount of money) to launch and scale its business. The capital will be used primarily for (state what funding will be used for, e.g., web design, marketing, hiring employees, etc.)

Specifically, these funds will be appropriated in the following ways:

Web design: approximately $(amount of money)

Marketing: approximately $(amount of money)

Personnel: approximately $(amount of money)

​ [Sender.Company] is projecting the following financial results:

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How to Write a Business Plan for a Consulting Business

There are four key areas that you should focus on when developing a business plan for your consulting business..

If you've found yourself holding a pink slip from your corporate employer or perhaps are just tired of the old 9 to 5 grind, one of the best ways to get back on your feet might be turning your experience and skills into a consulting gig since just about anyone who possesses specialized skills can hang out a shingle of their own. But before you do, you might want to consider taking the time to create a business plan for your new venture, which will not only help you map out the opportunities before you, but also the threats. While business plans doesn't appeal to everyone, especially if you don't ever expect to raise capital for your business, it can be a critical factor in getting your business off the ground, says Jennifer Leake, a certified management consultant and founder of Consultants Gold , an online community dedicated to helping consultants run their ventures successfully. That's why, as you get started, Leake offers the following tips for developing a plan:

• Write it! "Putting it on paper requires far more thought than just having it in your head," says Leake.
• Keep it simple so that you revisit it often—so don't make it too long or too complex, she warns.
• Spend the lion's share of your time defining your niche and why you are uniquely situated to serve it. "If you can't succinctly articulate what your business is selling, you'll never get people to buy," says Leake. 
• Don't create your plan in a vacuum. "You'll develop a better business plan if you have feedback, and you'll be more likely to take action if you have accountability from mentors, coaches, or success partners," she says.

But crafting a business plan for your new consulting company doesn't mean you should stick to the average template you can find online, as you should spend your time focusing on the elements that most often make or break companies in your industry. "Writing a business plan for a consulting firm sounds fairly straightforward because there are so many who call themselves 'consultants,' but it can be quite difficult for many reasons," says Michael Hermens, president of Finance Forward , a financial advisory firm in Dallas. That's why Hermens says that you should focus on four key areas when fleshing out your business plan: 1. Value Proposition Answer this question: What is your specific value proposition? "Thousands of ex-IT programmers are now 'Social Media Consultants,' " says Hermens. "What do you do that thousands of other people don't?" The keys to building a solid value proposition are to give decision makers solace that they made the right decision, he says, which can be done in three ways: 1. Offer a service guarantee, 2. Build and take prospects through a well-defined methodology, or 3. Specialize so narrowly that it is easier to increase your stature. "The challenge with a guarantee is that larger firms don't normally purchase on that basis and smaller firms generally take a service guarantee as a tacit admittance of being mistake prone," says Hermens. "A well defined methodology or approach takes a while to build, but is well worth it for prospects who do not know you. Narrow focus helps potential consultants gain exposure, increased stature helps clients be satisfied with their hiring decision."

Dig Deeper : Nobody Buys a Value Proposition 2. Target Market Answer this question: What is the best target market for you, or do you hunt every potential client that might possibly need your services? "Understanding your target market is the most difficult planning activity," says Hermens. But developing an understanding of the competitive landscape is crucial, particularly go-to-market and pricing strategies, as well as the specific problems that the industry or market segment is trying to solve. "Gaining insight into how companies in your industry go to market, the basis on which consulting firms compete, matters," he says. "In strategy consulting, it might be references of former clients or the published knowledge share that gets clients interested. In large IT deployments, it is probably the strength of the methodology. With forensic consulting, your name and personal credibility is a huge selling point." In other words, determining how you should go to market, how (or how much) you charge your clients, and your familiarity with specific industry jargon and problems the industry is trying to solve, are crucial in planning your consulting business, according to Hermens. One approach offered by Beth Corson, founder of Your FundingKey Advisors , is to choose a few industries and then outline the size and type of businesses that you'd like to work within those industries. "Rather than the desperate approach of taking any client that comes along, be selective and create a clear road map of where you want to go," she says. "Several years from now, your client roster should be fairly close to the plan that you make now. By working with similar clients in a specific industry, your company creates a level of expertise that makes it easier to perform well and get new clients because you understand their unique challenges and how to overcome them."

Dig Deeper : How to Define Your Target Market 3. Marketing Answer these questions: How do you market your consulting business? What tactics do you employ to get in front of decision makers to evaluate your offering? There's no question that in order to get your new consulting venture off the ground, you'll need to market your skills and experience to potential clients. That can be difficult, though, when you're a sole proprietor, since time spent marketing is time you're not billing for. While you can always hire an outside firm to help, your fledgling business might find the cost prohibitive. The answer, then, is to be creative in finding ways to promote your offering. One way to do that could be through landing public speaking engagements, which can be very effective at promoting your knowledge and point of view on your industry's challenges, says Hermens. Another option can be to partner with other companies that might offer complementary services to your own, a tact that may also help you build experience in new areas. But, at some point, you must develop your own client relationships independently if you want to keep your company growing.

Dig Deeper : How to Promote Your Consulting Business 4. Employees Answer these questions: If you have employees, what is the best way to deploy them, given the reality of project work? Do you plan to pay them hourly, by confirmed project, or salaried? "The issue here is how do you leverage yourself to grow revenue?" says Hermens. "Consultants who develop their brand can write books and charge an hourly rate, but they still cannot serve two clients simultaneously. Leverage allows your consultancy to flourish as your company takes on more projects." The key, then, is to think about how you align revenue arrangements with employee compensation and how to pay employees to ensure they are available when you need them by asking yourself questions like: Do you pay a salary and risk a lull in projects? Or, perhaps you pay employees on a project basis, only when they work, risking their availability when you get a new contract? "The goal here is to align revenue with employees compensation in the beginning as your consultancy grows," says Hermens. "Once your business becomes large enough, put key people on a salary, with performance bonuses. They will stick with you, have learned your go-to-market strategy, and know your methodology inside and out."

Dig Deeper : The New Rules of Employee Compensation

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How to Start a Consulting Business: Your One Page Business Plan Learn the three critical components of your business plan and download a template to get started

By Terry Rice Edited by Dan Bova Apr 28, 2021

I wrote several business plans while obtaining my MBA from the University at Buffalo. But, for some reason, I totally skipped that part when it was time to launch my consulting business. My only real plan was to generate revenue, which often involved saying "yes!" to any opportunity that came my way, and not charging nearly enough for the services. And, when my daughter was born, I was too concerned about the future to be fully present. I was there, but I was more preoccupied with worrying about how I would provide for her than I was with enjoying and appreciating the experience.

Fortunately, that all changed once I decided to create a real plan aligned with the vision I had for my business and my family. That was six years ago and I've now packaged it as the One Page Business Plan for Consultants . I'm sharing the framework with you so you can avoid my mistakes, and compress the amount of time it takes for you to find fulfillment. This is by no means a hack - you're going to put in work - but this guide will reduce the confusion and frustration that can come from starting a new business.

I should also note that you may not complete it in one sitting. By design, it will challenge you and expose blind spots you may not be aware of. That's a good thing! Addressing these critical issues now will save you from months - possibly even years - of self-doubt and lost revenue.

And, if you're currently offering professional services , but are wondering why you haven't been able to "figure it out" just yet, this plan could be the key to unlocking your revenue potential.

It's all centered around answering three critical questions, which I've highlighted below.

Related: Learn how to package, price, and promote your consulting services

What do you do, who do you do it for, and why?

Clarity is the precursor to confidence. Once you establish clarity on your services, audience and motivation; you'll be able to confidently move forward with the next steps. I address how to get clear on your services in the article How to Start a Consulting Business: 3 Steps to Finding Your Idea , so I suggest checking that out in addition to the guidance provided in the business plan.

Be sure not to skip defining your "WHY" - the purpose, the cause, or the belief that drives you - this will become a valuable differentiator as you grow your business. And, if you need help crafting yours, Simon Sinek literally wrote the book on it, but you can also check out his brief YouTube video that provides some valuable tips.

How do you attract clients and opportunities by expressing your expertise and personality? (Marketing)

When I first started offering Digital Marketing services, I visited a local business in Brooklyn so I could pitch them in person. I knew launching a business would require stepping out of my comfort zone and I saw this as the perfect opportunity to do so. Incredibly enough, they said "yes", but I never did door-to-door sales again. Why? Because I hated it, and I knew there had to be a more efficient way.

Your goal should be to land clients based on how you feel comfortable presenting yourself and the value you provide. Not by spending 20 minutes hyping yourself up by listening to Eminem's "Lose Yourself" on repeat before you finally get enough courage to ask for their business. Everyone may be telling you to join Clubhouse , but answering questions on Quora might be a better fit for your personality.

It's also crucial to attract the right prospects. I used to get contacted by people who asked how much I charged before asking how I could help. In time, you'll learn how to weed those people out so you can focus on prospects who understand the value you provide and are willing to pay you what you're worth.

Beyond that, your marketing tactics need to be measurable and repeatable. Otherwise, you won't know how to avoid making the same mistakes or double down on what's working for you.

Related: How to Grow Your Email List and Sales Pipeline by Creating Your Own Free Mini-Course

How do you deliver your services and scale revenue? (Delivery)

Experiencing burnout — emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress — is far too common with entrepreneurs. One way to avoid it: develop a process to deliver your services that is aligned with efficiency and impact.

While custom projects can be lucrative, they also require much more coordination and development. Defining the delivery - and pricing - of your services in advance allows you to create a business model that is aligned with your desired revenue and lifestyle goals.

You can see options for delivering your services below.

By documenting this process, you'll also be able to better project and scale revenue, which reduces uncertainty and gives you the freedom to take time off without worrying about where your next paycheck is coming from.

Related: How to Start a Consulting Business: Determining Your Rates

Download the One Page Business Plan and block off three hours to work on it. I suggest working for 50 minutes, taking a 10-minute break, and repeating that cycle three times. And, if you have any questions feel free to reach to me on LinkedIn or join a live Q&A session .

Ready to start your consulting business? Check out our Consulting Business Accelerator and get going today! You'll gain access to training videos, hands-on activities and join live weekly Q&A calls.

Entrepreneur Staff

Business Development Expert-in-Residence

Terry Rice is the Business Development Expert-in-Residence at Entrepreneur and Managing Director of Growth & Partnerships at Good People Digital ; an agency that provides marketing and monetization solutions for entrepreneurs. He writes a newsletter about how to build your business and personal resilience and personal brand in just 5 minutes per week and created a revenue optimization checklist to help you multiply your income potential. 

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

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Growth Management and Strategies

Executive summary executive summary is a brief introduction to your business plan. it describes your business, the problem that it solves, your target market, and financial highlights.">.

Growth Management and Strategies (GMS) is an ambitious innovative new company that is attempting to turn the small business consulting business on its head. With an experienced consultant at the helm as President, GMS intends to grow at more than 50% per year through solid customer service, a great sales plan, proven competitive strategies, and a group of people that bring dynamic energy to the company and the sales process.

The goal for this plan is financial: GMS needs a Small Business Adminstration (SBA) loan, and this document is one step in the process. It is also a road map for the company. The document gives all present and future employees, as well as the owner a sense of purpose that may exist without the business plan, but becomes more relevant after the business plan is written, reviewed, shared, and edited by all. It is a living document that will last far beyond the SBA loan purpose, or if that doesn’t occur, to bring an investor on board.

GMS’s financials are realistic, and based on very conservative sales figures relative to the industry as a whole. That is because one of the goals of GMS is to build the business one client at a time, and to serve each client as if it were the last. This is how loyalty is generated, and cultivated. Customer service is what GMS will do best, and is a large part of the company’s overall mission.

1.1 Objectives

The objectives for Growth Management and Strategies are:

• Gain access to an SBA loan upon start up.
• Grow the company from 2 employees in Year 1, to over 10 by Year 5.
• Increase revenue to over $3 million by Year 3.
• Increase client base by 450% in three years.
• Maintain job costing that keeps margins above 70%.

1.2 Mission

The company mission is to serve small business clients that are in need of logistical, technical, and business strategy services. All projects will be chosen based on the availability of human resources, and each individual employee will be given the respect of a contract worker, and will share in profits for each job. Politics have no place at Growth Management and Strategies, and to limit the affects of favoritism, the company will implement and clearly communicate a performance review policy that applies to those at the bottom as well as the top of the leadership ladder. Credit will be given to the person who performed and/or innovatively modified a project, and compensation will be both financial and in the form of commendation.

Growth Management and Strategies is a company that respects the needs and expectations of its employees and clients. If either is compromised, adjustments will be made so that the company culture may remain intact.

1.3 Keys to Success

Our keys to success are:

• To maintain client satisfaction of at least 90%.
• To keep overhead low.
• To ensure professional marketing and presentation of services.
• To provide an active and functional website.

Company Summary company overview ) is an overview of the most important points about your company—your history, management team, location, mission statement and legal structure.">

Growth Management and Strategies was established as a C corporation. The company’s headquarters are located in Boston, MA, near Copely Place. The company was established as a result of the efforts of its owner, Bill Dawson, and his experience in leading small businesses into prolonged periods of growth and innovation. Dawson worked for McKinsey before being hired away to Bain and Company. A Harvard graduate, Dawson spent hundreds of hours each week for nearly a year, slowly building the company to where it is now.

The company has had numerous successes this year, including one client that was purchased by a major multinational conglomerate, and another that experienced product sales growth of over 700% the first year.

2.1 Start-up Summary

This start-up summary table lists all the costs associated with establishing a lease, purchasing office equipment, and pulling together the other resources necessary to get the business off the ground. Furniture, LAN lines, and additional technology purchases are a must in order to properly communicate with clients, and to establish a website.

Other services included in the start-up summary are legal consulting fees, kept to a minimum thanks to resources provided by Nolo. Incorporation fees are included in the legal fees line item.

The free cash flow (cash balance) appearing in this start-up table is high relative to other small consulting businesses of its size. The owner is preoccupied with maintaining positive cash flow, and is risk averse enough to understand that during months in which contracts are not available, the corporation must sustain itself.  With this said, planned debt leverage is low, therefore risk to the lender is relatively low as well.

2.2 Company Ownership

Growth Management and Strategies is wholly owned by Bill Dawson, and is classified as an LLC.

Growth Management and Strategies offers a variety of services to the small business client. Many of the services are customized for each client, and a bidding process is observed. The company also offers a traditional fixed rate sheet for its services.

Market Analysis Summary how to do a market analysis for your business plan.">

The target customer owns a small business, and is generally dissatisfied with the revenue that the business is generating, or is dissatisfied with the daily management of their business. The customer is likely to operate a business worth between $200K and $10 million, with growth rates of between 1-10%, or even a negative growth rate.

Market growth, that is, the predicted growth in the small business sector within the Boston/Cambridge Metro area is expected to be around 3% per year. This may increase due to additional SBA lending programs designed to match the strengths of research and faculty grant work with the needs of the market and small businesses willing to take new products to market. Regardless of the market growth, the company’s customer base is far more dependant upon service needs, and a solid reputation. Mr. Dawson is well respected within the community, and has built a number of relationships with high profile individuals, and is a frequent contributor to the business section of the Boston Herald.

The corresponding market analysis table below breaks the potential market down into tactical sub-markets.

4.1 Market Segmentation

• Debt of more than 30% yearly revenue.
• Free cash flow frequently in the negative, requiring deep pocket borrowing or investment.
• Long-term growth underperforming relative to competitors.
• Management discord and performance issues.

These are not the only differentiators used to determine the market potential for a client, they are simply a starting point for the sales team as they reach out to this group of small businesses, owners and investors.

4.2 Target Market Segment Strategy

The target market strategy involves isolating potential customers by revenue, then drilling down to very specific needs via the sales team’s needs analysis methodology.

The first tier customers, businesses with over $3 million in revenue, is more experienced in outsourcing and may find themselves more comfortable hiring Growth Management and Strategies on retainer. Strategically, a retainer helps maintain consistent cash flow, even if during some months these customers will require more services than what they have paid for that month. This issue will be addressed in the Personnel topic.

The second tier customers, those businesses operating at revenue levels of $501K – $3 million, typically are very excited to have moved out of the home office stage, and into a new level of stability. If they are self-funded, these businesses can be the most challenging to work with because they are often not willing to part with company shares, and don’t yet have a sense of what kind of marketing investment is necessary to grow a business at this stage. The company will serve these small businesses based on a bid cycle, and needs analysis.

The third tier customers are easier to identify, and more ubiquitous than the rest. These small businesses are operating on $200K – $500K in revenue, often are operating out of a home, and have a firm sense of their market and potential, yet have trouble executing their plans effectively, or following through on growth strategies that generate wealth. Again, the strategy is to provide these businesses with a short needs analysis, and focus on the quantity of such customers to maintain a solid revenue stream.

4.3 Service Business Analysis

This industry is split up between a variety of players, including small businesses advising small businesses, such as the case with Growth Management and Strategies, to large conglomerate multinational consulting firms that send in newbie MBAs and use their name recognition to convince their clients that every one of these MBAs will generate over $300K a year in value. Sometimes they do, but when they don’t, GMS plans to be there.  

At the other end of the spectrum, there are a wide variety of mom and pop consulting firms owned by very talented people who simply don’t have the marketing resources or expertise to reach a broader spectrum of customer.

GMS is somewhere in between. With years of guerrilla marketing experience, and a long-term plan for success, Mr. Dawson is determined to build the company each client at a time, and to focus on a sales team that outperforms all the competitors.

GMS is planning to grow exponentially within the first two years, to over $2 million in consulting revenue. At this point the service business analysis will be re-evaluated from the outside in.

4.3.1 Competition and Buying Patterns

Typically small business clients will learn about the consulting services market through word-of-mouth experience passed on through a friend or contemporary. Still, outbound sales teams dominate this category, and the stronger your sales team and name recognition, the greater your odds of finding clients willing to place your company on retainer or accept your company’s bid. The most competitive players in this market tend to have some of the best sales teams in the industry, that is, people who know not only how to communicate the technical needs analysis in a non-technical way, but in addition, are able to follow through and execute on promises and provide accurate, industry specific information that is useful to the client even before the deal is made.

Price is also important, and operates on a complex tiered system that is dependant upon the effectiveness of a particular salesperson, the word-of-mouth (WOM) advertising already in the mind of the potential client, and the ability of the client to reform the way they think about their own business. The demands of turning a business around, or pushing it to the limits of its potential are in direct proportion to the price of each bid. GMS must be careful not to be lured into out bidding a competitor, only to find that the customer has no plans to modify their business plan, and are seeking a “magic bullet” that may or may not exist. Competition in this industry leads to frustration and burnout for many people, and it takes a strong sense of purpose to push the business beyond the realm of the high-intensity, low-return client.

Strategy and Implementation Summary

GMS will pursue a strategy in line with the experience of the owner, and implementation will be performance based and follow a clear path. Milestones are important to the implementation of this plan, and so is the vision and the will of the company’s owner, Mr. Dawson. The overall company strategy is tied very closely with the sales strategy, that is, with the front lines of the business. One of the biggest threats to any strategy is that they can become too high-minded, and not literal enough to translate into action. This will not be the case with GMS, a solid company that hires top talent and achieves it’s goals on time and on budget.

5.1 Competitive Edge

GMS has a significant competitive edge in the following areas:

• Customer service mobility – As a customer-centric firm, GMS offers no hold phone lines, same day email responses, and callbacks within one hour. In addition, the phone technology is set up in such a way as to provide salespeople with all databased information about the customer before they say “hello”. 
• “Needs Analysis” service – Possibly the best competitive edge in an industry fraught with agressive outbound sales teams and your run of the mill ego-centric, customer alienating, consultants.
• A considerable network of contacts – Mr. Dawson is well connected in the area of general consulting, and his Harvard degree opens doors via simple bragging rights, and an extensive alumni network.

5.2 Marketing Strategy

GMS’s marketing strategy revolves around a three-tiered focus. At the top of pyramid one, imagine a customer service ideal. This ideal is also included in the competitive comparison.

Pyramid three has at the top a team-centric company culture. Tactics revolve around building this culture from the ground up so that it rewards innovation and determination, and management shows no personal bias or favoritism except when a salesperson or consultant is outperforming the mean. Although this strategy appears to be an internal management goal or company summary object, it is highly relevant to marketing’s performance because without integrity standards and a consistent company culture, GMS’s marketing will feel disconnected and unsupported, and will suffer as a result. A more detailed breakdown of tactics and programs related to this strategy is available in the full marketing plan. 

5.3 Sales Strategy

GMS plans to develop and train 5-6 new salespeople by year two. Upon start up, the primary sales contact will be Mr. Dawson, but this will change as the revenues increase, and the company is able to invest in human capital.

GMS has a sales strategy that focuses on an initial needs analysis. Once the results of the needs analysis has been forwarded or described over the phone to a potential client, the salesperson will ask for a personal interview, a chance to sit down and discuss specifics. At no time should this be perceived by the potential client as “pushy” or “agressive.” 

The goal of this sales process is to get behind the numbers, and the business successes, to identify where the client’s needs lie. Once this is mapped out, GMS will decide how these problems can be best addressed, and will offer both a bid and some action points. If the client wants to use the action points to move forward on their own, this is very acceptable. GMS’s research has in fact shown that the clients that choose this path, often come back to seek additional information, and more often than not, accept the bid.

This strategy differs from the course often taken by large consulting firms in that the customer is not condescended to, or treated as if the knowledge isn’t right there in their own heads. Often, consulting companies will send a large ego to clean up a client’s mess, and find that the strategy backfires when the client only chooses to give the consultant the chance to bid. GMS’s sales strategy revolves around customer service and empowerment, not condescension and sales “closers.”

5.3.1 Sales Forecast

Sales forecast is based on the assumption that most of the revenue will be the result of consulting bids. The growth in retainer revenue is about 30% lower than the expected yearly growth in consulting bids of 80%/year. This may seem like an agressive number at first glance, but this is not a large company being discussed in this business plan. The smaller the company, often the larger the opportunity for exponential sales growth, and especially if the firm uses sound sales and marketing strategies to take share from the larger, less nimble consultancies.

The Needs Analysis service is listed only to highlight the fact that some outside information gathering firms/consultants will be used to compile the necessary information. This poses some risk because there are no costs associated with the Needs Analysis efforts. Nevertheless, GMS is confident that this product will set the company apart from the competition, and generate sales far in excess of the costs incurred.

5.4 Milestones

The milestones table includes one listing each for the business plan and the marketing plan. Each of these are crucial to the long-term and short-term success of GMS. The other milestones are also important, but most are simply tasks necessary in starting up almost any business. Nevertheless, the most important milestone in this table is financial. The SBA loan will determine whether this company will have the working capital to operate for 5-12 months with little or no immediate revenue. If GMS cannot find the working capital to meet the minimum cash flow expectations set forth in this document, the company will dissolve and the owner will turn his talents elsewhere. Therefore, it is possible that the line item for “SBA Loan” may be changed to acquire family or friends as investors. Ideally it will not come to that and Mr. Dawson will be able to retain full control of the company, and direct it entirely based on his vision.

Management Summary management summary will include information about who's on your team and why they're the right people for the job, as well as your future hiring plans.">

The management team will initially consist of Bill Dawson. A Harvard MBA, and world-renowned consultant for major Fortune 500 companies, Mr. Dawson has built a reputation based his customer-centric approach to consulting, a relative anomaly in the world of high profile consulting. Many consultants are trained to believe they are right and the client was put on this earth to learn from the consultant. That is not the case for GMS, as the management team (Dawson) takes a different tact. The consultant acts as an interviewer, learning all that is possible to learn about the client in a one or two week period. As a management tool, this approach is very effective because it gives the sales team flexibility in dealing with potential customers, and relieves the uncomfortable pressure to close the sale.

Mr. Dawson’s approach to managing customers is also the approach he will take in dealing with his salespeople. GMS doesn’t need a hefty management structure, or administrative overhead. Many of those processes may be handled through outsourcing and Internet technology. On the contrary, the management structure at GMS is designed to reward the performer and educate the underperformer. Each salesperson is given a battery of psychological and rational tests, and most importantly, are screened based on how well they will fit into the Dawson management style. This leaves little to chance, and encourages a team atmosphere that remains light-hearted and fun.

6.1 Personnel Plan

This table demonstrates how GMS plans to start acquiring clients. One salesperson will be trained initially, and that person will later head a team of salespeople as the company expands. The promise of growth, and chance to work for a strategically positioned consulting business is enough to have three major players bidding for the job. Although each will see a major cut in salary from their current position, the chance to share in company profits (10%) and growth is enough to draw them to a low base, high commission position that offers no guarantees.

Financial Plan investor-ready personnel plan .">

The Financial Plan is based on a pending SBA loan, and a corresponding cash flow amount held in a highly liquid account.

7.1 Important Assumptions

7.2 Break-even Analysis

The Break-even Analysis table is based on the assumption that each hour worked can be billed at approximately $70 per unit, and the employees will start at approximately $25/hour. This doesn’t include the cost of the payroll burden, however the assumptions are fairly accurate. Fixed costs are related to the lease and other monthly costs.

7.3 Projected Cash Flow

The following table and chart show the Projected Cash Flow figures for Growth Management and Strategies.

7.4 Projected Profit and Loss

The following table and charts are the Projected Profit and Loss and Gross Margin figures for Growth Management and Strategies.

7.5 Projected Balance Sheet

The following table is the Projected Balance Sheet for Growth Management and Strategies.

7.6 Business Ratios

Business ratios for the years of this plan are shown below. Industry profile ratios based on the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code 8742, Business Management Consultants, are shown for comparison.

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Business Plan Example and Template

Learn how to create a business plan

What is a Business Plan?

A business plan is a document that contains the operational and financial plan of a business, and details how its objectives will be achieved. It serves as a road map for the business and can be used when pitching investors or financial institutions for debt or equity financing .

A business plan should follow a standard format and contain all the important business plan elements. Typically, it should present whatever information an investor or financial institution expects to see before providing financing to a business.

Contents of a Business Plan

A business plan should be structured in a way that it contains all the important information that investors are looking for. Here are the main sections of a business plan:

1. Title Page

The title page captures the legal information of the business, which includes the registered business name, physical address, phone number, email address, date, and the company logo.

2. Executive Summary

The executive summary is the most important section because it is the first section that investors and bankers see when they open the business plan. It provides a summary of the entire business plan. It should be written last to ensure that you don’t leave any details out. It must be short and to the point, and it should capture the reader’s attention. The executive summary should not exceed two pages.

3. Industry Overview

The industry overview section provides information about the specific industry that the business operates in. Some of the information provided in this section includes major competitors, industry trends, and estimated revenues. It also shows the company’s position in the industry and how it will compete in the market against other major players.

4. Market Analysis and Competition

The market analysis section details the target market for the company’s product offerings. This section confirms that the company understands the market and that it has already analyzed the existing market to determine that there is adequate demand to support its proposed business model.

Market analysis includes information about the target market’s demographics , geographical location, consumer behavior, and market needs. The company can present numbers and sources to give an overview of the target market size.

A business can choose to consolidate the market analysis and competition analysis into one section or present them as two separate sections.

5. Sales and Marketing Plan

The sales and marketing plan details how the company plans to sell its products to the target market. It attempts to present the business’s unique selling proposition and the channels it will use to sell its goods and services. It details the company’s advertising and promotion activities, pricing strategy, sales and distribution methods, and after-sales support.

6. Management Plan

The management plan provides an outline of the company’s legal structure, its management team, and internal and external human resource requirements. It should list the number of employees that will be needed and the remuneration to be paid to each of the employees.

Any external professionals, such as lawyers, valuers, architects, and consultants, that the company will need should also be included. If the company intends to use the business plan to source funding from investors, it should list the members of the executive team, as well as the members of the advisory board.

7. Operating Plan

The operating plan provides an overview of the company’s physical requirements, such as office space, machinery, labor, supplies, and inventory . For a business that requires custom warehouses and specialized equipment, the operating plan will be more detailed, as compared to, say, a home-based consulting business. If the business plan is for a manufacturing company, it will include information on raw material requirements and the supply chain.

8. Financial Plan

The financial plan is an important section that will often determine whether the business will obtain required financing from financial institutions, investors, or venture capitalists. It should demonstrate that the proposed business is viable and will return enough revenues to be able to meet its financial obligations. Some of the information contained in the financial plan includes a projected income statement , balance sheet, and cash flow.

9. Appendices and Exhibits

The appendices and exhibits part is the last section of a business plan. It includes any additional information that banks and investors may be interested in or that adds credibility to the business. Some of the information that may be included in the appendices section includes office/building plans, detailed market research , products/services offering information, marketing brochures, and credit histories of the promoters.

Business Plan Template

Here is a basic template that any business can use when developing its business plan:

Section 1: Executive Summary

• Present the company’s mission.
• Describe the company’s product and/or service offerings.
• Give a summary of the target market and its demographics.
• Summarize the industry competition and how the company will capture a share of the available market.
• Give a summary of the operational plan, such as inventory, office and labor, and equipment requirements.

Section 2: Industry Overview

• Describe the company’s position in the industry.
• Describe the existing competition and the major players in the industry.
• Provide information about the industry that the business will operate in, estimated revenues, industry trends, government influences, as well as the demographics of the target market.

Section 3: Market Analysis and Competition

• Define your target market, their needs, and their geographical location.
• Describe the size of the market, the units of the company’s products that potential customers may buy, and the market changes that may occur due to overall economic changes.
• Give an overview of the estimated sales volume vis-à-vis what competitors sell.
• Give a plan on how the company plans to combat the existing competition to gain and retain market share.

Section 4: Sales and Marketing Plan

• Describe the products that the company will offer for sale and its unique selling proposition.
• List the different advertising platforms that the business will use to get its message to customers.
• Describe how the business plans to price its products in a way that allows it to make a profit.
• Give details on how the company’s products will be distributed to the target market and the shipping method.

Section 5: Management Plan

• Describe the organizational structure of the company.
• List the owners of the company and their ownership percentages.
• List the key executives, their roles, and remuneration.
• List any internal and external professionals that the company plans to hire, and how they will be compensated.
• Include a list of the members of the advisory board, if available.

Section 6: Operating Plan

• Describe the location of the business, including office and warehouse requirements.
• Describe the labor requirement of the company. Outline the number of staff that the company needs, their roles, skills training needed, and employee tenures (full-time or part-time).
• Describe the manufacturing process, and the time it will take to produce one unit of a product.
• Describe the equipment and machinery requirements, and if the company will lease or purchase equipment and machinery, and the related costs that the company estimates it will incur.
• Provide a list of raw material requirements, how they will be sourced, and the main suppliers that will supply the required inputs.

Section 7: Financial Plan

• Describe the financial projections of the company, by including the projected income statement, projected cash flow statement, and the balance sheet projection.

Section 8: Appendices and Exhibits

• Quotes of building and machinery leases
• Proposed office and warehouse plan
• Market research and a summary of the target market
• Credit information of the owners
• List of product and/or services

Related Readings

Thank you for reading CFI’s guide to Business Plans. To keep learning and advancing your career, the following CFI resources will be helpful:

• Corporate Structure
• Three Financial Statements
• Business Model Canvas Examples
• See all management & strategy resources
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Written by Amy Rigby | April 5, 2019

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Starting a business is an inherently optimistic endeavor. Despite the odds , we entrepreneurs do everything in our power to set ourselves up for success, hoping that our business will defy the statistics and be among the minority that makes it past the 10-year mark.

But if we’re so concerned about success, why is it that so many of us place so much intense focus on our online business ideas , but ignore the tried-and-true business plan ? Research has shown that having a business plan can boost your average annual growth by 30%  and increase your chances of succeeding by 16% !

There’s a lot of debate in the entrepreneurial world about whether business plans are valuable , and while we at Foundr are certainly all about execution, we’re not about to argue with what the research clearly shows about the benefits of proper planning.

And before you think, “I’m just starting out—what good is a business plan for me?” I feel you.

When I started my business in 2013, I didn’t have a plan, much less a formal business plan. And guess what? Three months into it, I ran out of money. I didn’t know who my clients were or how to find them because I had never put much thought into it. I flip-flopped among several seemingly unrelated services (videography, photography, copywriting, and more).

Thankfully, I have since streamlined my services and am about to celebrate six years in business, but I think I could’ve avoided many mistakes if I had at least made a simple business plan for myself when I started.

To help you have the best chances of succeeding in your business, I’ll walk you through the basic components of a business plan.

What Is a Business Plan and Why Do You Need One?

A business plan is a roadmap for where you want your business to go. It can be one page or multiple pages, but at its core, it answers:

• What is your business?
• Who does it serve?
• What does it sell?
• How will it make money?
• How will it stand out in the market?
• What are its plans for growth?

While it’s not required  when starting a business, having a business plan is helpful for a few reasons:

• It can help you get bank loans.  Before approving you for a business loan, banks will want to see that your business is legitimate and able to repay the loan. This will usually require that you provide them with a business plan to review.
• It can help you win over investors.  Similar to the banks above, investors want to know that they’re making a promising investment when they lend you money.
• It can help you stay focused. Having a business plan that outlines your target audience, your mission, the services you offer, and more, can help you make sure you’re staying focused on your overall goals for your business. For example, maybe you’re a content marketing agency and you’re toying with the idea of adding on branding as a service you provide. A quick glance at your business plan might remind you that that’s not why you started this business. Your business plan can prevent you from wasting time and resources on something that isn’t aligned with your business goals.
• It can help your business succeed.  One study of more than 1,000 aspiring entrepreneurs   over a six-year period found that those who created a formal business plan were 16% more likely to achieve viability than those who didn’t plan.

As you can see, planning can pay off—especially if you’re seeking funding .

Who Are You Writing Your Business Plan for?

Before you begin writing your business plan, consider your audience. A business plan will be written differently depending on who’s going to end up reading it. Bankers, for instance, have different motivations than equity investors (venture capital fund managers and angel investors).

In this review of the literature , researchers found that bankers are most concerned about whether you can repay the loan; therefore, they’re more likely to scrutinize the financial section, looking for good cash flow and the opportunity for taking collateral.

VCs and angel investors, on the other hand, are more interested in potential growth and return on investment; so they’ll likely focus on your capabilities, the service you’re offering or the product you’re selling, and the market you want to enter.

If you’re simply creating a business plan to help you stay focused on your business goals, then you’re more likely to write about your plans for the future and milestones you want to reach, rather than any history or track record.

Basic Components of a Business Plan

Business plans vary depending on the business and its audience, but below are some of the basic components of a business plan that apply across the board.

Executive Summary

Begin with an executive summary that introduces the reader to your business and gives them an overview of what’s inside the business plan.

Here’s an excerpt from the U.S. Small Business Administration’s example consulting business plan :

We Can Do It Consulting provides consultation services to small- and medium-sized companies. Our services include office management and business process re engineering to improve efficiency and reduce administrative costs.

Business Description

In this section, you can dive deeper into the elements of your business, including answering:

• What’s your business structure?  Sole proprietorship, LLC, corporation, etc.
• Where is it located?
• Who owns the business? Does it have employees?
• What problem does it solve, and how?
• What’s your mission statement? Your   mission statement  succinctly describes why you are in business. To write a proper mission statement, brainstorm what your business’ core values are and who you serve.

Here’s an example of an ecommerce business’ mission :

Liquid Culture’s mission is to present consumers with designs, styling and clothes that energizes any outdoor activity. Whether it be snowboarding, running along the beach, or drifting down a river, Liquid Culture has comfortable, durable clothing that will look and feel wonderful.

Market Analysis

Before starting a business, you want to make sure you understand the market you’re entering. Is your target market large enough that you can make enough money? Is the market already saturated with products and services like yours? How will you stand out? Investors will be interested in seeing what you put here because this will help them become confident that you know what you’re getting into and that your business has the potential to grow.

The market analysis section will answer:

• Who are your competitors?  Do your research and find out who your competitors are . This is important, because it will help you understand your market and know how you’ll differentiate your business from similar ones out there.
• What’s your unique value proposition?  Your unique value proposition (UVP) is the thing that makes you stand out from your competitors. This is your key to success. If you don’t have a UVP, you don’t have a way to take on competitors who are already in this space. Here’s an example of an ecommerce internet business plan  outlining their competitive edge:

FireStarters’ competitive advantage is offering product lines that make a statement but won’t leave you broke. The major brands are expensive and not distinctive enough to satisfy the changing taste of our target customers. FireStarters offers products that are just ahead of the curve and so affordable that our customers will return to the website often to check out what’s new.

• Who’s your target audience? This describes the people you serve and sell your product to. Be careful not to go too broad here, thus falling into the common entrepreneurial trap of trying to sell to everyone and thereby not differentiating yourself enough to survive the competition. Below is an excerpt of a market analysis section from this sample consulting business plan . Notice how detailed it gets, including specifying the target customer’s business worth and growth rate.

The target customer owns a small business, and is generally dissatisfied with the revenue that the business is generating, or is dissatisfied with the daily management of their business. The customer is likely to operate a business worth between $200K and $10 million, with growth rates of between 1-10%, or even a negative growth rate.

Products and Services

Writing this section is pretty straightforward, detailing exactly what you’ll be selling.

• What services will you sell?  Describe the services you provide and how these will help your target audience.
• What products will you sell? Describe your products (and types if applicable) and how they will solve a need for your target and provide value.
• How much will you charge for your products and services? If you’re selling services, will you charge hourly, per project, retainer, or a mixture of all of these? If you’re selling products, what are the price ranges?

In this section, you’ll outline your marketing strategy to ensure you have a plan to get clients and customers and make money.

• How will you get new clients and customers? Will it involve social media, blogging, cold calling, email marketing, paid advertising, referrals? Here’s an excerpt from a custom printed T-shirt business plan sample , in which the company has identified advertising as part of its marketing and sales strategy:

Your T-Shirt! will run ads in several teen/young adult magazines whose readership demographics are similar to Your T-Shirt!’s.

• How will you retain clients and customers? Do you have a plan for increasing your customer loyalty to keep them coming back to you?
• What’s your marketing budget?

This section is particularly important if you wish to secure a bank loan or investors’ money. If you’ve been in business for a while, you can include past revenue. If you’re brand new, you’ll have to forecast your revenue .

The financial section can include many types of forecasting and graphs, but a few common ones are:

• Profit & Loss (P&L) statement  – This details your income and expenses over a given period.
• Expenses – List the expenses you expect your business to incur.
• Cash flow statement   – Similar to the P&L, but this one will show all cash that flows into and out of the business each month.

Business Plan Templates and Examples

To better understand what you need to put into each component of your business plan, it can help to look at examples. Here are some free resources that can help:

• PandaDoc  has some free business plan templates that include descriptions of what to put in each section.

• Bplans  has a library of more than 500 sample business plans for almost every industry.

Final Thoughts on Creating a Business Plan

• Don’t let creating a business plan hold you back from actually starting your business.  If you find you’re getting stuck on perfecting your document, opt for a simple one-page business plan —and then get to work.
• Remember, business plans are not a requirement for starting a business. They’re only truly essential if a bank or investor is asking to see one.
• Ask people to review your business plan.  It can be helpful to have an extra set of eyes on your business plan to make sure it’s in the best shape possible. Be sure to ask someone who knows your business, such as a mentor or business partner.
• Businesses change—business plans can too! While, yes, a business plan should guide you as you grow your business, it should not restrict you or dictate your every move. For example, you may find that your mission has changed; in that case, you can and should modify your business plan to reflect that.

Ready to Write Your Business Plan?

By now, I hope you’re ready to blast through creating your business plan so you can move on to the fun part: building your business.

To recap, here are the basic components of a business plan:

• Executive summary
• Business description
• Market analysis

Remember, the purpose of a business plan is to secure funding or serve as a guide for you (or both). Don’t get stuck on this step. You can always revisit and revise your business plan later. What’s most important is that you take action now.

Have you created a business plan? Share any advice you have for your fellow entrepreneurs in the comments below!

About Amy Rigby

Amy Rigby is a freelance writer who specializes in content marketing and copywriting for startups. She's written for ABCNews.com , GoDaddy , Outdoorsy , and Trello . Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

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8 Components of a Business Plan

Back to Business Plans

Written by: Carolyn Young

Carolyn Young is a business writer who focuses on entrepreneurial concepts and the business formation. She has over 25 years of experience in business roles, and has authored several entrepreneurship textbooks.

Edited by: David Lepeska

David has been writing and learning about business, finance and globalization for a quarter-century, starting with a small New York consulting firm in the 1990s.

Published on February 19, 2023 Updated on February 27, 2024

A key part of the business startup process is putting together a business plan , particularly if you’d like to raise capital. It’s not going to be easy, but it’s absolutely essential, and an invaluable learning tool. 

Creating a business plan early helps you think through every aspect of your business, from operations and financing to growth and vision. In the end, the knowledge you’ll gain could be the difference between success and failure. 

But what exactly does a business plan consist of? There are eight essential components, all of which are detailed in this handy guide.

1. Executive Summary 

The executive summary opens your business plan , but it’s the section you’ll write last. It summarizes the key points and highlights the most important aspects of your plan. Often investors and lenders will only read the executive summary; if it doesn’t capture their interest they’ll stop reading, so it’s important to make it as compelling as possible.

The components touched upon should include:

• The business opportunity – what problem are you solving in the market?
• Your idea, meaning the product or service you’re planning to offer, and why it solves the problem in the market better than other solutions.
• The history of the business so far – what have you done to this point? When you’re just getting started, this may be nothing more than coming up with the idea, choosing a business name , and forming a business entity.
• A summary of the industry, market size, your target customers, and the competition.
• A strong statement about how your company is going to stand out in the market – what will be your competitive advantage?
• A list of specific goals that you plan to achieve in the short term, such as developing your product, launching a marketing campaign, or hiring a key person. 
• A summary of your financial plan including cost and sales projections and a break-even analysis.
• A summary of your management team, their roles, and the relevant experience that they have to serve in those roles.
• Your “ask”, if applicable, meaning what you’re requesting from the investor or lender. You’ll include the amount you’d like and how it will be spent, such as “We are seeking $50,000 in seed funding to develop our beta product”. 

Remember that if you’re seeking capital, the executive summary could make or break your venture. Take your time and make sure it illustrates how your business is unique in the market and why you’ll succeed.

The executive summary should be no more than two pages long, so it’s important to capture the reader’s interest from the start. 

• 2. Company Description/Overview

In this section, you’ll detail your full company history, such as how you came up with the idea for your business and any milestones or achievements. 

You’ll also include your mission and vision statements. A mission statement explains what you’d like your business to achieve, its driving force, while a vision statement lays out your long-term plan in terms of growth. 

A mission statement might be “Our company aims to make life easier for business owners with intuitive payroll software”, while a vision statement could be “Our objective is to become the go-to comprehensive HR software provider for companies around the globe.”

In this section, you’ll want to list your objectives – specific short-term goals. Examples might include “complete initial product development by ‘date’” or “hire two qualified sales people” or “launch the first version of the product”. 

It’s best to divide this section into subsections – company history, mission and vision, and objectives.

3. Products/Services Offered 

Here you’ll go into detail about what you’re offering, how it solves a problem in the market, and how it’s unique. Don’t be afraid to share information that is proprietary – investors and lenders are not out to steal your ideas. 

Also specify how your product is developed or sourced. Are you manufacturing it or does it require technical development? Are you purchasing a product from a manufacturer or wholesaler? 

You’ll also want to specify how you’ll sell your product or service. Will it be a subscription service or a one time purchase?  What is your target pricing? On what channels do you plan to sell your product or service, such as online or by direct sales in a store? 

Basically, you’re describing what you’re going to sell and how you’ll make money.

• 4. Market Analysis 

The market analysis is where you’re going to spend most of your time because it involves a lot of research. You should divide it into four sections.

Industry analysis 

You’ll want to find out exactly what’s happening in your industry, such as its growth rate, market size, and any specific trends that are occurring. Where is the industry predicted to be in 10 years? Cite your sources where you can by providing links. 

Then describe your company’s place in the market. Is your product going to fit a certain niche? Is there a sub-industry your company will fit within? How will you keep up with industry changes? 

Competitor analysis 

Now you’ll dig into your competition. Detail your main competitors and how they differentiate themselves in the market. For example, one competitor may advertise convenience while another may tout superior quality. Also highlight your competitors’ weaknesses.

Next, describe how you’ll stand out. Detail your competitive advantages and how you’ll sustain them. This section is extremely important and will be a focus for investors and lenders. 

Target market analysis 

Here you’ll describe your target market and whether it’s different from your competitors’.  For example, maybe you have a younger demographic in mind? 

You’ll need to know more about your target market than demographics, though. You’ll want to explain the needs and wants of your ideal customers, how your offering solves their problem, and why they will choose your company. 

You should also lay out where you’ll find them, where to place your marketing and where to sell your products. Learning this kind of detail requires going to the source – your potential customers. You can do online surveys or even in-person focus groups. 

Your goal will be to uncover as much about these people as possible. When you start selling, you’ll want to keep learning about your customers. You may end up selling to a different target market than you originally thought, which could lead to a marketing shift. 

SWOT analysis 

SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and it’s one of the more common and helpful business planning tools.   

First describe all the specific strengths of your company, such as the quality of your product or some unique feature, such as the experience of your management team. Talk about the elements that will make your company successful.

Next, acknowledge and explore possible weaknesses. You can’t say “none”, because no company is perfect, especially at the start. Maybe you lack funds or face a massive competitor. Whatever it is, detail how you will surmount this hurdle. 

Next, talk about the opportunities your company has in the market. Perhaps you’re going to target an underserved segment, or have a technology plan that will help you surge past the competition. 

Finally, examine potential threats. It could be a competitor that might try to replicate your product or rapidly advancing technology in your industry. Again, discuss your plans to handle such threats if they come to pass. 

5. Marketing and Sales Strategies

Now it’s time to explain how you’re going to find potential customers and convert them into paying customers.  

Marketing and advertising plan

When you did your target market analysis, you should have learned a lot about your potential customers, including where to find them. This should help you determine where to advertise. 

Maybe you found that your target customers favor TikTok over Instagram and decided to spend more marketing dollars on TikTok. Detail all the marketing channels you plan to use and why.

Your target market analysis should also have given you information about what kind of message will resonate with your target customers. You should understand their needs and wants and how your product solves their problem, then convey that in your marketing. 

Start by creating a value proposition, which should be no more than two sentences long and answer the following questions:

• What are you offering
• Whose problem does it solve
• What problem does it solve
• What benefits does it provide
• How is it better than competitor products

An example might be “Payroll software that will handle all the payroll needs of small business owners, making life easier for less.”

Whatever your value proposition, it should be at the heart of all of your marketing.

Sales strategy and tactics 

Your sales strategy is a vision to persuade customers to buy, including where you’ll sell and how. For example, you may plan to sell only on your own website, or you may sell from both a physical location and online. On the other hand, you may have a sales team that will make direct sales calls to potential customers, which is more common in business-to-business sales.

Sales tactics are more about how you’re going to get them to buy after they reach your sales channel. Even when selling online, you need something on your site that’s going to get them to go from a site visitor to a paying customer. 

By the same token, if you’re going to have a sales team making direct sales, what message are they going to deliver that will entice a sale? It’s best for sales tactics to focus on the customer’s pain point and what value you’re bringing to the table, rather than being aggressively promotional about the greatness of your product and your business. 

Pricing strategy

Pricing is not an exact science and should depend on several factors. First, consider how you want your product or service to be perceived in the market. If your differentiator is to be the lowest price, position your company as the “discount” option. Think Walmart, and price your products lower than the competition. 

If, on the other hand, you want to be the Mercedes of the market, then you’ll position your product as the luxury option. Of course you’ll have to back this up with superior quality, but being the luxury option allows you to command higher prices.

You can, of course, fall somewhere in the middle, but the point is that pricing is a matter of perception. How you position your product in the market compared to the competition is a big factor in determining your price.

Of course, you’ll have to consider your costs, as well as competitor prices. Obviously, your prices must cover your costs and allow you to make a good profit margin. 

Whatever pricing strategy you choose, you’ll justify it in this section of your plan.

• 6. Operations and Management 

This section is the real nuts and bolts of your business – how it operates on a day-to-day basis and who is operating it. Again, this section should be divided into subsections.

Operational plan

Your plan of operations should be specific , detailed and mainly logistical. Who will be doing what on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis? How will the business be managed and how will quality be assured? Be sure to detail your suppliers and how and when you’ll order raw materials. 

This should also include the roles that will be filled and the various processes that will be part of everyday business operations . Just consider all the critical functions that must be handled for your business to be able to operate on an ongoing basis. 

Technology plan

If your product involves technical development, you’ll describe your tech development plan with specific goals and milestones. The plan will also include how many people will be working on this development, and what needs to be done for goals to be met.

If your company is not a technology company, you’ll describe what technologies you plan to use to run your business or make your business more efficient. It could be process automation software, payroll software, or just laptops and tablets for your staff. 

Management and organizational structure 

Now you’ll describe who’s running the show. It may be just you when you’re starting out, so you’ll detail what your role will be and summarize your background. You’ll also go into detail about any managers that you plan to hire and when that will occur.

Essentially, you’re explaining your management structure and detailing why your strategy will enable smooth and efficient operations. 

Ideally, at some point, you’ll have an organizational structure that is a hierarchy of your staff. Describe what you envision your organizational structure to be. 

Personnel plan 

Detail who you’ve hired or plan to hire and for which roles. For example, you might have a developer, two sales people, and one customer service representative.

Describe each role and what qualifications are needed to perform those roles. 

• 7. Financial Plan 

Now, you’ll enter the dreaded world of finance. Many entrepreneurs struggle with this part, so you might want to engage a financial professional to help you. A financial plan has five key elements.

Startup Costs

Detail in a spreadsheet every cost you’ll incur before you open your doors. This should determine how much capital you’ll need to launch your business. 

Financial projections 

Creating financial projections, like many facets of business, is not an exact science. If your company has no history, financial projections can only be an educated guess. 

First, come up with realistic sales projections. How much do you expect to sell each month? Lay out at least three years of sales projections, detailing monthly sales growth for the first year, then annually thereafter. 

Calculate your monthly costs, keeping in mind that some costs will grow along with sales. 

Once you have your numbers projected and calculated, use them to create these three key financial statements: 

• Profit and Loss Statement , also known as an income statement. This shows projected revenue and lists all costs, which are then deducted to show net profit or loss. 
• Cash Flow Statement. This shows how much cash you have on hand at any given time. It will have a starting balance, projections of cash coming in, and cash going out, which will be used to calculate cash on hand at the end of the reporting period.
• Balance Sheet. This shows the net worth of the business, which is the assets of the business minus debts. Assets include equipment, cash, accounts receivables, inventory, and more. Debts include outstanding loan balances and accounts payable.

You’ll need monthly projected versions of each statement for the first year, then annual projections for the following two years.

Break-even analysis

The break-even point for your business is when costs and revenue are equal. Most startups operate at a loss for a period of time before they break even and start to make a profit. Your break-even analysis will project when your break-even point will occur, and will be informed by your profit and loss statement. 

Funding requirements and sources 

Lay out the funding you’ll need, when, and where you’ll get it. You’ll also explain what those funds will be used for at various points. If you’re in a high growth industry that can attract investors, you’ll likely need various rounds of funding to launch and grow. 

Key performance indicators (KPIs)

KPIs measure your company’s performance and can determine success. Many entrepreneurs only focus on the bottom line, but measuring specific KPIs helps find areas of improvement. Every business has certain crucial metrics. 

If you sell only online, one of your key metrics might be your visitor conversion rate. You might do an analysis to learn why just one out of ten site visitors makes a purchase. 

Perhaps the purchase process is too complicated or your product descriptions are vague. The point is, learning why your conversion rate is low gives you a chance to improve it and boost sales. 

8. Appendices

In the appendices, you can attach documents such as manager resumes or any other documents that support your business plan.

As you can see, a business plan has many components, so it’s not an afternoon project. It will likely take you several weeks and a great deal of work to complete. Unless you’re a finance guru, you may also want some help from a financial professional. 

Keep in mind that for a small business owner, there may be no better learning experience than writing a detailed and compelling business plan. It shouldn’t be viewed as a hassle, but as an opportunity! 

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How To Start a Consulting Business in 8 Steps

By Catherine Hodder, Esq. | Legally reviewed by Madison Hess, J.D. | Last reviewed July 31, 2024

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This article has been written and reviewed for legal accuracy, clarity, and style by  FindLaw’s team of legal writers and attorneys  and in accordance with  our editorial standards .

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The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our  contributing authors . We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please  contact an attorney in your area .

Have you been working for a large company and want to start your own business based on your industry experience? Do you have specialized knowledge that can help others? Consider opening your own consulting business.

Ready to form your LLC with confidence? Our trusted partner LegalZoom has packages starting at $0 + filing fees.

Successful consultants leverage their expertise to deliver high value to their clients by offering practical solutions to their challenges. If you are interested in launching your own consulting business, follow these steps:

1. Decide the Focus of Your Consulting Firm

Evaluate your skill set and know-how. Are you a whiz with computers? You can start an IT consulting business. Or have you worked in human resources? You may want to become an HR consultant. There are many different types of consulting to choose from in the consulting industry, such as:

Digital marketing consultant

Education consultant

Environmental consultant

Financial consultant

Healthcare consultant

Legal consultant

Management consultant

Marketing consultant

Operations consultant

Project management consultant

Public relations consultant

Real estate consultant

Sales consultant

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) consultant

Strategy consultant

As a consultant, you should determine what expert advice and value you bring to your client base. Tune into industry trends and know what pain points to eliminate for your target audience.

Now, you will want to define the scope of your business. Do you want to operate it full-time or set your own flexible hours?"

2. Create a Business Plan

The first step for many business owners is to put together a business plan . Even a small business benefits from a business plan. Common elements of a business plan include:

Executive Summary. Describe your business, your background, who your customers are, and your revenue expectations.

Business Description. Outline the type of consulting business you are creating and who you will serve.

Market Analysis. Conduct market research to see if there is a demand for your services. Identify your target market. Research your competitors and show how you differ from them.

Marketing Plan. Develop a marketing plan for reaching your potential clients. Your first client may be a former employer, but you want to make sure you are in a position to welcome new business.

Financial Projections. Determine your startup and ongoing costs to project when your business will turn a profit.

When drafting your business plan, you may also want to determine the following:

Certifications. Do you need any licenses or certifications prior to offering consulting services?

Pricing. Will you charge an hourly rate or create a flat fee arrangement? If you handle large scale projects, will you request a retainer?

A business plan can be formal and highly detailed or informal. However, if you are looking for a business loan or bank financing, you should have a well-formulated plan.

3. Choose Your Business Name

Your company name is your brand so consider it carefully. There are many considerations in choosing a business name , primarily that it is unique and no one else can claim it. Before you settle on a name, conduct an online search with your Secretary of State’s business records, Google the name to see if another business uses it, and search in the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for prior name registrations . If the name is in use or a registered trademark, do not use it.

As a consultant, you may want your name to be your personal name, such as “Cheryl Smith Consulting,” or you may want a name to reflect the consulting you do, such as “College Success Consulting.”

4. Determine Your Business Structure

Many startup consulting companies begin as sole proprietorships, where a single individual owns and operates the business in their own name. However, consultants often create a limited liability company (LLC) for personal asset protection. A sole proprietor’s personal assets are at risk from lawsuits and debts. In contrast, a business owner with an LLC only risks assets within the company. No matter what type of consulting you do, it is wise to look into protecting your personal assets from your business liabilities.

Both corporations and LLCs offer personal liability protection. However, LLCs are popular among entrepreneurs due to the ease of formation and low maintenance cost and requirements

5. Get an EIN Number

An Employer Identification Number (EIN) for your business is similar to a Social Security Number. You can find out if you need an EIN and easily apply online with the IRS for your EIN. You use this number to identify your business when paying federal, state, and local taxes.

6. Open a Bank Account

The next step is to open a business bank account for your consulting business. A bank will want to see proof of your business entity (such as a Certificate of Incorporation for a corporation or Certificate of Formation for an LLC) and your EIN.

You run all your transactions (paying business expenses and depositing checks) through your business bank account and not your personal one.

7. Get a Business License and Insurance

Determine what business licenses and permits you may need for your consulting practice. Your state and township may require a business license. If you operate from home, you may need permission from your homeowner's association (HOA).

Depending on your business, you may also want to consider a business insurance policy. While a business structure such as an LLC or corporation protects your personal assets, a business insurance policy protects your business assets.

8. Develop Marketing Strategies

Many independent consultants start by serving one customer, but they must develop strategies to attract new clients. When setting up your business from scratch, you want to reach your target market in the most cost-effective way. The best way to get clients is from word-of-mouth referrals. However, there are many other ways to get business, such as:

Create a dynamic website so people can find you and learn about what you do. There are many online templates for creating your website.

Leverage your social media channels by posting about your business. For example, you can post about your business on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. Consider writing a blog or starting a podcast about your area of expertise to attract attention.

Give business cards to former work colleagues, friends, and family.

Starting your own business may seem challenging, but by following these steps, you can successfully launch your consulting business.

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12 Key Elements of a Business Plan (Top Components Explained)

Starting and running a successful business requires proper planning and execution of effective business tactics and strategies .

You need to prepare many essential business documents when starting a business for maximum success; the business plan is one such document.

When creating a business, you want to achieve business objectives and financial goals like productivity, profitability, and business growth. You need an effective business plan to help you get to your desired business destination.

Even if you are already running a business, the proper understanding and review of the key elements of a business plan help you navigate potential crises and obstacles.

This article will teach you why the business document is at the core of any successful business and its key elements you can not avoid.

Let’s get started.

Why Are Business Plans Important?

Business plans are practical steps or guidelines that usually outline what companies need to do to reach their goals. They are essential documents for any business wanting to grow and thrive in a highly-competitive business environment .

1. Proves Your Business Viability

A business plan gives companies an idea of how viable they are and what actions they need to take to grow and reach their financial targets. With a well-written and clearly defined business plan, your business is better positioned to meet its goals.

2. Guides You Throughout the Business Cycle

A business plan is not just important at the start of a business. As a business owner, you must draw up a business plan to remain relevant throughout the business cycle .

During the starting phase of your business, a business plan helps bring your ideas into reality. A solid business plan can secure funding from lenders and investors.

After successfully setting up your business, the next phase is management. Your business plan still has a role to play in this phase, as it assists in communicating your business vision to employees and external partners.

Essentially, your business plan needs to be flexible enough to adapt to changes in the needs of your business.

3. Helps You Make Better Business Decisions

As a business owner, you are involved in an endless decision-making cycle. Your business plan helps you find answers to your most crucial business decisions.

A robust business plan helps you settle your major business components before you launch your product, such as your marketing and sales strategy and competitive advantage.

4. Eliminates Big Mistakes

Many small businesses fail within their first five years for several reasons: lack of financing, stiff competition, low market need, inadequate teams, and inefficient pricing strategy.

Creating an effective plan helps you eliminate these big mistakes that lead to businesses' decline. Every business plan element is crucial for helping you avoid potential mistakes before they happen.

5. Secures Financing and Attracts Top Talents

Having an effective plan increases your chances of securing business loans. One of the essential requirements many lenders ask for to grant your loan request is your business plan.

A business plan helps investors feel confident that your business can attract a significant return on investments ( ROI ).

You can attract and retain top-quality talents with a clear business plan. It inspires your employees and keeps them aligned to achieve your strategic business goals.

Key Elements of Business Plan

Starting and running a successful business requires well-laid actions and supporting documents that better position a company to achieve its business goals and maximize success.

A business plan is a written document with relevant information detailing business objectives and how it intends to achieve its goals.

With an effective business plan, investors, lenders, and potential partners understand your organizational structure and goals, usually around profitability, productivity, and growth.

Every successful business plan is made up of key components that help solidify the efficacy of the business plan in delivering on what it was created to do.

Here are some of the components of an effective business plan.

1. Executive Summary

One of the key elements of a business plan is the executive summary. Write the executive summary as part of the concluding topics in the business plan. Creating an executive summary with all the facts and information available is easier.

In the overall business plan document, the executive summary should be at the forefront of the business plan. It helps set the tone for readers on what to expect from the business plan.

A well-written executive summary includes all vital information about the organization's operations, making it easy for a reader to understand.

The key points that need to be acted upon are highlighted in the executive summary. They should be well spelled out to make decisions easy for the management team.

A good and compelling executive summary points out a company's mission statement and a brief description of its products and services.

An executive summary summarizes a business's expected value proposition to distinct customer segments. It highlights the other key elements to be discussed during the rest of the business plan.

Including your prior experiences as an entrepreneur is a good idea in drawing up an executive summary for your business. A brief but detailed explanation of why you decided to start the business in the first place is essential.

Adding your company's mission statement in your executive summary cannot be overemphasized. It creates a culture that defines how employees and all individuals associated with your company abide when carrying out its related processes and operations.

Your executive summary should be brief and detailed to catch readers' attention and encourage them to learn more about your company.

Components of an Executive Summary

Here are some of the information that makes up an executive summary:

• The name and location of your company
• Products and services offered by your company
• Mission and vision statements
• Success factors of your business plan

2. Business Description

Your business description needs to be exciting and captivating as it is the formal introduction a reader gets about your company.

What your company aims to provide, its products and services, goals and objectives, target audience , and potential customers it plans to serve need to be highlighted in your business description.

A company description helps point out notable qualities that make your company stand out from other businesses in the industry. It details its unique strengths and the competitive advantages that give it an edge to succeed over its direct and indirect competitors.

Spell out how your business aims to deliver on the particular needs and wants of identified customers in your company description, as well as the particular industry and target market of the particular focus of the company.

Include trends and significant competitors within your particular industry in your company description. Your business description should contain what sets your company apart from other businesses and provides it with the needed competitive advantage.

In essence, if there is any area in your business plan where you need to brag about your business, your company description provides that unique opportunity as readers look to get a high-level overview.

Components of a Business Description

Your business description needs to contain these categories of information.

• Business location
• The legal structure of your business
• Summary of your business’s short and long-term goals

3. Market Analysis

The market analysis section should be solely based on analytical research as it details trends particular to the market you want to penetrate.

Graphs, spreadsheets, and histograms are handy data and statistical tools you need to utilize in your market analysis. They make it easy to understand the relationship between your current ideas and the future goals you have for the business.

All details about the target customers you plan to sell products or services should be in the market analysis section. It helps readers with a helpful overview of the market.

In your market analysis, you provide the needed data and statistics about industry and market share, the identified strengths in your company description, and compare them against other businesses in the same industry.

The market analysis section aims to define your target audience and estimate how your product or service would fare with these identified audiences.

Market analysis helps visualize a target market by researching and identifying the primary target audience of your company and detailing steps and plans based on your audience location.

Obtaining this information through market research is essential as it helps shape how your business achieves its short-term and long-term goals.

Market Analysis Factors

Here are some of the factors to be included in your market analysis.

• The geographical location of your target market
• Needs of your target market and how your products and services can meet those needs
• Demographics of your target audience

Components of the Market Analysis Section

Here is some of the information to be included in your market analysis.

• Industry description and statistics
• Demographics and profile of target customers
• Marketing data for your products and services
• Detailed evaluation of your competitors

4. Marketing Plan

A marketing plan defines how your business aims to reach its target customers, generate sales leads, and, ultimately, make sales.

Promotion is at the center of any successful marketing plan. It is a series of steps to pitch a product or service to a larger audience to generate engagement. Note that the marketing strategy for a business should not be stagnant and must evolve depending on its outcome.

Include the budgetary requirement for successfully implementing your marketing plan in this section to make it easy for readers to measure your marketing plan's impact in terms of numbers.

The information to include in your marketing plan includes marketing and promotion strategies, pricing plans and strategies , and sales proposals. You need to include how you intend to get customers to return and make repeat purchases in your business plan.

5. Sales Strategy

Sales strategy defines how you intend to get your product or service to your target customers and works hand in hand with your business marketing strategy.

Your sales strategy approach should not be complex. Break it down into simple and understandable steps to promote your product or service to target customers.

Apart from the steps to promote your product or service, define the budget you need to implement your sales strategies and the number of sales reps needed to help the business assist in direct sales.

Your sales strategy should be specific on what you need and how you intend to deliver on your sales targets, where numbers are reflected to make it easier for readers to understand and relate better.

6. Competitive Analysis

Providing transparent and honest information, even with direct and indirect competitors, defines a good business plan. Provide the reader with a clear picture of your rank against major competitors.

Identifying your competitors' weaknesses and strengths is useful in drawing up a market analysis. It is one information investors look out for when assessing business plans.

The competitive analysis section clearly defines the notable differences between your company and your competitors as measured against their strengths and weaknesses.

This section should define the following:

• Your competitors' identified advantages in the market
• How do you plan to set up your company to challenge your competitors’ advantage and gain grounds from them?
• The standout qualities that distinguish you from other companies
• Potential bottlenecks you have identified that have plagued competitors in the same industry and how you intend to overcome these bottlenecks

In your business plan, you need to prove your industry knowledge to anyone who reads your business plan. The competitive analysis section is designed for that purpose.

7. Management and Organization

Management and organization are key components of a business plan. They define its structure and how it is positioned to run.

Whether you intend to run a sole proprietorship, general or limited partnership, or corporation, the legal structure of your business needs to be clearly defined in your business plan.

Use an organizational chart that illustrates the hierarchy of operations of your company and spells out separate departments and their roles and functions in this business plan section.

The management and organization section includes profiles of advisors, board of directors, and executive team members and their roles and responsibilities in guaranteeing the company's success.

Apparent factors that influence your company's corporate culture, such as human resources requirements and legal structure, should be well defined in the management and organization section.

Defining the business's chain of command if you are not a sole proprietor is necessary. It leaves room for little or no confusion about who is in charge or responsible during business operations.

This section provides relevant information on how the management team intends to help employees maximize their strengths and address their identified weaknesses to help all quarters improve for the business's success.

8. Products and Services

This business plan section describes what a company has to offer regarding products and services to the maximum benefit and satisfaction of its target market.

Boldly spell out pending patents or copyright products and intellectual property in this section alongside costs, expected sales revenue, research and development, and competitors' advantage as an overview.

At this stage of your business plan, the reader needs to know what your business plans to produce and sell and the benefits these products offer in meeting customers' needs.

The supply network of your business product, production costs, and how you intend to sell the products are crucial components of the products and services section.

Investors are always keen on this information to help them reach a balanced assessment of if investing in your business is risky or offer benefits to them.

You need to create a link in this section on how your products or services are designed to meet the market's needs and how you intend to keep those customers and carve out a market share for your company.

Repeat purchases are the backing that a successful business relies on and measure how much customers are into what your company is offering.

This section is more like an expansion of the executive summary section. You need to analyze each product or service under the business.

9. Operating Plan

An operations plan describes how you plan to carry out your business operations and processes.

The operating plan for your business should include:

• Information about how your company plans to carry out its operations.
• The base location from which your company intends to operate.
• The number of employees to be utilized and other information about your company's operations.
• Key business processes.

This section should highlight how your organization is set up to run. You can also introduce your company's management team in this section, alongside their skills, roles, and responsibilities in the company.

The best way to introduce the company team is by drawing up an organizational chart that effectively maps out an organization's rank and chain of command.

What should be spelled out to readers when they come across this business plan section is how the business plans to operate day-in and day-out successfully.

10. Financial Projections and Assumptions

Bringing your great business ideas into reality is why business plans are important. They help create a sustainable and viable business.

The financial section of your business plan offers significant value. A business uses a financial plan to solve all its financial concerns, which usually involves startup costs, labor expenses, financial projections, and funding and investor pitches.

All key assumptions about the business finances need to be listed alongside the business financial projection, and changes to be made on the assumptions side until it balances with the projection for the business.

The financial plan should also include how the business plans to generate income and the capital expenditure budgets that tend to eat into the budget to arrive at an accurate cash flow projection for the business.

Base your financial goals and expectations on extensive market research backed with relevant financial statements for the relevant period.

Examples of financial statements you can include in the financial projections and assumptions section of your business plan include:

• Projected income statements
• Cash flow statements
• Balance sheets
• Income statements

Revealing the financial goals and potentials of the business is what the financial projection and assumption section of your business plan is all about. It needs to be purely based on facts that can be measurable and attainable.

11. Request For Funding

The request for funding section focuses on the amount of money needed to set up your business and underlying plans for raising the money required. This section includes plans for utilizing the funds for your business's operational and manufacturing processes.

When seeking funding, a reasonable timeline is required alongside it. If the need arises for additional funding to complete other business-related projects, you are not left scampering and desperate for funds.

If you do not have the funds to start up your business, then you should devote a whole section of your business plan to explaining the amount of money you need and how you plan to utilize every penny of the funds. You need to explain it in detail for a future funding request.

When an investor picks up your business plan to analyze it, with all your plans for the funds well spelled out, they are motivated to invest as they have gotten a backing guarantee from your funding request section.

Include timelines and plans for how you intend to repay the loans received in your funding request section. This addition keeps investors assured that they could recoup their investment in the business.

12. Exhibits and Appendices

Exhibits and appendices comprise the final section of your business plan and contain all supporting documents for other sections of the business plan.

Some of the documents that comprise the exhibits and appendices section includes:

• Legal documents
• Licenses and permits
• Credit histories
• Customer lists

The choice of what additional document to include in your business plan to support your statements depends mainly on the intended audience of your business plan. Hence, it is better to play it safe and not leave anything out when drawing up the appendix and exhibit section.

Supporting documentation is particularly helpful when you need funding or support for your business. This section provides investors with a clearer understanding of the research that backs the claims made in your business plan.

There are key points to include in the appendix and exhibits section of your business plan.

• The management team and other stakeholders resume
• Marketing research
• Permits and relevant legal documents
• Financial documents

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Martin luenendonk.

Martin loves entrepreneurship and has helped dozens of entrepreneurs by validating the business idea, finding scalable customer acquisition channels, and building a data-driven organization. During his time working in investment banking, tech startups, and industry-leading companies he gained extensive knowledge in using different software tools to optimize business processes.

This insights and his love for researching SaaS products enables him to provide in-depth, fact-based software reviews to enable software buyers make better decisions.

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What Is ERISA Excess Fee Litigation?

ERISA is a federal law that establishes minimum standards to protect individuals participating in voluntary retirement and health plans. It mandates that plan administrators act in the best interest of the participants, providing information about plan features and funding, and adhering to standards for participation, vesting, benefit accrual and funding.

Those who manage group health plans are considered fiduciaries under ERISA . They must act with the highest standard of care, prudence and diligence, solely in the interest of plan participants and beneficiaries. This includes ensuring that fees for plan services are reasonable and justified.

Excess fee litigation arises when participants allege that the fiduciaries of a group health plan allowed the plan to incur excessive administrative or service fees. Such litigation claims that these fees are unreasonable, violating the fiduciary duties set by ERISA.

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The recent lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson highlights the stakes involved in ERISA excess fee litigation. In this case, participants alleged that the company allowed its group health plan to pay excessive fees for administrative services and prescription medications, and failed to act in the best interests of the plan participants. This lawsuit has brought increased attention to the importance of rigorous oversight and management of group health plan fees.

Common Allegations In Excess Fee Litigation Cases

Many plan sponsors that I speak with are surprised to hear that the same fiduciary responsibilities that pertain to pension plans are applicable to health plans. This usually stems from the lack of access plan sponsors have to actionable data, such as broker fees, medical claim costs, prescription claim costs like rebates and spread prices, for example. Many of these limitations are no longer applicable due to the Affordable Care Act , Consolidated Appropriations Act and Transparency in Coverage rulings.

However, I've noticed most plan sponsors haven't gained access to the data because their services providers have volunteered to comply with the orders, but not share the data. Regardless, here are some of the common allegations.

• Unreasonable administrative fees: One common allegation in these lawsuits is that plan administrators permit the payment of unnecessarily high administrative fees. This could include fees for services such as recordkeeping, legal and broker consulting that exceed market rates.

• Service provider fees: Another frequent claim is that the fees paid to service providers are excessive compared to similar services available in the market. Participants may argue that fiduciaries failed to negotiate better rates or switch to more cost-effective providers.

• Lack of transparency: A lack of transparency in fee arrangements and revenue sharing can also lead to litigation. If participants feel that fees are not adequately disclosed or justified, they may seek legal recourse, alleging fiduciary breaches.

• Inadequate monitoring: Fiduciaries are responsible for continuously monitoring the fees charged by service providers. Allegations often arise when there is a perceived failure to regularly review and adjust these fees to ensure they remain reasonable.

Impact On Businesses

Successful excess fee litigation can result in significant financial liabilities for businesses. Companies may have to reimburse participants for excessive fees and cover substantial legal costs associated with defending against the litigation.

Such lawsuits can also damage a company’s reputation, affecting employee trust and public perception. Being accused of failing to protect employees’ interests can lead to decreased morale and productivity.

Additionally, businesses involved in excess fee litigation may face heightened scrutiny from regulatory bodies, leading to more stringent compliance requirements and oversight. To avoid future litigation, companies might need to overhaul their group health plan management practices. This could involve more frequent fee reviews, renegotiating service provider contracts and implementing stricter monitoring procedures.

How Companies Can Mitigate Risks

1. regular fee benchmarking.

Regularly benchmark plan fees against industry standards. This practice involves comparing the fees paid by the plan to those of similar plans to ensure they are reasonable and competitive.

2. Prudent Service Provider Selection And Monitoring

Establishing a thorough, documented process for selecting and monitoring service providers can demonstrate fiduciaries’ compliance with ERISA. This should include periodic reviews of service provider performance and fee structures.

3. Transparent Fee Disclosures

Providing clear and comprehensive disclosures about plan fees can help build trust with participants and reduce the likelihood of litigation. Transparency is key in mitigating disputes over fees.

4. Fiduciary Education

Educating fiduciaries about their duties under ERISA and the importance of fee monitoring is essential. Regular training and updates on regulatory changes and best practices can help fiduciaries fulfill their obligations effectively.

5. Working With Independent Consultants

Engaging independent consultants to review plan fees and fiduciary processes can provide an additional layer of protection. Independent reviews can identify potential issues and suggest improvements, helping ensure ERISA compliance.

While consultants bring an unbiased perspective, specialized knowledge and experience in ERISA compliance, it may not be the right move for everyone. Hiring consultants can be expensive. And finding the right fit can be difficult—not all consultants have the same expertise.

Additionally, companies might face challenges with ensuring consultants work effectively with internal teams. Some also have concerns about sharing sensitive information.

To select the right consultant, start by assessing their credentials and experience: Look for a strong track record in ERISA compliance. Check references so you can gain insights from past clients. Evaluate their communication skills, and look for clear and responsive communication. I also suggest you consider cost and value, meaning focus on long-term benefits rather than just cost.

Once you've found the right partner, it's important to define the scope and expectations. Clearly outline your objectives and deliverables, and discuss data security measures.

ERISA excess fee litigation related to group health plans is a significant concern for businesses. The financial, reputational and operational impacts can be severe. However, by understanding the nature of these lawsuits and implementing prudent management practices, businesses can mitigate risks and better protect their employees' interests. Ensuring compliance with ERISA’s fiduciary standards is more than just a legal obligation—it is essential for maintaining trust and integrity within an organization.

The information provided here is not legal advice and does not purport to be a substitute for advice of counsel on any specific matter. For legal advice, you should consult with an attorney concerning your specific situation.

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How to Hire a Business Consultant

Tips to help you find the right business consultant for your company include specifying your goals and asking potential candidates thorough questions about their offerings and processes.

Find out more about business consultants

by   Cara Hartley

Cara has written extensively on navigating privacy regulations, creating legal documents, and managing business issue...

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Legally reviewed by   Allison DeSantis, J.D.

Allison is the Director of Product Counsel at LegalZoom, advising and providing leadership to internal teams on the d...

Updated on: August 2, 2024 · 9 min read

What do business consultants do?

Why hire a business consultant, types of business consultants, how to hire the right business consultant.

A business consultant is an expert who helps business owners find solutions to their business challenges and optimize their productivity and performance. 

Business consultants provide advice and develop strategies to help business owners overcome obstacles and meet their goals. A business consultant's specific responsibilities can vary depending on their areas of expertise and their clients’ individual requirements.

• Identify a company’s key issues 
• Develop strategies to navigate challenges and achieve business objectives
• Implement strategies to meet both short- and long-term goals
• Provide a fresh perspective and professional advice 

A business consultant’s process typically involves three phases: investigation, strategy development, and implementation.

Investigation

A business consultant investigates issues hindering growth. They analyze your business’s systems and staff and external factors to identify opportunities and determine the root cause of existing problems. 

Strategy development

After they have identified the source of the problem, a consultant can assist in finding solutions to address the issue. The consultant will factor in information they uncovered during the investigative phase (including your business’s strengths and weaknesses and external influences such as market conditions and competitor activities) to create a customized plan of action.

Implementation

A business consultant can then help you implement their solutions. During the implementation phase, the consultant typically oversees staff management and training, monitors the plan and makes adjustments as necessary, and conducts evaluations to measure the overall impact of the implementation. 

Business owners hire consultants for a wide variety of reasons, from addressing specific issues to obtaining big-picture input on how to achieve core objectives.

When growth has plateaued

It can be challenging to figure out the next step when your company’s growth has stalled. A business consultant can provide new insights and creative approaches to help stimulate growth. 

During transitions

Transitions can be unsettling for staff and consumers alike. If your business is restructuring or going through a merger or acquisition, a business consultant can help facilitate a smooth transition.

During expansion

Whether you are expanding into a new location, launching a new digital storefront, or offering new products, a business consultant can provide information about industry trends, competitors’ tactics, and market entry plans to help you meet your expansion goals. 

When you need help with project management

There are times when you know what a project needs to succeed, but your staff doesn’t have the know-how to make it happen. A business consultant can bridge the knowledge gap by providing the external expertise needed to complete the project.

When you want to maximize efficiency

Companies often refer to business consulting services when they want to optimize their efficiency. A business consultant can evaluate your company’s operations to identify problem areas and develop time-saving and cost-reduction strategies. 

During a crisis

Crises such as recessions, pandemics, and public relations issues can have a significant impact on business operations. Hiring business consultants can be a smart move during a crisis, as they can implement proven methods for responding to and managing crises. Consultants can provide the neutral perspective necessary to navigate the chaos and get your business back on track. 

When you need a business plan

A business plan helps you stay focused and hit your goals no matter what stage your business is in. A business plan typically includes a description of your company, your mission statement, the strategies you will use to achieve your business’s success, and any funding requests.

A business consultant can help you create a comprehensive business plan that supports your company’s objectives in every stage and ensure that each part of the plan aligns with your ultimate vision. 

When integrating or updating information technology

Whenever a company updates its current systems or integrates new technology, there is a risk of integration failure. A business consultant with information technology (IT) experience can help minimize disruptions and confirm that your systems are functioning properly. 

Business consultants offer services across multiple industries, including the financial, marketing, and tech fields.

The different types of business consultants include the following: 

• Strategy and management consultants. A strategy or management consultant analyzes your company’s processes to identify issues that are impeding growth and develop solutions to help you meet your goals.
• Operations consultants. Operations consultants look at your business’s daily activities and pinpoint areas where improvements can be made to optimize efficiency and minimize expenses. Businesses in the manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, transportation, and service delivery industries may find operations consultants to be especially helpful. 
• Financial consultants. A financial consultant has a deep understanding of risk management, investment, and tax management strategies, and uses that knowledge to help businesses develop a plan to manage their current and future finances. 
• Human resources consultants. Professionals who offer human resources consulting services can assist with a variety of topics, including recruitment, hiring, payroll, benefits, productivity, employee satisfaction, and HR staff training. 
• Marketing consultants. A marketing consultant can train your marketing team, suggest marketing strategies to attract your ideal audience, and coordinate your business’ marketing activities. 
• IT consultants. An IT consultant can help you find and implement new technology systems, train staff, and monitor and troubleshoot systems once they have been installed.
• Sales consultants. Sales consultants can conduct sales strategy trainings for your staff and help build relationships with both existing and prospective clients to foster revenue growth.

Tips to help you find the right business consultant for your company include specifying your goals and asking potential candidates thorough questions about their offerings and processes. 

Clearly define your needs

In order to achieve your goals, you should know exactly what issues you need help with. Consultants can’t solve what they can’t see. A lack of clarity about your specific challenges can make it difficult to find a candidate who can help you. 

Thoroughly vet candidates

When it comes to a business consultant’s credentials, don’t just take their word for it. Reach out to their references and read reviews before making a hiring decision. Look for a consultant who has experience working within your industry and has had success helping comparable companies. 

Discuss their methodology

Ask the consultant what kind of tools, resources, and procedures they use to accomplish results and how they have tackled similar problems in the past. The right consultant will offer innovative solutions and use methodologies that align with your workplace culture.

Agree on clear objectives and outcomes

You and the consultant should agree on the metrics for success and ultimate outcomes. Success metrics–or key performance indicators (KPIs)–help you monitor the impact of the consultant’s work. 

For instance, if you hire a marketing consultant, you might use email open rates or the number of leads generated as success metrics and agree on a goal of a certain percentage increase within a specified timeframe.  

Create a strong consulting agreement

A consulting agreement communicates expectations and provides legal protection for your business. Your consulting agreement should clearly define the details of the work and the terms that both parties agree to.

A legal expert can help ensure that your consulting agreement contains clauses outlining key information such as deliverables, payment terms, deadlines, and grounds for termination. 

With our consultant contract services , a qualified attorney can help you write, revise, and customize your consulting agreement so that it is legally binding and protects your business.

Plan for knowledge transfer

A new system is only as effective as the people who maintain it. A business consultant should have the ability to train your staff on how to use the tools or systems they implement to help ensure your company’s continued success.

How much does it cost to hire a business consultant?

The cost of hiring a business consultant depends on a variety of factors, including the type of consultant you hire, the scope of the work, and whether you hire a freelance consultant or a consulting firm. 

For instance, according to a 2023 survey by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) , engineering consultants charge a median rate of $180, while the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a 2023 median hourly wage of $37.83 for all occupations in the Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services category.

How do you determine the ROI of a business consultant?

To calculate the return on investment (ROI) of a business consultant, you subtract the actual or estimated costs of the consultancy from the amount of income the consultancy is expected to bring in. The sum is the profit the consultancy is expected to generate. You then divide the sum by the costs.

The formula for ROI for a business consultant can be written as follows: 

ROI = (Profit from consultancy - Cost of consultancy) / Cost of consultancy x 100%

While the ROI formula may seem simple enough, keep in mind that it can be challenging to accurately estimate profits , and the cost of hiring a consultant may offset other expenses, such as the costs associated with an unmitigated public relations disaster or the cost of hiring a full-time employee instead of a consultant.

For instance, if you are hiring a consultant instead of a full-time employee , you should take into account the total expenses associated with hiring an individual full-time vs. the cost of hiring a consultant on an as-needed basis. When you consider the costs of recruitment, hiring, training, salary, benefits, bonuses, payroll taxes, and insurance, hiring a consultant can be cheaper than hiring a full-time employee.

Should I hire a freelance consultant or a consulting firm?

The decision to hire a freelance consultant or a consulting firm comes down to the consultant or firm’s relevant experience and availability, and your budget and personal preferences.

One benefit of hiring a consulting firm is that the quality of their work is backed by their brand. Another perk is that a consulting firm typically has many employees, so if an issue arises during the consulting period that is beyond the expertise of one employee, you may be able to access the full knowledge base of the firm. 

Freelance consultants may have limited availability to take on consulting jobs in comparison to consulting firms, but they may be more affordable than a firm. Freelance consultants are often highly motivated to provide their best work to help build a name for themselves. 

Whether you choose a freelance consultant or hire a consulting firm, you should verify their qualifications. A business consultant usually has a bachelor’s degree–typically in a field such as business administration, marketing, or finance. Some consultants may have a master’s degree, while other business consultants may have additional certifications. You should ask to see proof of their track record and details about how they have solved problems for similar clients. 

Business consulting can be a rewarding career and many consultants charge top dollar for their services, so it’s important to hire someone who has the qualifications and experience necessary to help your business succeed. 

What should a consulting agreement include?

A consulting agreement should include information about the scope of work, payment terms, and what happens if either party breaches the agreement. Consulting agreements often contain the following clauses:

• Responsibilities
• Deliverables
• Payment terms 
• Intellectual property
• Termination
• Confidentiality

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Japan rivals Nissan and Honda will share EV components and AI research as they play catch up

Nissan Chief Executive Makoto Uchida, left, and Honda Chief Executive Toshihiro Mibe shake hands during a joint news conference in Tokyo, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. Japanese automakers Nissan and Honda say they plan to share components for electric vehicles like batteries and jointly research software for autonomous driving. (Kyodo News via AP)

FILE - Logos at a Nissan showroom are seen in Ginza shopping district in Tokyo, March 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

FILE - Logos of Honda Motor Co. are pictured in Tsukuba, northeast of Tokyo, on Feb. 13, 2019. (Kyodo News via AP, File)

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TOKYO (AP) — Japanese automakers Nissan and Honda say they plan to share components for electric vehicles like batteries and jointly research software for autonomous driving.

A third Japanese manufacturer, Mitsubishi Motors Corp., has joined the Nissan-Honda partnership, sharing the view that speed and size are crucial in responding to dramatic changes in the auto industry centered around electrification.

A preliminary agreement between Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. was announced in March .

After 100 days of talks, executives of the companies evinced a sense of urgency. Japanese automakers dominated the era of gasoline engines in recent decades but have fallen behind formidable new players in green cars like Tesla of the U.S. and China’s BYD.

“Companies that don’t adapt to the changes cannot survive,” said Honda Chief Executive Toshihiro Mibe. “If we try to do everything on our own, we cannot catch up.”

Nissan and Honda will use the same batteries and adopt the same specifications for motors and inverters for EV axels, they said.

By coming together in what Mibe and counterpart at Nissan, Makoto Uchida, repeatedly called “making friends” to achieve economies of scale, the companies plan more strategic investments in technology and aim to cut costs by boosting volume.

Each company will continue to produce and offer its own model offerings. But they will share resources in areas like components and software development, where “making friends” will be a plus, Mibe and Uchida told reporters.

They declined to say whether the friendship will extend to a mutual capital ownership, while noting that wasn’t ruled out.

The two companies also agreed to have their model lineups “mutually complement” each other in various global markets, including both internal combustion engine vehicles and EVs. Details on that are being worked out, the companies said.

Honda and Nissan will also work together on energy services in Japan. Under Thursday’s announcements, Mitsubishi will join as a third member.

Toyota Motor Corp. , Japan’s top automaker, is not part of the three-way collaboration.

Although Honda and Nissan have very different corporate cultures, it became clear, as their discussions on working together continued, their engineers and other workers on the ground have a lot in common, Uchida said.

“Speed is the most crucial element, considering our size,” he added.

Uchida and Mibe repeatedly stressed speed, openly admitting BYD is moving very quickly, but they said there was still time to catch up and remain in the game.

“In coming together, we will show that one plus one will add up to become more than two,” Uchida said.

Yuri Kageyama is on X: https://twitter.com/yurikageyama