5 Reasons For And Against Independent Consultancies Taking Off In 2010
The economy is starting to pick up in places but not everywhere
. For those looking at new ways to earn a higher income there may have never been a better time to start your own consultancy from scratch. Alistair Grieve from YourConsultancy discusses 5 reasons for and against Independent Consultancies taking off in 2010.
Pros - 5 reasons why Independent Consultancies will thrive in 2010
1. There are, on average less employees in companies than there were a year ago, many organisations have pushed a huge amount of valuable experience out the door and will increasingly have unanswered questions. Companies can agree retainers to ensure that experience can at least be accessed, reducing average cost for them and helping to fund consultants income stream.
2. Collaboration software such as BaseCamp, Clienteq and SharePoint are making it easier and easier to keep both Consultants aligned and Clients up to date with progress securely. One of the major benefits of such software in my opinion is that it reduces the risk in an engagement through increased client and management transparency.
3. Remote working is getting better all the time. Helped by increasing acceptance of video conferencing, webinars and remote white boarding, interacting with clients while offsite is getting more and more straightforward. From an IT point of view it is also getting much easier to remotely interrogate systems and flag important exceptions that the consultants can use to both add value and gain new work.
4. Networking and Social Networks are stronger than ever. Reputation is the currency of a consultant and sites such as LinkedIn support this well by clearly demonstrating your areas of expertise. They also help to better leverage your extended network more effectively.
5. The opportunity for micro consulting getting paid for micro engagements which could take a day, hour or even a few minutes to answer expert questions is increasing rapidly. These short term contracts reduce risk and improve clients productivity considerably but most importantly they provide a platform from which a relationship with a potential client can be started.
Cons 5 Reasons why Independent Consultants may Struggle in 2010
1. Consultants by their nature tend to be experts or technicians of their trade. Sales and Marketing does not always come naturally to those that have spend the last few decades at the coal face of expertise. Online marketing in particular is mutating rapidly which means that keeping up with this can be challenging for a smaller independent consultant.
2. Contractual Accountability some firms will want to deal with established and larger Consultancy Practices just in case something goes wrong. When the going gets tough the tough can get litigious.
3. Increased competition, there are more and more individuals looking to succeed as Independent Consultants and this trend is set to continue. It will therefore be increasingly important for new consultants to properly differentiate themselves and continually strive for excellence to remain at the top of the most wanted list.
4. Information is becoming increasingly transparent within organisations with new information management software of course this also represents an opportunity for IT consultancies which represent approximately 50% of the consultancy market.
5. Procurement teams are increasingly becoming involved with commercial decision making and choice of consultants. This can have the effect of negotiating fees down but may bring increased opportunities for connected smaller consultancies
CRYSTAL BALL TIME. There will be a split again in the demand for Consultants Services it used to be that companies paid consultants to come in and tell them what to do then the focus shifted to implementation and results. I see this diverging again with results based consultancy firmly in one camp and information based consultancy firmly growing in another, lead by the increased desire to get answers on-demand with micro engagements. This together with online growth will continue to prove more positive than negative in 2010.
by: Alistair Grieve
5 Reasons For A Promotional Clothing Company To Consider Introducing An Ethical Trading Policy. 5 Reasons Business Blogs Are So Popular 5 Reasons A Biometric Time and Attendance System Will Work For Your Business 5 Reason Why You Should Market Your Business On Twitter. 5 Real Benefits Your Business Will Get With Sales Training Courses 5 Real Benefits Your Business Will Get With Sales Training Courses 5 Qualities To Look For In A Floral Refrigerator For Your Business 5 Proven Headlines That Generate Response 5 Promotional Gifts to Promote Your Small Business 5 Procedures In Creating Business Cards 5 Principals to Choose Best Logo Design for your Business 5 Online Business Tools That Will Boost Your Sales 5 Must-have Pages For Small Business Websites