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March 1, 2010Something every single freelance consultant needs to do right away is to make use of the fantastic resources being provided for you by the Government and other organisations. One of the very best is called Business Link.
In their own words from their website: http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/
Business Link is a free business advice and support service, available online and through local advisers.
First of all please visit their website. They have a lot of free materials and guides from starting up to how to expand your business. Please do not think that just because you might be one person that this does not apply for you or you are not allowed to access this. They want you to succeed because it means more tax revenue for the Government in the long run!
For us as freelancers trying to market ourselves, they have a great section on creating a marketing strategy. What I am trying to teach you and show you on this blog are other ways for you to find and retain new clients. They break this down point by point. They also have online interactive guides to create plans you can follow.
However the best thing for freelance consultancy providers is for you to set up a free one hour consultation with a business advisor. You can do this by going to the following link and clicking on your region. You will then be asked to fill in a short form:
So, I had my session a few months ago. It was a bit of a trek for me but took me to a nice part of town called Enfield which I had never been to before. That was like being in America with huge malls and shopping centres and lots of highway plus a huge, huge cinema with umpteen screens.
Also, it really helped me think. I had to prepare the financials of my business so far and forecasts for the future. Because I was meeting someone else and not just doing this myself, I took it a lot more seriously and really came up with the questions I wanted answering. The business advisor is obviously impartial and is there to suggest things you may not have considered and to give you recommendations for new resources.
In my meeting, I explained my issues of finding more work and he immediately suggested a few ideas some of them basic such as networking and we came up with an action plan, one of the points which was to take some sales training plus to build my peer network, which I have spoken about in this blog already. They are also there for follow up. Another face to face session might have to be paid for but by e-mail or telephone I believe the follow up is free.
So please sign up for this. Please also play around on the site, including looking at the section on Business Sectors. There is one for general management consultancy as well as IT Consultancy, HR Consultancy etc. You have to click on a few pages but they then list a lot of trade associations relevant for management consultants including the Institute of Business Consulting , Management Consultancies Association (MCA) and Management Consultants News (MCN) amongst others.
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