Small Business Consulting Services – Is it Money Well Spent by Small Businesses?

A wise man knows that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. All Massachusetts leading small business consultants can provide many services including strategic assessment, strategic planning, marketing and promotional planning, loan and grant proposals, customized training solutions all wrapped up in a comprehensive business plan solution or individually, based on a specific need.

All the services mentioned above require planning in some form. Many times, businesses don’t have the staff nor ability to perform these services for themselves because they are usually bogged down with the day-to-day operational side of the business. So that is where and why consulting services can help.

Again, you may be considering help in the areas listed above or you may be seeking an unbiased professional opinion on specific issues. You may need help preparing a complete business plan, pro-forma financial documents or a marketing plan. Whatever your needs, small business consulting services encompass many answers to the problems facing small businesses.

Consulting services are utilized by every business size imaginable. Both large and small accounting and consulting firms are always employed by companies as big as Microsoft. Any size business has needs that can not be met internally because businesses sometimes look at themselves subjectively rather than objectively or lack the experience and expertise in an area that could improve a component of their business which could translate to growth and higher profits.

But wait, if you’re short on resources whether it be financial or human resources and you need small business consulting services it’s important to find one of the Massachusetts leading small business consultants that offers a strong track record of success and a firm which will listen to your needs carefully.

You need to remember that careful planning and consulting is extremely valuable to any profitable venture…as the Visa commercials profess…it’s priceless!

Mary Kay Beauty Consultant – What You Need to Know

Mary Kay is marketing in several lines like skin care, color makeup, body care and various others. The company has also provided business opportunities to people and has expanded its business. These products are available everywhere in the world and are sold by independent consultants. These consultants buy the products at wholesale, starter packages or individually. These packages also include bonus items and might be purchased on credit or on cash. The new distributors are encouraged in this way to start their business.

One can sell these products in several ways too. One to one or in a party or any way that is feasible to the distributor. The company also ships its products directly through website and email.

For buying a product, one needs to familiarize themselves with the ranges and varieties they offer. A Mary Kay consultant can surely help you in this regard. A visit to Mary Kay website can also be helpful. There are several past successful stories of consultants that can give a good idea of the product.

To become a Mary Kay beauty consultant, one can learn about the opportunities for a sales director and find out the requirements. Before finalizing the deal the fine print of agreement should be thoroughly considered to reduce any misconceptions. After verifying the contract, one may plan for the sale of this product, the way that is most feasible them. All the consultants also earn a 50% profit off the products that they sell independently so it’s quite a good business for them.

To become a Mary Kay independent Consultant: Request the agreement from your consultant. After signing, the person will be required to give initially $100 for the investment to obtain the supplies. The literature and sample products will be sent by mail. This might assist in planning the sale. One might also ask any questions and take advantage of the training provided. Again special discounts and offers will be open for consultants.

Understand that the training will provide you with the skills to have Mary Kay parties and how to do facials. You will be asked to make a list of family and friends and then hit them up to have a party or buy the products. The drawback to this is people are very busy these days and really don’t want to take time out to have a party or even a facial. You may find at first you can get some response but it will not be long before you will hear a lot of excuses as to why they can not take the time out of their busy schedule.

So bottom line here is that even though Mary Kay has good products and is a very reputable company it may become difficult to market the products. The problem is hitting up people that could care less about what you have can make result in a real challenge trying to grow your business. On the other hand if you learn to utilize the power of the internet and get yourself positioned as a leader and an expert in the cosmetic or skin care industry you can have literally thousands of people reaching out to you that already have a want, need or desire for your products or even your business. Be aware that trying to host parties will soon become ineffective and your Mary Kay business could end up actually costing you money.

Hiring an Online Marketing Consultant Makes Sense – Strategic Online Marketing Can Explode Business

Most Business Owners Have These Dilemmas

Stuck in a rut with traditional and often outdated marketing and advertising methods and are unsure on what direction they must take to transition their marketing onto the internet.
Understands that the time for internet marketing in now if they are to continue growing. Giving it a go on their own has left them lost, not producing results and watching their advertising budget disappear with little or nor return. They want professional assistance on how to approach it or how to implement strategic business marketing online.
Have learned by now that there online advertising and marketing is working well but they are ready to take it to the next level. They are committed to an online marketing strategy and looking for professional help to manage and grow their business revenue online.
The internet is the future. You will eventually change or get left behind. That’s not simply my opinion. 82%* off all customers looking to do business locally will search you and your business out on the internet.

So How Can An Online Marketing Consultant Help Your Business?

That seems to be the burning question considering that experienced online marketing consultants can charge upward to 1000 dollars a day for their services depending on how complex and spread out your business is. Small Businesses looking for local traffic more often than not will get quality service and expert advice for much less.

An experienced online marketing consultant will provide a conclusive Marketing Diagnostic of your business, allowing you to better understand what actions and processes are needed to increase revenue and profits.

Strategic marketing plans come down to looking at what your company offers in relation to when and how the market wants it presented. In order to set the foundation of a strategic business marketing plan in place, you need a marketing diagnostic.

It summarizes what your company’s marketing is trying to accomplish and the methods of doing so, but not the specific actions to get there. The online consultant has given you direction, and now it is up to you to put a tactical plan in place.

So no matter how big or how small of a company you own, we all understand that with out proper marketing and advertising our businesses will not retain the customers we need to say in business. You are spending money each and every month promoting your business. Wouldn’t it be nice to spend that money more wisely by understanding the overall scope of things?

The Point is this…

Before you grab the internet marketing bull by the horns and start spending money all over the map attempting to find something that works, hire an online consultant to point you in the right direction. This one time investment will save you valuable time and money.

Get a Marketing Diagnostic to learn where your business stands and learn how you can improve your marketing by harnessing the power of the internet.
Take your new found knowledge and build a strategic marking plan that lays out in detail how to implement these avenues of online marketing.
Judge the complexity of the job at hand and decide whether to go it alone or hire a professional consultant to manage your businesses marketing.
Most cases prove that online marketing consultation is likely a better investment than going at it alone in the jungles of the internet super highway. With out a decisive plan of attach and some sound advice, you will more than likely fall prey and run the risk of putting your company in jeopardy.

Get started with online marketing as soon as possible and gain ground on your competitors. Get a marketing diagnostic review today and you will be well on your way to capturing the potential and power of the internet for increasing business revenue.

A Franchise Consultant Can Help You Find the Right Opportunity

If you have been thinking about starting your own business, you’ve probably considered the possibility of opening a franchise. Becoming the owner of a franchise is not for everyone, but for the right person with drive, determination and the ability to follow a proven business model, a franchise business is the perfect opportunity for success.

Finding a franchise business that is right for you, however, can be a frustrating task. If you have ever researched viable franchise opportunities in your area, you know that there are many. Narrowing down the businesses that fit your personality can be a long and arduous task. The most important thing to remember when searching for a franchise business that is right for you is that you will be spending a tremendous amount of time and energy working on getting the business running. It is critical that you have a natural interest in whatever goods or services the franchises sells.

An advantage to starting a franchise, though, is the franchisor provides a great deal of startup training and materials for promotion and marketing. If you were starting your own individual business, you would have to come up with these business models and startup costs yourself. Following a proven business plan and marketing strategy will allow your new franchise business to thrive much sooner than if you were creating a new company completely on your own.

Hiring a franchise consultant can significantly contribute to your goals by helping you focus your effort on finding a franchise business that is right for you. Franchise consultants that will spend long hours researching companies on behalf of their clients, and will make an effort to steer them toward the franchise business that appears to be the best fit. Certain franchise companies seem to always thrive, and the franchise consultant will let you know if you could be successful with a popular chain in your market region.

There are facts, figures and statistics that a franchise consultant will study in order to determine whether the franchise business can be successfully run in a certain area. It is important for you to work with the consultant to explore all potential business options to find the right fit for your personality and your financial goals. Starting a franchise business requires a serious investment of money and time, and a utilizing the services of a professional franchise consultant will help ensure that you don’t waste that investment.

The information a potential franchise owner can gain by using a franchise consultant is invaluable. It will give them negotiating power and a strong foothold on the market when the business finally opens its doors. Franchise consultants can be your most valuable asset when searching for the right business opportunity.

Mr. Abernathy is a marketing agent of Frannet. The franchise consultants offer assistance to new owners experiencing the franchise owning process for the first time. From fees, licensing, taxes, and more – your franchise consultant is there to help you reach your goals and dreams of being a business owner. For more information on Start a Business please visit their website.

Top Reasons to Hire a Marketing Consultant For Your Small Business

If you have worked hard to grow your small business but noticed that sales have hit a plateau, it is time to consider hiring a marketing consultant. You may not think that a stranger could do the marketing job you can but there is a reason why your growth has only gone so far. A professional consultant that specialises in small business, especially your niche, can help you break through that plateau and garner new clients.

Why You Need to Hire Outside Marketing Help

With a small business, you probably have a small staff and they may not have the in-depth, intimate knowledge of the goods and services you offer. They will have the broad general knowledge but they likely cannot help you put together a detailed and effective marketing plan. By hiring an outside marketing consultant, you are not only getting that upward push in business but also their personal knowledge too. Once your marketing project is finished, you will have learned some valuable tips to maintain your momentum in sales.

Another reason to hire a consultant for your small business promotional needs is that all of your in-house labour resources are most certainly tapped out and you cannot afford to hire another employee. The beauty of a consultant is that they are there to help you with your project and once it is done, they are gone. You do not have to pay health insurance and payroll taxes as you would with an employee.

Fresh Perspective

Building your business from the ground up, you can be too close to offer a fresh perspective for your marketing efforts. However, hiring a consultant who is not personally vested in your small business can help you see the things you have missed. They can also bring new ideas to the table, things you may not ever think of because of your intimate knowledge.

You cannot devote the time you need in developing and improving your core products and services if you are busy trying to promote your company. You can have a revolutionary product but without knowing how to properly market it, it is dead in the water. You may not want to spend the money on an outside professional, but without a consultant’s expertise, your small business could be robbed of the growth and success it deserves.

Focus on what you do best and hire a marketing consultant to help you bring your products and services to the right clientele. You may have great marketing ideas but no clue on how to implement them. By hiring an outside consultant for your small business marketing needs, you will boost sales.

Management Consultant – Understanding the Role and Responsibilities of a Consultant For Management

If you want to start a career in management consulting, it would work to your advantage if you know your roles and your responsibilities. Read on and find out!

- Conducting analysis and research.
- Data collection.
- Conducting interviews with clients, their employees, and their management team.
- Facilitating workshops and assisting focus groups.
- Organizing business presentation and business proposals.
- Managing a highly motivated, results focused team.
- Consolidation of metrics needed for planning and business reviews.
- Identifying and isolating pressing issues.
- Formulating and implementing solutions or recommendations.
- Assisting clients in putting plans into action.
- Managing programmers and existing projects.

Keep in mind that management consultants are mainly involved in providing objective expertise, advice, and specialist skills with the aim of improving business performance and maximizing its growth.

As a consultant, you are expected to operate across a wide variety of services which include marketing, financial and management controls, business strategy, e-business and operations, information technology, and supply-chain management.

As a management consultant, your day to day activities are often varied and complex as consultancy is project-based and essentially entrepreneurial in nature. Your projects can last from 2 weeks to one year depending on the needs and demands of your clients. For some projects, organizations may choose to hire just you or a group of management consultants. You may also be asked to work on your client’s site or offer your expertise using other mediums like internet, email, and phone. So, it is important that you know how to use these technologies to easily fill the unique needs of each of your clients.

Using a Consultant to Help Find an International Courier at the Right Price

Global Business requires International Couriers to help ship goods and documents around the world, from one corporation to another. Quite often these shipments are time sensitive and have tight deadlines so that contracts can be won or orders delivered.

It is for these reasons that businesses need access to an International Courier service that they can rely on. Although many don’t realise it, most businesses could save a lot on their International Courier shipments through the services of a consultant.

Courier Consultants scour the market to find out the best deals for customers, whilst also evaluating the quality of service through independent feedback. Through years of research they build up a database of courier companies, their prices and the quality of their feedback and after finding out a little bit about the requirements of the client can match them to the right courier.

The aim of the Courier Consultant is to

(a) Ensure that you are getting the best quality service in terms of delivery.
(b) Ensure you are getting the best possible value for money.

Many Courier consultants work on a no win no fee basis as they earn their living through commission from the courier companies. This means that you can use a courier consultant on a no risk basis – because if you don’t go along with their suggestion it doesn’t cost you a penny!

International Couriers do not necessarily have to be based in your country of origin as they are travelling the world all of the time anyway. A good courier consultant will research couriers globally, and not just those local to them. This means that you really do get the best possible information when it comes to helping to choose the right courier.

Courier Consultants understand how critical logistics can be to a business – the important thing to remember is that they are completely independent and on your side. It is in their best interests to recommend a good company to them as their reputation depends on it.

Style Consultation – How to Boost Your Body Confidence

As an image consultant, it never fails to amaze me how little confidence us women have in our bodies. I have a curvy size 12-14 figure and am constantly trying to lose weight! I am fortunate that because of my training I know how to dress my body to show off the best bits and hide the bits I don’t like so much. I can choose fabrics and styles that show off the curves whilst keeping the silhouette as slim as possible.

Very often I find that women with curves are very disillusioned with their bodies. Even more surprising to curvy ladies, who wish they could walk through that magic door and come out the other side a few sizes smaller, is the fact that their counterparts with slim size 8 figures are often just as dissatisfied with their slender bodies. They are often feeling like stick insects, wishing they had more curves and finding just as much difficulty getting clothes to fit properly.

When a client comes for a style consultation, the hardest question I can ask her is, “What do you like about your body?” She will start reeling off a long list of dislikes and I usually have to put her in front of the mirror and show her the positives. It seems that what probably starts with humble modesty shapes itself into complete lack of confidence in our bodies and low self esteem. If you have difficulty standing in front of the mirror and paying yourself a compliment then it’s definitely time to treat yourself to a style consultation.

At a style consultation you will find out which body shape you are and how to dress your body to it’s best advantage. You will learn how to focus on the positives rather than the negatives and build your body confidence.

The neat hourglasses will learn how versatile their body is. They can wear almost anything but must be careful not to swamp their perfect figure in bulky or baggy items.

The full hourglasses will learn to love their curves and show them off in soft and stretchy fabrics. Bias cut styles and low necklines work fantastically.

The triangles have a curvy lower half but will be smaller on the top half. They just need to learn how to layer the top half to balance the bottom. They need to keep all the detail to the top half whether it’s accessories, patterns, frills or pockets.

The inverted triangles have broad shoulders and slim hips. Their bodies are straight and neat. They look great in halternecks, stiff fabrics and sharp tailoring. They wear pinstripes beautifully and need to keep detail to the bottom half.

The lean columns are long and lean and have very few curves. In a style consultation they will learn how to use detail across the bust and hip area and how to use texture to add interest to the body. Us fat fighters cannot imagine how anyone can feel too thin, but the lean column sometimes feels long and lanky and a little masculine. A style consultation will help her appreciate her long limbs and create a more curvy shape.

The rectangle is again a straight body-line which suits tailored clothes and uncluttered looks. Trousers with pocket detail are great as are tailored waisted jackets and blouses. This woman looks fantastic in jeans. The rectangle needs to avoid soft, floppy clothes and belts around her middle.

The round woman will often feel that she is fat and her tummy will be her problem area. But she will usually have slim elegant legs. If she chooses clothes that hang from the shoulders like tunics and trapeze tops with wide-leg trousers her look will be balanced. Her detail needs to be in the top or bottom third of her body. She is often a bag and shoes girl and they will help her achieve a great look.

So stop beating yourself up, you definitely have great features whatever your shape. Consider a style consultation to boost your confidence today.

Responsibilities of a Construction Consultant

The construction and management consultants are basically known as the representatives of a construction estate. They work at an expert level along with the ordinary builders. There is also a senior construction team working at a side which makes sure that proper amount and quality of material is being used by the builders. This team also ensures that whether the material being used is good for the health of the environment or not. If it is not, then they replace that material and come up with environment friendly material for undertaking construction and management. The project on which these consultants work may range from a single room to a multi-level development program. This always depends upon the nature of the work assigned to these construction consultants. These professionals are highly trained and they can work on any kind of construction project.

When the projects are assigned to the professionals, they plan and make decision for choosing material that is to be used and they forward the tender to the suppliers. When the tender is completed, the material is supplied according to the required specification of each item of construction. This specification covers every single detail of all the items that are provided for construction from a single screw to the most complicated and the largest pieces to be used. After this, construction gets started and all the required material is utilized by the builders including the services of the construction consultants involved in the project.

When the material is obtained, the construction and management consultants examine the material carefully and make sure that it is viable for the health of the environment and then they pass it for further usage. After this, the material is forwarded to the builders and in this way the project is completed with its finest quality and is constructed with great skills that help in increasing its life.

The construction and management consultants then make a proper catalog for all the items and keep record for each item that is being utilized during construction. These building specification consultants also make a summary at the end of each day for the material consumed in work. This is done for the betterment of the whole organization. Builders work with full efforts to produce quality construction with their abilities due to which they are rewarded with money in the end. This is everything that is involved in the construction routine. The construction and management consultants not only work with the builders but they also maintain balance of work among the workers. Each builder performs a specific task and put in full efforts to achieve the desired outcomes.

In the same way, the product specification details are passed to the concerned authorities and then all these details are managed and put in a record. From this routine, we can observe that professional building construction consultants are as important as the building material is for construction. The one who has this kind of experience and knowledge will be prosperous in life by attaining a fair position in the construction department.

Consultants – How to Hire the Best Consultant

If you are having a hard time running your business or if you are virtually clueless about the benefits and compensation that you should offer to your employees, you can consider hiring consultants. These are the people who have been there and done that and who can share their expertise and experience to help you make well-informed decisions. They can also help you avoid committing costly mistakes.

With thousands of consultants offering the same services, how can you possibly find the best one that will meet your needs and demands? Here’s how:

1. Recommendations. Call your friends, colleagues, and family members who have worked with consultants before and ask about their experience. Get the name and contact information of consultants who strike you as the best fit to your needs and demands.

2. Make that call. Call the consultants who are highly recommended by the people you know. Ask about their services and ask for their portfolio. Go with those ones who listen to you, who have several years of experience, and highly recommended by industry leaders.

3. Ask for free consulting services. With the stiff competition in the field of consulting, more and more consultants are now open to the idea of offerings free consulting services to their potential buyers to increase their chances of winning their business. Take advantage of this to make sure that the consultant you choose is the one that can give you all the information and assistance you need. What you can do is share with him/her some of your problems and give him/her a chance to solve these. If you are impressed, you can go ahead and hire him/her.