Start Your Own Consulting Practice - Pass Christian University

Start Your Own Consulting Practice Do you have training or knowledge that could be useful to others? Have you ever considered providing consulting services based upon your background? This course is designed to help those who wish to set up a consulting practice get started. You will learn the complete process of starting and operating a consulting practice. The course will begin with surveys and assessments designed to help you pinpoint the best consulting services to offer. The course then progresses into the business start-up process, including issues such as licensing and legalities. You will then develop a complete business plan for their consulting firm that details finances, pricing policies, contracting, and marketing. The course concludes with a discussion of record-keeping and tax concerns. There will also be an online discussion area where you can exchange valuable business ideas and resources with other students and the instructor. The instructor will keep you updated by citing resources such as books, periodicals, and organizations designed to help small businesses.

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Syllabus:

All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do not have to be present when the lesson is released, but you must complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.

A new section of each course starts on the second or third Wednesday of each month. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.

Week One

Wednesday - Lesson 01

In our first lesson, you'll learn about all of the characteristics of running your own consulting business. In the process, you'll have the opportunity to take an entrepreneurial career test that will help you determine if owning a consulting company is a good decision for you. As you study independent consulting, you'll also learn about alternatives that will allow you to offer your consulting services without the issues associated with self-employment. Finally, I'll show you how to lay the foundation for success as a consultant.

Friday - Lesson 02

Today, we'll turn our attention to the profession of consulting. In this lesson, I'll help you recognize the prospects of independent consulting and will introduce you to 20 of the most common consulting fields. My goal is to help you identify the kind of consulting practice you may want to run. Finally, I'll introduce you to some successful consultants in various industries so you can see how they started and grew their businesses.

Week Two

Wednesday - Lesson 03

In this lesson, you'll work through a series of exercises designed to help you pinpoint your area of expertise. You'll work with a tool that will help you interpret your skill set and help you choose the type of consulting practice to run. After you work through the exercises, you'll read two case studies about consultants who, after thoroughly assessing their skills and backgrounds, started practices quite different from what they originally envisioned—both financially and personally.

Friday - Lesson 04

Today, you'll begin taking steps toward actually create your consulting firm. You'll learn how to set concrete goals, both short-term and long-term. Once you know how to set goals, you'll learn how to use them in your strategies for attracting clients to your new business. We'll apply a simple goal-based analogy of seed planting to get you well on your way to understanding what it takes to get customers.

Week Three

Wednesday - Lesson 05

In today's lesson, you'll take the first steps toward opening your doors. First, you'll learn how to craft a fundamental business plan, then I'll show you how to use a basic planning template to develop the business plan for your individual company. We'll begin by creating the conceptual basis and mission of your consulting practice. Then you'll learn how to research the marketplace to both uncover your clients' needs and discern how other consulting practices operate. Finally, you'll work on establishing your pricing structure and determining what specific services you'll offer.

Friday - Lesson 06

You're just about ready for your grand opening! In this lesson, you'll learn about the eight physical steps you'll need to follow to start off right. Each of these steps, completed in sequence, will move you toward opening day. Among these eight steps, you'll examine issues related to licensing, legal construction, naming your business, and even choosing a business card style that will get you noticed.

Week Four

Wednesday - Lesson 07

Today, we'll explore the financial aspects of your company. You'll begin by developing a series of budgets for various stages of your company's growth. First, you'll create a complete start-up budget. Second, you'll forecast your ongoing expenses for one year. Third, you'll estimate your gross income and use the income and expense figures to estimate your potential profit. After developing those financial sheets, you'll learn why you'll need to use contracts and letters of agreement. Finally, you'll learn all about billing, including several options that can reduce collection problems and significantly help your cash flow.

Friday - Lesson 08

Now it's time to go after your first client! This is the first part of a two-part lesson in which you'll learn how to obtain customers. In this lesson, find out how to correctly identify the kinds of customers who want or need your services. You'll learn how to recognize them using two market analysis tools: demographics and psychographics. You'll also learn why you should target your customer base first, and then create advertisements aimed toward those customers.

Week Five

Wednesday - Lesson 09

In this second marketing installment, you'll learn how to select advertising forms that will best reach your customers. We'll explore the four major categories of advertising as well as their subcategories. You'll use a marketing plan worksheet to detail which forms of advertising you'll use to reach each type of client. Then you'll learn about the major difference in strategy between marketing to a consumer clientele and marketing to a commercial clientele. Finally, I'll explain the concepts of frequency and response rates and how each will increase your chances of success in securing paying clients.

Friday - Lesson 10

Now it's time to learn about the administration of your business, namely record keeping. In this lesson, you'll learn about the seven basic components that comprise your record keeping system. We'll discuss which kinds of records you should keep for management and tax purposes. After you learn which items to record and track, I'll explain the calculations you'll need to perform and how to read the financial condition of your company. Finally, I'll give you several scenarios to help you practice those computations.

Week Six

Wednesday - Lesson 11

Today, you'll learn the basics of business tax deductions and how to estimate your business taxes. You'll find out how to identify tax deductions for your business, as well as how to unearth potential tax deductions from your personal affairs that could be related to the business. You'll also learn how to work with your accountant to properly plan for tax time and help minimize your tax obligations. We'll conclude by reading two case studies that will help you practice estimating taxes owed.

Friday - Lesson 12

In this final lesson, I'll introduce you to dozens of resources that can provide you with assistance as you build your business. You'll learn about government agencies at the federal, state, and local levels, as well as local organizations that exist to serve entrepreneurs like you.

This course includes a knowledgeable and caring instructor who will guide you through your lessons, facilitate discussions, and answer your questions. The instructor for this course will be William Flood.

William Flood is a small business consultant, speaker, and the owner of Horizon Business Services, a small business training firm. He has conducted training seminars for over 15 years, reaching over 35,000 students. Mr. Flood has extensive experience working with home-based businesses in such diverse areas as mail order, consulting, import/export, e-commerce, and real estate investing. A dedicated entrepreneur, he regularly works as a volunteer counselor for the Maryland Small Business Development Center, and was nominated in 1991 for the Small Business Administration's Young Entrepeneur of the Year award. Mr. Flood holds a master's degree from the University of Delaware.

Requirements:

Internet Access, e-mail, and the Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox Web browser.

Student Reviews:

"Exceeded my expectations. Already recommended to others. Great resources. In depth practical information."

"Excellent and very practical course. I'd highly recommend this to any thinking about starting their own consulting business."

"Excellent course! Anyone that is serious about starting a consulting practice can go from an idea to launching a successful practice in six weeks."

"For the price of a decent meal this course provided the tools to start a business that can feed you for the rest of your life."

"Good job and great course."

"Great course. I have more to work with in the development of my consulting"

"I believe this is one of the most outstanding classes I have ever completed and I have taken many of them. The value for the fee is unbeatable!. Excellent organization and knowledge--my congratulations to Bill Flood. And a great thank you for offering such an in-depth class on-line. I look forward to taking more."

"I really enjoyed the course, especially the discussions between classmates and the instructor. The information received as a result of this class has helped me get a great start on my consulting practice."

"Thanks so much; this class was invaluable to me!"

"Thank you Professor Flood for a fascinating business course. My favorite part was that it was designed for the lay person. It did not bog down the student with overbearing chapters and lengthy lessons. It is very direct and to-the-point. I never thought a business course could be so much fun!"

"The course covered a very good range of material, all useful. The instructor/assistant was very good at answering all submitted questions, and did so quickly."

"The course was informative and enjoyable. The part that really helped me was the chapter explaining advertising services and where to look in the Yellow Pages of the telephone directory. Thank you."

"The online classroom is very effective for this type of training. The instructor is excellent."

"This course has been a valuable resource for me and an excellent value. I came into the class skeptical about whether I could manage as a consultant and came out more confident that I probably could do so. The discussion sessions added additional insight for me. The extensive web site links were also very beneficial. This has been a very enriching experience for me."

"This is an outstanding course that provides the student with a framework for launching their own business. The lessons and assignments are extremely practical and they easily engage the student in the process of developing a blueprint for their business. The quizzes are designed to provide immediate feedback so the student can readily determine why they may have missed a specific item and then study the material in order to learn what the correct response should have been. The links to supplemental materials are quite comprehensive. I can't imagine how this course could be improved upon. It's outstanding just the way it is."

"This was a very good course for someone who is just pulling together thoughts on starting a consulting practice."

"This was a very useful course, laid out in a way that was easy to understand. There was good interaction with the instructor. Thanks!"

"Very good course, excellent instructor! Instructor introduced topics in discussion that was helpful for feedback and interaction. Assignments were intensive - will continue to reflect on my answers as I build my business. Thanks very much for a very good course!"

"Very good course, excellently implemented, I got what I needed, and I am on my way. Thank you."

"Very good overall view that provides all the basics to start a consulting business. Very reachable and responsive instructor. Online methodology is excellent."

"Very Informative"