the evolution of the Consultant, re-ignite your Pull Factor…

Pull

 

OK, you’ve worked out what’s happening and what you’ve potentially got to offer someone else taking over, a great start!

You’ve decided to continue working on your “Push” Business Model by exploring options, so what next? What about looking at how to get your “Pull” Factor back,to further leverage the new business model?

And so you don’t have to work so hard…

By going through the analysis of where you’re at in your consulting world means that it may/should have changed dramatically, as discussed in the previous weeks posts. You have played your client relationships beautifully and the work is pouring in.

Now what?

Time to look at how to get your “Pull Factor” back (or ignited in the first place!). Especially given that the first phase of development has been all about “Push”.

Where Consultants used to be about winning work, delivery, systems, processes, structures and hierarchies, they are now emerging as inspirational, creative-thinking, consultative and effective business “partners”. With movement from the “I” to the “WE”.

Given the marketplace continues to crowd however, information overwhelmed clients (that are not your clients – yet) are always looking for the next best thing to apply to their organisations. This is where the revived, re-energized, revitalised, refocused YOU come in.

  • Get them talking about you and what you know,
  • Have them invite you to events and to sit at their board table
  • Generate demand so you have a waitlist!
  • Automate the systems that sit behind you, enabling you to do your thing

This is about taking your story to the greater market, by sharing this new way of being a Leader in business and life. 

the evolution of the Consultant; how to plan your exit…

Future

Consider these steps in your quest for passing your Consultancy on:

  1. identify your current Business Model ie how are you making your money?
  2. determine and reflect on your “Sweet Spot”
  3. analyse how well that model of choice has been working for you
  4. establish “proof”
  5. what “Push” and “Pull” forces have worked in that model
  6. review other Business Model options and its impact on your current model
  7. address the Transition between the two and any issues raised
  8. relate the “Sweet Spot” reflection to the Transition
  9. rank Client Relationships and what that implies
  10. develop a list of Clients to contact and by whom

All the while, continuously check in on how you are feeling, given the potential of the new modus operandi.

So, what’s the point of all this?

That you will:

  • understand how your current/old Business Model and the proposed Business Model can work together (enrolment)
  • understand how the “Push” and “Pull” forces have worked to this point (hindsight) and how they need to work for both moving forward (foresight)
  • know your “Sweet Spot” ie what you want to be doing most of in the proposed Business Model (engagement)
  • completely understand what is required in terms of ongoing Client Relationship management,and what that means in the new context (leverage)
  • investigate how this fits with your personal outcomes (comfort)

Need help? Let me know at info@theentrepreneurialmother.com

TEMpting; How Business Buyers and Sellers Have Been Tempted This Week…

How Saleable is Your Business in 2014?
How Saleable do you want Your Business 2014?
What are you waiting for? GET YOUR SCORE…

As the one particular sale has got to a major decision time, we’re now playing the waiting game! That said, there’s been plenty to keep me busy with a growing number of Business Owners exploring the sale option.

Again this week, I’ve had discussions about what constitutes an Online Business. Just because a Business Owner calls it so (and there’s many that do!) doesn’t mean others agree.

What’s your definition of an Online Business?
And while you’re at it, what about an Online Strategy?

You’ve only got to read my blog posts over the last weeks to understand what I mean when talking about both…

GOT A WEBSITE FOR SALE?

If you want to do sell a website or you’re looking to buy a website (excellent bolt-on possibilities), please email me at dhall@businessbrokers.com.au

If any of the following tickle your fancy, please email me at dhall@businessbrokers.com.au, letting me know which one it is…


FOR SALE…

BS30 Online Venue Business

Completed Sellability Score
One meeting booked for March and details requested from another. The main focus is on the custom-built technology platform this business runs on.

BS49 Home Help…

One party is very interested. The potential has been well and truly revealed so it’s down to price and the level of comfort required to “pull the trigger”, as they say in the classics! Final questions being flagged now, prior to an offer being made (hopefully!).

BS53 Balloons! and all that goes with them…

Such corporate appeal, so untapped. It’s waiting for the savvy operator that can see past the retail component and tap into it’s possibility as a warehouse servicing the larger players. Completed the database trawl, with a number of calls being made. 4 put their hand up to receive the CA with one requesting the IM. Good work.

BS57 Online Business

Signed good to go. It’s making money! Have received signed authority’s and in the process of developing the IM now. Stay tuned.

Others I’m talking too.. are you interested in?

  • a particular event
  • project management of large Melbourne events
  • specialty educational toys
  • “experiential” advertising and events provider
  • niche in building trade (via Sellability Score)
  • sales and services
  • merchandise
  • magazine

If yes, let me know as these revealed themselves this week…

 

Exploring the Sale Option?

GET YOUR SCORE…

Onwards and Upwards!

the evolution of the Consultant; planning your exit…

Future

“…the future competitive advantage lies with consultants being able to move from ‘consultant as expert’ to ‘consultant as partner and guide’ to a client…” (Summary of Cornerstone Session, March 2012)

The evolution of the Consultant can only commence when they are ready to transition from their current Business Model (revolving all around the “I”), to utilising and maximising the Business Model of the “WE”. 

The Consulting world has changed fundamentally in the last 15 years and dramatically since the GFC and recent redundancies. With many more independent Consultants coming in to the market (regardless of quality), and clients having easier access to them (via LinkedIn for example), it’s increasingly harder for Consultants to consistently find new and ongoing work.

On other words, the feast and famine part of the consulting industry is still alive and kicking!

In addition, the “business” the Consultant has been building over previous years may not be worth anything at the time when the Consultant no longer wants to continue it. If the business focus is solely predicated on the Consultants personal delivery of their skill set and knowledge, this makes for an almost impossible transition to another.

However, this does not need to be the case. The difference lies in stopping the short-termism and flattening the peaks and troughs by instead focusing on elegant interdependence by being involved in a larger movement, whilst still retaining independence.

That is, being part of a “WE”, by building on what has been established as an “I”.

A select few new breed Consultancies are offering this type of Business Model now, enabling the Consultant to truly transition successfully into the next phase of their consulting career…

TEMpting; How Business Buyers and Sellers Have Been Tempted This Week…

How Saleable is Your Business in 2014?
How Saleable do you want Your Business 2014?
What are you waiting for? GET YOUR SCORE…

Continuing to spend much of this week working on one particular sale and exploring the sale option with a number of Business Owners keen to chat.

The discussion about what constitutes an Online Business is one I am continually having at the moment . Just because a Business Owner calls it so doesn’t mean others agree. What’s happened with the few I’ve spoken to this week, the business definitely has an online frontend but the backend is still being fulfilled manually, either by the owner or a contractor.

So, is that an Online Business or not?
Really?

GOT A WEBSITE FOR SALE?

My conversation with the 2 website owners continued this week, exploring the sale option. Good sites too. If you want to do same or you’re looking to buy a website (excellent bolt-on possibilities), please email me at dhall@businessbrokers.com.au

And you…what does 2014 bring?
If any of the following tickle your fancy, please email me at dhall@businessbrokers.com.au, letting me know which one it is…


FOR SALE…

BS30 Online Venue Business

Completed Sellability Score
One meeting booked for March. The main focus is on the custom-built technology platform this business runs on.

BS43 Tourism

SOLD!

BS49 Home Help…

One party is very interested. The potential has been well and truly revealed so it’s down to price and the level of comfort required to “pull the trigger”, as they say in the classics! Final questions being flagged now, prior to an offer being made (hopefully!).

BS53 Balloons! and all that goes with them…

Such corporate appeal, so untapped. It’s waiting for the savvy operator that can see past the retail component and tap into it’s possibility as a warehouse servicing the larger players. Completed the database trawl, with a number of calls being made. 4 put their hand up to receive the CA so that’s a positive start..

BS57 Online Business

Signed good to go. It’s making money! Have received signed authority’s and in the process of developing the IM now. Stay tuned.

Others I’m talking too.. are you interested in?

  • a particular event
  • project management of large Melbourne events
  • corporate cleaning offering
  • specialty educational toys
  • “experiential” advertising and events provider
  • niche in building trade (via Sellability Score)

If yes, let me know as these revealed themselves this week…

 

Exploring the Sale Option?

GET YOUR SCORE…

Onwards and Upwards!

when is the best time to implement an Online Strategy?

OnlineStrategy

Regardless of whether you are implementing your Online Strategy as part of your business growth plans or whether it’s part of your EXIT Strategy, the best time to start is NOW!

Not only is the “Best Time” about demonstrating when your Business does what it does and when else it does/might do so (whether you’re directly involved or not). It’s also about forming part of your Finishing Unfinished Business criteria in terms of the timing to actually put your Business on the market.

What I mean by that is, if you maintain sales intensity for a set period of time only, then a buyer is going to be really interested in how she can extend such periods and/or activate them more often, eg: is your Business seasonal? If yes, when is it at its peak, so that a prospective buyer can get a real sense of not only what happens, but also a hint of what the potential is?

Maybe your peak is not seasonal, but driven more by the contracts signed and their term left to run. Say you have multiple contracts that run for 10 years each. It’s going to be more appealing for a buyer if the Business can be bought when there’s a long time left to run on those contracts rather than trying to sell when they have expired and run the risk of not been renewed!

Take my third and largest (7-figure) Business sold in 2011… It had contracts with one of world’s premier petroleum manufacturers for a 5-year term. Knowing that executing an EXIT was in the Business Plan, it made sense to put the Business on the market when the contracts were only two years old, thus giving way for the buyer to not only handle the re-contracting when due, but also to “court” the client, so they got to know and love the new owner before contract due date was nigh.

Same applies when you have got a lease on a premises that the Business can’t really leave easily. If there’s 2 years to run on a lease, that won’t be as appealing as say 20.

Same applies again to the Online Strategy. Is it locked and loaded, producing Google Analytics stats showing the up-trend in traffic. Having identified the key words as part of the initial set up and rollout, are they will relevant and what others need to be added. Is your website and other digital media activities delivering what’s expected? 
If yes, then you need to be able to prove it, just like you can with contracts and leases, mentioned above.

Coming back to when your Business does what it does… are there other times when your Business could operate but you have chosen not to? because you do like to sleep some time! This can definitely be an opportunity of interest as a buyer may have ways and means to handle time differences. How can your Online Strategy really make the most of this?

Always keep your Business market trends in the forefront of your mind, know of opportunities and what’s possible, whether you have chosen to capitalise on them or not. Creating and rolling out your Online Strategy is certainly on way of availing of what’s happening in your market.

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