Starting and Engineering Consultancy Business - Report Example

Starting an Engineering Consultancy Business BY YOU YOUR ACADEMIC ORGANIZATION HERE HERE HERE Starting and Engineering Consultancy Business Executive Summary This report highlights the necessary steps to launching an engineering consultancy business. Research provides support for growth in consultancy firms, therefore there is demand for these services in a variety of different industries. A new engineering consultancy business must consider the impact of relationships with different governmental and industry representatives and know how to respond professionally in challenging and ever-changing work environments. The steps necessary to launch a consultancy company as well as certain behavioral requirements of the business owner are described. Preliminary Strategic Planning Before being able to successfully launch a new engineering consultancy business, it is important to understand the skills necessary to have a successful business model. Engineering is a highly-technological field, therefore certain technical and administrative skills will be necessary to support the new idea. To launch a successful consultant business, “you don’t need to know absolutely everything. The notion that you would even be able to know everything when it comes to technology is very unrealistic” (docstoc.com, 2008, p.1). What this basically means is that the new owner of the business must identify what specific skills will be necessary to make the business operate successfully and consider recruitment efforts to find qualified staff or technical expertise to assist in the business. As part of early strategy planning, identifying qualified workers, managers or partners will require a skills analysis. Another key strategy in consulting is to actually listen to what the customer wants and not attempt to launch a business concept which fits only personal needs (Reising, 2009). Part of early efforts in strategy should be to invest research into what buyers actually need and then try to develop the business concept around these ideas. For example, surveys and/or interviews conducted with different consultant experts or potential business customers would give quality information about current needs in consulting and the behaviors they expect from consultancy business representatives. This type of investment into research on buyer behaviors will make sure customers are heard and the business can start out with high amounts of knowledge so to avoid making costly mistakes with new clients. Opportunities for the Professional Business In 1997, businesses spent over $12 billion on various consulting services (entrepreneur.com, 2009). This represents a very profitable opportunity if the new consultancy business meets with customer expectations for professionalism, courtesy, affordable prices, and proof of personal knowledge of engineering. Developing and sharpening communications skills have been cited as being some of the most important methods to building a successful engineering career (Reising, 2009). The interpersonal relationship is important not only in providing service delivery but also in gaining loyalty from buyers so that this engineering start-up is their first choice for consultancy services. “Establishing and maintaining a consulting practice is not easy, rather it is a process of self-marketing. As a consultant, you need to aggressively sell your product – you!” (Isidro, 2009, p.1). When meeting with clients professionally to offer consulting advice in engineering, certain social rules apply and any representative of this business must comply with policies set-up for building healthy business relationships. Appropriate use of body language and gesturing, as one example, will be trained to all employees of the business to make sure that reputation is not affected negatively. This is why marketing will be such an important part of the new consultancy business because “strong expertise does not guarantee success in the consulting business” (Isidro, 2009, p.1). Instead, the business must scan the external environment and look at the activities of competing companies and either benchmark these practices or avoid them if they are not bring competitor successes. Especially in areas of advertising and promotion, it is important to differentiate this consultancy business from others by finding a unique innovation or feature which can be highlighted that seems superior to other consulting firms. For example, this consultancy business will attempt to differentiate itself by focusing on its expertise and how consultancy challenges the status quo in business. This is part of quality-focused differentiation which makes this new start-up company have higher value at the knowledge and innovation level. Being challenged is also “thinking outside the box” (Reising, 2009, p.4), therefore this business will use promotion to become most known for its ability to adapt and be flexible through ongoing quality improvements. While other consultancy firms might focus on pricing, the new business will have its own unique marketing strategy. Marketing will all be focused with the goal of building a business identity among competition and getting “that first big client” (Berry, 2008, p.1), something vital to making sure the business can stay afloat (financially) while it looks for more customers. “To differentiate means to create a benefit that customers perceive as being of greater value to them than what they can get elsewhere” (Zwierzynski, 2009, p.1). This new consultancy business must also be practical and realistic and realize that engineering consultancy firm competition continues to grow as more entrepreneurs look for opportunities to expand their knowledge and improve the quality and growth potential of other firms. Highly-saturated sales environments will require this new business to promote higher value to different buyer groups. The first part of the strategy is to segment by identifying who will be the most likely customers, create a profile for their business or social needs, and then develop consultancy packages which will be attractive to these needs. A value proposition will be created, and promoted on the company’s website, which shows all of the benefits of choosing this new engineering consultant company over competition. Creating promises and then meeting these promises, as part of integrity and “adherence to a code of values, sincerity and honesty” (Reising, 2009, p.4), will be part of the entire value package for buyers. At the interpersonal level, all representatives must show these values in all business dealings to improve profit and growth potential. Internal Needs This new business must also have a well-developed human resources focus which “treats fairly all persons regardless of background” and “assists others in their professional development” (Reising, 2009, p.5). Employee motivation and satisfaction levels within a business are very important since they are part of operations and dealing with different clients. At the emotional level, employees need to have a sense of belonging within the organization and also a sense of security in order to be truly content with their job role (Mathis and Jackson, 2005). When starting this new consultancy business, policies must be created which appeal to these employee needs. For example, the new company will have clearly-defined expectations for achieving promotion, including specific steps to reach this goal, to show that the business is willing to mentor and develop workers to achieve higher pay and authority in the company. A 360 degree feedback system will also be developed, which measures feedback from managers, colleagues and customers, to ensure that employees are judged fairly for their performance contribution to the business. As part of adhering to a code of ethics, it is important to establish this type of organizational culture committed to fair treatment by promoting it at the highest level: The owner. The owner will always have a focus of ongoing ethical values in all employee appraisals and this will trickle-down throughout the organization until all members have adopted these values and work to bring a quality business reputation. Further, certain client companies are going to have unusual or unfamiliar organizational cultures and this business’ staff must be able to respond in these environments. The first step is to recognize that “we are all in the consulting business” (Reising, 2009, p.4), therefore giving others in the client environment credit for their own knowledge and expertise. Customers looking for engineering consultant advice have their own strengths and experiences with technology or engineering process and this business must make sure not to give the impression of patronizing others or being inflexible to their own ideas. This business must have a mission statement which offers that it is open to change when it is suggested by the customer and that the process of consulting is a shared learning experience between both the customer and this new engineering business. The 360 degree feedback system will act as a system of control to make sure that representatives of the company are not causing problems or creating negative viewpoints of the company when working at client locations. Adding Even More Visibility Another strategy for launching this new business will be gaining certain accreditations for meeting with domestic or international standards for engineering knowledge or expertise. The company will have a strong web presence, by building an interactive client website which clearly outlines the goals and talents of the company, and these accreditations will be listed to give the business even more credibility toward its value and quality focus. The online environment grows each and every year and advertising becomes less expensive and more targeted as the years go by. Part of the strategy will be to build more interested clients through online promotions to avoid the high costs of print, radio or television advertising. The business must also be focused on cost reductions, especially in its start-up year. Keys to Success The key in starting the new engineering consultancy business is to “be open to opportunities” (Reising, 2009, p.3). Strategic alliances with other consultancy or engineering companies to pool resources or share costs of promotion will always be an option for improving business growth and expertise. Anytime this new business can link its name to quality and credible companies or business representatives, it will be adaptable and confident about pursuing these alliances or short-term knowledge-exchange programs. Another key to success in this goal is to “join and be active in professional societies” (Reising, 2009, p.3), therefore as much exposure as the business can generate from business-to-business relationships will provide value to profit and overall reputation with customers. Word-of-mouth advertising will be very important in local markets, therefore this type of strategy can give the company more success through competitive advantage. Having quality focus, integrity focus, and professional policies which demand employees to be courteous to other business professionals will set this new engineering business apart from all competition. Being able to recognize trends in buyer needs and behaviors will make this new business more flexible and adaptable, and it is likely it will evolve new processes and innovations as time passes and the business strengthens profitability. Having a human-resources focus, concentrated interpersonal and communications skills, and having conducted early strategic planning research will be the key success factors for this new consultancy business. Works Cited Berry, Tim. “4 Tips for Starting your Consulting Business”, 2008. Accessed 5 December 2009 at < Tips for starting your consulting business. http://www.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-small-business/2008/12/10/4-tips-for-starting-your-consulting-business.html> Docstoc.com. “Starting a consulting business: The right skills and knowledge are key”, 2008. Accessed 7 December 2009 at Entrepreneur.com. “How to Start a Consulting Business: Everyone has an untapped reservoir of knowledge. Put yours to work for you as an independent consultant by teaching your skills to others”, 2009. Accessed 6 December 2009 at Isidro, Isabel M. “Seven keys to building a profitable consulting business”, 2009. Accessed 6 December 2009 at Mathis, R. and J. Jackson. Human Resource Management, 10th ed. Thomson South-Western, 2005. Reising, Paul. “Building an Engineering Career”. Purdue EE400 Senior Seminar, 2009. Zwierzynski, Terri. “Differentiation: Smart Marketing Strategies for the Solo Entrepreneur”, 2009. Accessed 5 December 2009 at Read More