A breakdown of different types of consultants

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article | A breakdown of different types of consultantsThere are many types of consultants to choose from. A lot of people think that consulting is all strategy-driven, where companies hand a few slips of paper to the CEO and then leave. But this is not actually the case; there are all kinds of companies offering advice right along the value chain. This is why it is vital that you do your research into the kind of consultants you need for your organization and think about the types of problems you are experiencing.

1. Strategy consultants

Strategy consultants are the most obvious type of consultant. They are often slightly more expensive and have access to the CEO suite because they affect executive decisions. They give advice on the fundamentals of a business, such as pricing, product mix, and target market. They make decisions on the basis of profit margins, thinking about sales and costs and how to maximize the former and minimize the latter. They often work longer hours but do shorter projects because they have less need to engage with employees across the company, and a lot of their time will be spent on crunching numbers.

2. Technology consultants

Technology consultants will look at the IT systems which a company has in place and think about whether they are working as well as they could be for both the employees and the customers. In this digital age, technology is extremely important as customers often expect a seamless experience. Businesses often go to firms such as HLB System Solutions for longer-term solutions, including managed IT services. Often consultants in this area can tell companies how to migrate their systems across from legacy infrastructure to cloud computing, which can be more efficient for all concerned.

3. Operations consultants

Operations consultants look at the processes in place across the organization. They think about whether things could be done more efficiently. They may look at sourcing and where products come from, in addition to whether the cost makes sense and whether any element of the supply chain could be changed. They may look at executing projects or suggestions put forward by strategy consultants. They tend to spend a lot longer at organizations than strategy consultants because they need to be there through all the stages of implementation.

4. People consulting

Last, but far from least, in these times, HR is the most important function in a company. This is where people advisory services come in – they can understand what employees need to be more engaged and how to serve them better. They can also understand what competencies are needed for the job at hand and how those employees at the firm can meet those requirements by initially creating a checklist of different competencies, surveying employees on what they know, and then working with firms to fill in those gaps. This may be through training or learning and development – there are so many tools they have at their disposal.

There is bound to be the right kind of consultant out there for you – it’s just a question of what type you need!

How to help your business grow in 2021

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article | How to help your business grow in 20212020 will go down in history as one of the hardest years for businesses. Some industries, like nightclubs or stadiums, haven’t been able to open their doors since the very start of the year. Even the businesses that are normally in constant high demand, like fast food restaurants and coffee shops, have faced their own challenges and seen big drops in revenue. The sad reality is that some businesses won’t survive long enough to reopen their doors after the Christmas holidays. Those that do survive will be desperate to increase their profits to make up for the damage caused by the coronavirus. If you’re one of those businesses looking to recover, here are some of the best ways you can help your business grow in 2021.

Employ the right people

One of the most important aspects of any business is the people you employ. Choose the right employees and they will be your most important asset. Choose the wrong people to work with and they can cause all manner of problems, including poor productivity, inaccuracies and they could even damage your brand’s reputation, all of which will impact your ability to turn a profit.

To make sure your business can reach its financial potential, it’s important to choose a talented group of people who can work well together to produce a good product or provide a good service. It’s important that you choose people with the right skills you need to compete those all-important tasks. One of the best ways to ensure you find people with the right skillset is to seek the help of a recruitment agency that truly understands your industry. Whether you work in the construction industry or the performing arts, find a local recruitment agency that can instantly recognise what makes a good potential employee for your business. That way you won’t be wasting your time meeting up and interviewing candidates that are clearly not the right fit for your team. If you suddenly have a gap in your workforce that needs filling, they can find you the right person to fill that position before your productivity is affected.

Introduce yourself to your customers once more

If you’re involved in an industry that has been forced to close temporarily or reduce the services you provide, it’s important to remind your customers of your existence once you are able to fully reopen. Even if you have been able to remain open, it may be that the restrictions have meant many people just haven’t required your products or services. A lot of businesses are in this very situation, for example those who sell travel insurance or even those who sell suits and dresses for big evenings out socialising.

One of the best ways to attract those customers back is to act like those customers are brand new to your business. Create a marketing campaign that explains the advantages of using your products or services. Remind them of how they can buy goods from you or access your services. Make sure this marketing is located in the places where your target audience spends most of their time. For young people, this could be on social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram. For the older generation, this could be in newspapers and on the radio, although an increasing number of people in this demographic are now using social media.

Revisit your pricing

Over the last few months, it’s probably not just your earnings that have taken a big hit. It’s likely that some of your customers also have a lot less money than they did this time last year, whether that’s because their hours have been reduced at work, they’ve been furloughed or they’ve lost their job completely. If this is the case, the main obstacle stopping them buying your product may be the price. Consider either reducing the price of your products or offering cheaper alternatives for those who have a smaller budget. For example, you could offer a product in smaller quantities or made from cheaper materials.

On the other end of the scale, there could be customers with lots of money saved up as they weren’t able to go on their annual holiday or they just spend less money on things like day trips and nights out. Consider offering luxury packages to encourage these customers to spend more money with you. You could group several of your products together and sell them as a bundle, offering customers a small discount for buying all of the products together.

5 Myths about Senior Care Franchise Debunked

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article|Senior Care Franchise Myths|5 Myths about Senior Care Franchise DebunkedBefore taking that great leap into owning a business, you conduct research work on things that you’d like to know. Sadly, some of the stories out there are myths but because they’ve been passed around for far too long it begins to look like the truth. This article takes you through some myths about senior care franchise opportunity in Baton Rogue LA. Due to these common myths, many people shattered their dream of becoming a senior care franchise business owner.

Myth 1: Professional background in healthcare is a must

You do not need health care experience in order to take advantage of a senior care franchise opportunity in Baton Rouge LA. One thing you should know is that neither you nor your staff is saddled with the responsibility of providing medical care for residents. Your basic responsibility is providing assistance for seniors under your watch. These may include preparing meals, companionship, assistance with completing daily tasks such as bathing and dressing, providing transportation, and many more. For many, they feel being a caregiver is another requirement for owning a senior care franchise. In reality, it really doesn’t matter. Moreover, it is impossible to multi-task in this line of the business hence you will need to hire extra hands.

Myth 2: Age

Owning a business has nothing to do with age. Regardless of your age, you have the opportunity to start something new. It is not uncommon to see middle-aged or even people close to retirement looking for senior care franchise opportunity in Baton Rouge LA. One major factor that might push you into owning a franchise business is your passion. There is no such thing as too old to switch careers.

Myth 3: Alarming number of senior care franchise

Regardless of the number of senior care companies plying their trade in Los Angeles, there is always a ready market for you to pitch your tent, thanks to the increasing population of seniors. With a decline in the number of family caregivers, senior care is the near-perfect alternative where seniors can be properly cared for.

Myth 4: Helping patients file insurance claim

Senior care is not included in health insurance policy. This kind of service is largely private pay, so you don’t have to worry about assisting residents process health insurance claims. Good news is that there are programs including Veteran Aid & Attendance benefits that provide families with much-needed financial assistance.

Myth 5: I need at least a million dollars to own a senior care franchise

Senior care franchise opportunity in Baton Rouge LA isn’t a free venture. You need to invest a considerable amount of money. However, you don’t need to break a bank for this. You need at least $50,000 in cash and a minimum net worth of $350,000 to own a senior care franchise. Nowadays, many franchisors are willing to work along with your budget. So if you have a passion to own a senior care franchise, go for it.

Before you feel discouraged, be sure to get your facts right and give deaf ears to stories.

Questions to Ask When Choosing Senior Care Franchise Opportunities Markham

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article|Senior Care Franchise|Questions to Ask When Choosing Senior Care Franchise Opportunities MarkhamWhen choosing from the many senior care franchise opportunities in Markham, you need to be sure if you are doing the right thing. One way to do this is by getting answers to several key questions. While there are many questions worth asking, there are a few that are considered the deal-breaker questions. The response you get to these questions will determine to a large extent if the franchise system is worth investing your hard-earned money. Also, it gives you insight into whether or not the franchise system has a proven track record.

Is having prior experience a prerequisite to owning a senior care franchise?

Each franchise has its own basic requirements that must be fulfilled, but in the case of senior care franchise opportunities Markham, franchisees need not have prior experience in this field before becoming a part of the network. However, some skills can’t be overlooked including customer relationship skills, people, and management skills as well as organizational skills. The most important thing about senior care franchise is your passion to serve. Also, you must be willing and ready to follow the franchisor’s models with a proven track record of successes.

You don’t have to start building the business from scratch, unlike an entrepreneur. Senior care franchise opportunities Markham offers you a great chance to become a successful business owner within the shortest time possible.

What is the performance level of your chosen franchisors?

The reputation of your franchise owners is paramount to your success, especially in the first couple of years. It is important to check how many hours per week are allocated to franchisees within your network. The number of work hours generated weekly determines how long it will take to break even. The answer to these questions will tell you the operational expenses required to keep the business in tip-top shape and how well the business can scale over time. Choose a franchisor with a proven record of providing a more customized approach to scaling your business.

What’s the strength of the support provided by franchisors?

As you’d know, all franchise systems claim to have the best support and training for their franchisees but in reality, most in the industry are false claims. So how do you know which franchisor offers just the right support and training you seek? One way is to get feedback from franchisees in the network. Are they satisfied with the business model and what is their success rate? If a franchisor states that they survey owners, check to see if they conduct the survey on their own and not outsource to a third-party agent. There might be a good number of franchisors that conduct thorough surveys but only a few provide the much-needed support and training needed to pull through in the business world.

Choosing the right senior care franchise company is a vital step to success.

Building Residual Income By Franchising Your Business

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship ArticleThe vision for every entrepreneur is to eventually figure out how to scale to the point where the day to day business isn’t reliant on the owner every minute of every day.  For many, this objective never comes to fruition as the business is structured in a way where the business owner is consumed and literally devoured by the entity.  The business owner becomes an employee in reality and the business never grows beyond what that business owner is able to accomplish with their own two hands.  The E-Myth, by Michael Gerber, says it best, to build a business, one must figure out how to get themselves OUT of the business before they can start to work ON the business.  Franchising is a the ultimate definition of scale where a business owner removes themselves completely from operational responsibilities in order to become a coach to others who wish to enter the world of entrepreneurship.  The reason why franchising lends itself to scalable, high-residual income is the same reason that Larry Ellison has a net worth of $49.6 billion and a boat that is larger than some countries.  Once you are able to create the formula for what you do and replicate that formula through scaled growth, you have achieved the ability to generate income for your intellectual property.

Franchising is a unique vehicle in that it allows businesses that traditionally are not scalable, such as restaurants, retail and service businesses to become scaled through franchisee’s investment and willingness to manage the local business.  When you franchise a business, you create a vehicle that supports residual income through long term relationships with independent franchise ownership and contiguous brand equity.  Franchisees pay a fee to you as the franchisor for the rights to your intellectual property and brand recognition in addition to making the investment in opening the new franchise location of your business model.  Where the residual income is derived from franchising is that a franchisee typically commits to a 10-20 year relationship where they are agreeing to pay a percentage of their revenues on a weekly or monthly basis.  In addition, many Franchises also require franchisees to purchase products and business items from the franchisor as well which may be sold at a profit to the franchise network.  This is where residual income is generated and at the time where a franchise system becomes self-sufficient is when the business owner can step out of day to day operations entirely and focus on building the business and moving the company forward.  Visionary entrepreneurs who leveraged franchising to expand such as John Hewitt in the tax preparation business or Ray Kroc in the hamburger business were most likely not the best tax preparers or burger flippers, they were great at finding scale and achieving residual income for their ideas.

To franchise a business one must be in a position where they have the right formula in place, systems, processes and procedures to be able to teach a third party how to do what you do.  In many cases, I’ve found that business owners don’t realize that franchising is a viable expansion model and that they could achieve this residual income sooner than expected.  My advice is always to let the market drive this decision of whether to franchise your business, if people are asking for what you do in their market and how to invest in your business, the franchise expansion model needs to be on the table.

For more information on how to franchise your business, visit Franchise Marketing Systems: www.fmsfranchise.com/

About the Author

Christopher James ConnerChristopher Conner, President of Franchise Marketing Systems has been in the franchise industry since 2002 working with several hundred different franchise systems in management, franchise sales and franchise development work. His experience ranges across all fields of franchise expertise with a focus in franchise marketing and franchise sales but includes work in franchise strategic planning, franchise research and franchise operations consulting.  To read Christopher’s complete biography, click here.