what does a business planning consultant

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What Is a Business Consultant?

Table of Contents

A business consultant is a professional with a wide array of skills who assists business owners with their endeavors. Consultants are knowledgeable because of their education and previous experience. Additionally, business consultants provide management consulting to help organizations improve their performance and efficiency. These professionals analyze businesses and create solutions while helping companies meet their goals. 

To learn more about business consultants and how one might be able to help your business, read on.

Why hire a business consultant?

Running a small or midsize business is challenging because of the sheer number of tasks it takes to succeed. From accounting to human resources to technical support, it’s almost impossible for business owners to do it all themselves. But, thanks to the ease of hiring consultants, they don’t have to figure out everything on their own. We’ll explore what a business consultant does and how one can help your business thrive. 

Business owners should consider hiring business consultants when they need help or perspective on their chosen path, or a catalyst for change in their companies.

There are several reasons business owners should consider hiring consultants. Consultants offer a wide range of services, including the following:

• Providing expertise in a specific market
• Identifying problems
• Supplementing existing staff
• Initiating change
• Providing objectivity
• Teaching and training employees
• Doing the “dirty work,” such as laying off staff
• Reviving an organization
• Creating a new business
• Influencing other people, such as lobbyists

What does a business consultant do?

Generally, there are three stages of a business consultant’s process: discovery, evaluation and implementation. 

1. Discovery 

The first step for any business consultant is the discovery phase, where the goal is to learn about your business. A good business consultant takes the time to learn as much as possible about a business from the owner and employees. The consultant will do the following things:

• Tour your facilities.
• Meet with the board of directors and employees.
• Analyze your company’s finances.
• Read all company materials. 

During the discovery phase, the business consultant will uncover the details of your company mission and current operations.

2. Evaluation 

Once the business consultant has developed an in-depth understanding of your company, they enter the evaluation phase, with the goal to identify where change is needed. This phase includes identifying your company’s strengths and weaknesses as well as current and foreseeable problems.

• Examining established problems and identifying new problems: The consultant should study problems that owners and management have already identified. Because of their objectivity, consultants can also pinpoint new or unforeseen issues.
• Finding solutions: A business consultant should strategize solutions to the problems they identify and outline ways to capitalize on opportunities to grow the business, increase profits, and boost efficiency. For example, say your company has a particularly strong sales department but a weak marketing department. This is an opportunity to increase your marketing resources and capitalize on your sales staff.

There are two crucial elements to focus on during this process: communication and feedback.

• Communication: During the evaluation phase, your entire team must maintain clear, open communication with the consultant. 
• Feedback: You and your team members should take the business consultant’s advice as constructive criticism. The consultant’s feedback isn’t meant to be personal. While you and your employees are personally close to the business, this lack of wider perspective can hinder positive change and growth; the consultant brings objectivity and a fresh viewpoint. Of course, you should offer your own feedback and opinions to the business consultant, but keep your mind open to new ideas.

3. Implementation

Once your company and the consultant agree on a plan, the consultant should enter the third phase: the restructuring stage, or implementation of the plan. In this phase, the consultant builds on your assets and eliminates liabilities. They also monitor the plan’s progress and adjust it as needed.

Types of business consultants

There are various types of business consultants specializing in different business aspects.

Strategy and management consultants

Strategy and management business consultants can bring industry expertise to your business to help you scale, acquire new opportunities, and drive revenue. 

Consultants with a focus on strategy and management can help your business do the following:

• Expand into new markets or increase awareness in your current market.
• Reorganize your business model to create a cost-effective strategy.
• Increase your business’s capabilities.
• Acquire a new business venture.
• Merge with another business or change your business’s structure.
• Stand in as middle management during a transition period.

Operations consultants

Business consultants who specialize in operations can help you improve day-to-day processes. These business consultants take inventory of your current business model and figure out the best way to produce the same high-quality results at a fraction of the cost and time. These consultants also help through quality control and understanding how to tweak and optimize your production for better results.

Financial consultants 

A financial consultant can show you the broader scope of the your business’s financial health . They mainly assist in investment decisions and help you find the best way to handle your business’s assets and debts. Financial consultants may have even further specializations, including financial planning and advising your business on taxes, daily expenses, and the best retirement plans . 

Human resources consultants

The best HR outsourcing companies and independent HR contractors can assist you with your HR functions. These consultants can take over your day-to-day HR tasks, such as recruiting and retaining employees, processing payroll , performing administrative tasks, and managing employees’ performance. 

Marketing consultants

Marketing consultants help businesses identify their strengths as a brand and expand upon them to create brand awareness and exposure. Whether your business needs a new logo or a social media strategy , a marketing consultant can be an asset in expanding your business’s reach.

What about consultant firms?

While you can hire an independent professional, you can also engage the services of a specialized firm for your consulting needs. Big firms like McKinsey & Co. and BCG wouldn’t necessarily fit a small business’s needs and budget, but a local firm might work well.

To start, run a Google search on your pain point and location – such as “Seattle brand strategy firm” – and examine your results. The search will likely bring up firms you’ve never heard of before, but a closer look at their projects and client reviews can help determine if they’d be a good match. Additionally, hiring a local firm means you have a better chance of finding someone you know or previously crossed paths with on their client list. 

These are some pros of a consulting firm: 

• Extensive resources 
• Multiple professionals’ expertise
• An established brand with hundreds of references 

These are some pros of individual consultants: 

• Affordability
• Flexibility in scheduling and location
• Ability to dedicate their full attention to your case

Whether you should select a consulting firm or individual depends on your business needs and preferred work style. 

How to choose a business consultant

Choosing a business consultant who fits your business needs can be a daunting experience. Whether you’re looking for someone to help with your high-level strategy needs or a niche, solution-oriented specialist to improve your SEO or product-sourcing processes, it’s essential to know where to begin and take it one step at a time. 

1. Find the right business consultant.

Finding the right business consultant may be the most challenging part for the owner or management. The consultant should have a passion for their work, a drive for excellence, and an eye for organization and detail. It’s essential to find a consultant who has expertise in your industry or experience with the kinds of problems your business faces. 

• Leverage your existing network. Start your search for a business consultant by leveraging your existing network. A recommendation from a colleague, partner or other business owner who was in a similar position is often more reliable than generic reviews or accolades. Ask your contacts if they know of any experts in the field who can assist with your specific problem.  
• Explore dedicated marketplaces. Explore dedicated marketplaces that can help you find consultants by topic, budget and location. Popular sites include Catalant, Graphite and Business Talent Group. Don’t hesitate to utilize social platforms like LinkedIn as well. Numerous recommendations are usually a good indicator of a potential consultant’s expertise. Search for keywords relevant to your issue, and take a close look at the top results. [Learn more about using LinkedIn for your business .]
• Visit freelance sites. If you’re looking for a niche specialist, consider exploring popular freelance sites like Upwork, Dribble, Fiverr and Freelancer. Note potential consultants’ popularity, engagement levels and reviews from previous clients. 

2. Vet your potential business consultant.

• Ask questions. If you rely on a personal recommendation, ask detailed questions about your colleague’s experience, the consultant’s process and, most important, the results of their consulting work. Your colleagues can give you a unique insight into the long-term impact of following the consultant’s recommendations rather than just their short-term gains. 
• Learn about the consultant’s background and qualifications. Look at the consultant’s resume, educational background and certifications relevant to your industry. It’s a good sign if they seem willing to explore new learning opportunities and keep their skills updated. 
• Ask the consultant about their hands-on experience. Hands-on experience is significant in the business world. If someone came directly out of college labeling themselves as a consultant, do they know anything more than you? Consider looking for consultants who have successfully owned or run small businesses, enterprise organizations or specific departments.
• Ensure their experience applies to your business. A former bank CEO may seem impressive, but do they have the knowledge and experience to turn your cupcakery into a profitable small business? They might, but if you’re also considering a former restaurant owner who now makes a living successfully helping small eateries grow, this consultant may be a better match for your business. Look for consultants who have worked in your industry and with businesses that match yours in style, size, needs and goals.
• Check out their website. You should also vet the consultant through their website and materials. Look for professional images and well-documented information about their services, and thoroughly review contracts and consultancy fees.
• Examine their consulting track record. You don’t just want a consultant with the right experience; you want a consultant who has demonstrated success with companies like yours. Ask for a portfolio or list of brands the consultant has worked for, and request references. Look for a consultant who has helped businesses overcome the types of challenges you’re facing or who has grown businesses very similar to yours, and reach out to those companies to find out if they were satisfied with the services.

3. Decide if they’re the right consultant for the job. 

If your potential consultant’s references are excellent and they’ve proven to be reputable and effective, meet with them to ensure they’re the right person for the job. Clearly outline your pain points and expectations, and see if you’re comfortable with their style and personality. If the consultant checks all your boxes, it may be time to move forward.

Designing a business consultant agreement or contract

Once you’ve found an excellent consultant, done your due diligence and vetting, received satisfying and verifiable references, clearly outlined your pain points and expectations, and made sure you are comfortable with their style and personality, it’s time to confirm the arrangement.

Consultant agreements or contracts are typically drawn for three to six months with the option to renew. Agreements usually include details like the names of the responsible parties, consulting parameters, fee structures, payment schedules, outlined deliverables and established deadlines. 

A defined and confirmed deadline ensures that your consultant has sufficient time to deliver the promised results while prompting timely progress. 

How do you measure a business consultant’s success?

Unlike an employee performance review , there’s no widely accepted, objective methodology for measuring consulting performance, but it is reasonable to set goals and measure deliverables. This process is similar to Peter Drucker’s management by objectives and SMART principles for managing employees. 

• Set clear, measurable objectives. At the beginning of your work, ensure that you and your consultant establish clear objectives that are as specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-oriented (SMART) as possible.
• Establish the tangible results you want. Establish your desired financial and other measurable outcomes, such as increased revenue, annual savings, or reduced employee turnover .
• Determine the intangible results you want. Ensure your consultant knows the intangible results you want to see, including improved morale, strong implementation of business values and increased customer satisfaction.
• Measure progress at each phase. Measure your objectives’ progress at every phase of your collaboration.
• Evaluate KPIs. Evaluate the set key performance indicators (KPIs) at the end of your consultant’s work.
• Use a consultant questionnaire. A consultant can provide a comprehensive questionnaire that covers the entire business ecosystem and desired areas for improvement at the onset of the project, and then they can offer the same set of questions at the end. This way, you’ll be able to easily compare the results, especially when it comes to intangibles. 

To evaluate the consultant’s performance, it can be helpful to answer the following questions: 

• Were the KPIs met and delivered on time?
• Was the collaboration process smooth, and was the consultant responsive and helpful throughout?
• Did they provide you with the necessary skills and resources to improve your business?
• What are the short-term, midterm and long-term impacts of their work? 
• What was your ROI on the consulting services?

Business consultant FAQS

How much do business consultants charge.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics , the median annual pay for a management consultant was $87,660, or $42.14 per hour, in 2020. But consulting charges are typically higher to cover business expenses. 

Consultants don’t always charge by the hour. According to a consultant fee study by Consulting Success, these are some popular fee arrangements and the percentages of consultants who favor them:

• Per project – 31%
• Hourly – 24%
• Monthly retainer – 15%
• Daily rate – 13%
• Value- and ROI-based – 17%

According to the study, 40.5% of consultants earn up to $5,000 per project, though some make more than $100,000 per project. The project’s size, scope and length will determine the cost.

Business consultants are a considerable expense, but their feedback and planning can help you increase business and boost profits while eliminating problems and identifying opportunities to ensure future success.

How do you measure the ROI of a business consultant?

You measure ROI by examining specific key metrics to determine the consultant’s work. Most companies look at their net profits in the quarter before hiring the business consultant and then evaluate their net profits in the next quarter or two after implementing the consultant’s recommendations. You should deduct the cost of the consultancy before calculating the ROI.

Considering ROI is a crucial part of hiring a business consultant. If you’re paying a business consultant more than $5,000, you want to see an established ROI after the project. Established business consultants should be able to show their former ROI data to prospective clients. 

According to The Predictive Index, 27% of surveyed businesses chose not to hire a consultant because the consultant could not demonstrate ROI. This is the most frequent reason for companies not using consultancy services, and it falls on the consultant to use big data to demonstrate past ROI. [Learn more about big data solutions for small businesses .]

How do you determine a budget for a business consultant?

Hiring a consultant can be a significant expense. Considering that fees vary, it’s essential to establish a realistic and reasonable budget. Consider setting the consultant’s cost as a fixed percentage of your total sales. For example, if your monthly sales are $10,000, paying a monthly consultant fee of $5,000, which amounts to 50% of your earnings, might not be advisable. A 5% fee on $100,000 of revenue seems more reasonable. 

If you establish clear phases for your consulting project, you can reduce costs and risks by assessing the progress at each stage. For example, if you employ the consultant’s marketing expertise to bring a range of products to market, evaluate their efforts after the first launch and potentially apply the same strategy to the rest of your product line without needing continued services.

Many consultants will be able to assist you with determining your project’s scope and budget as part of a free consultation. This interaction can also help you test the waters and determine whether the consultant is a good match for your business needs. 

Should you employ a virtual consultant? 

When defining your consulting project needs and KPIs, determine whether the work must be done on-site or it can be carried out remotely. Opting for a virtual consultant can broaden the potential talent pool, as you wouldn’t be tied to your local market. Additionally, it can reduce the consultant’s cost and ensure flexibility. 

When it comes to niche specialists, especially in the digital space, remote arrangements, if clearly defined, can be mutually beneficial. At the same time, some consultancy work involves working hands-on with your team and is better suited for in-person collaboration.

What are the common mistakes to avoid when working with a business consultant?

Several common mistakes can prevent you from achieving success in your work with a business consultant.

• Automatically hiring the most established or accoladed consultant: While a proven track record, glowing reviews, and certifications are all essential when choosing a consultant, it’s even more crucial to ensure their experience is relevant to your industry and business case. Ensure your selected consultant is familiar with – or, better yet, ahead of – relevant trends, technology and methods.  
• Hiring a jack-of-all-trades: A consultant or consultant firm that claims to “know it all” may lack niche experience or skills that you require. Find a consultant with focused expertise who has vast experience and can assist you with your specific needs. 
• Treating a consultant as an employee: It’s essential to treat your consultants as equals, respecting their working style, existing workload and schedule. They might not be available on short notice or jump on a task outside the defined scope. They won’t know everything about your company’s operations, and they may not choose to put in overtime. They’re there to advise you and improve your business operations, not become another team member. In fact, their external perspective is what makes consultants so valuable.
• Ignoring the outlined action plan: It’s the consultant’s job to draft a map and set you up for success, but you and your team are responsible for creating change and implementing the recommendations. If you’re unwilling to “walk the walk” once the consulting project is over, you won’t see the value of engaging a business consultant.
• Treating the consultant’s suggestions as absolute truth: While you’re paying for and relying on your consultant’s expertise, it’s essential to reflect on your own experience, apply common sense and treat their recommendations as helpful directions rather than a hard set of rules. Don’t be afraid to question their suggestions. You know the ins and outs of your business best and will be the one dealing with the long-term implications of the consultant’s recommendations.   

How do you know when to hire a business consultant?

Hiring a business consultant isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. You’ll need to evaluate your company in these key areas:

• Human resources
• Business strategy
• Compliance and regulations
• Financial planning

If your business is struggling in any of these areas, it’s a good idea to seek out a business consultant who’s a verified expert. If you note any declines in profits that you can’t explain, this could be another sign that it’s time to hire a business consultant who can pinpoint potential reasons for the decrease and suggest ways to remedy them.

Sean Peek contributed to the writing and research in this article.

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Business Insights

What is business consulting how do business consultants help.

If you’re the owner or executive of an SMB (or even enterprise), you’ve already faced the challenges of management.

Here’s the great thing though: a lot of other leaders have already struggled too. That’s why business consultants and business consulting as a practice exist. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

The almost overwhelming amount of tasks and duties is just one side of the coin. On the flipside, you have to weave all of that knowledge and information into an actionable strategy. All of that can quickly become hard to balance.

What’s more, you need a comprehensive outlook on things. HR, accounting, IT infrastructure and the current workforce’s potential have to be considered at every step.

That’s the only way to grow & scale in time. 

If you’re looking for professional consulting services built around ROI and actually important KPIs, let us know. We’ve helped dozens of businesses in the past, and we’re eager to work with you too.

Key takeaways:

• Business consultants are industry experts. They’ve seen problems like yours before; they know how to solve them.
• Not all business consultants can help you. You need someone accustomed to your niche’s specifics. If they understand the technicalities, they can help you overcome anything else.
• Business consultants might recommend a lot of changes, including the company culture (or parts of). It’s important you at least listen to the reasons.
• Some business consultants charge by the hour. Others have a monthly, weekly or daily fee. 
• Business consultants aren’t wizards. Some suggestions can yield immediate results, but not all of them will. It highly depends on what you need.

Table of Contents

• Business Consulting Definition

11 Business Consultant Responsibilities

Why work with a business consultant.

• Getting Accustomed
• Identifying Problems
• Improving Communication
• Restructuring Processes

The Advantages of Business Consulting

Who should work with a business consultant.

• CRM Software
• Time-Tracking Software
• Project Management Software

Operations Consultants

Strategy & planning consultants, hr consultants, financial consultants, marketing consultants, 7 benefits of business consulting firms.

• Explore Your Options
• Do a Background Check
• Make Your Choice
• Let’s Work Together

What is Business Consulting?

Eventually, you’ll reach a simple conclusion: you can’t do it alone. Even if you have a board of directors already, you’ll hit a wall every now and then. And that’s where business consultants step in.

Business consultants are experts in their field of choice. They’ve seen it before, and they’ve done it before; successfully. A true business consultant can give you pro pieces of advice, ideas, and even help you plan actions that’ll propel your strategies forward. 

We’ll go over all the details in this blog post. However, if you want just the gist of it, here’s the core idea: as an organization, you take advantage of external business consulting. 

You bring in professionals that have a fresh set of eyes on your situation. 

It’s actually best if you refrain from sharing information that could create a bias in them. Because that can happen even subconsciously. 

For example, you might know that your financial problems stem from business teams not hitting their deadlines. As projects get delayed, payments are coming in slower too. Of course, some clients decide to end their contract. 

However, let the business consultant(s) reach conclusions on their own. 

If you “sow” a bias in them from the start, they might miss something equally important. After all, their job is analyzing all sides of a situation. 

When you come in as their client and say “this one thing is 100% the problem”, you’re cutting a tree branch that you’re currently standing on. After all, if you already know the problem, what’s the point of hiring a consultant?

Consulting works best when you let the experts come to their own conclusions.

After that, if you still find the conclusion inadequate (as an insider), come in with the additional info. This is the business consulting definition. 

What Is a Business Consultant?

Business consultants are outsiders. They’re external professionals that collaborate with business owners, directors and managers; either short-term or long-term.

Business consultants can offer their input on a variety of topics. Usually though, consultancy is requested for improving SOPs, solving issues, and growing the organization. 

Common problems that business consultants often approach are miscommunication and lack of goal alignment. Sounds trivial, right? But, it’s the truth. We’re willing to bet that your own company’s troubles come at least in part from subpar communication. 

Goal alignment is just as tricky to solve though. 

Many teams, the departmentalization of teams will cause fractured objectives. Overall, your business strategy is aimed at getting more revenue; increasing profit. 

However, that doesn’t always translate well to team-specific goals.

Even in cases where the team leader is highly focused on the bigger picture, the other employees might not be. Business consultants also help bridge this gap between team and company objectives through various tactics. 

Then, there’s the issue of cooperation; both within teams, and between teams. Cross-team collaboration is probably harder to achieve. 

Still, it’s no small feat to get even people with similar specializations to work together well. Business consultants teach you what tools to use to simplify workflows. 

And perhaps even more importantly, how to change mindsets for the better. 

Basically, business consultants look at what’s dysfunctional, and turn it functional. Some specialize in a specific industry, while others prefer being generalists. Who you want to look for first and foremost is an experienced business consultant.

Consultants who’ve already created solutions before are likely to help you effectively too. 

Hire a business consultant today, and let them be the catalyst that sparks your company’s improvement in processes and procedures. 

• Identify growth and progress blockers. Devise actionable solutions.
• Come up with custom suggestions that apply to a client’s specific situation.
• Suggest changes and help implement them.
• Offer training, onboarding, resources and ongoing support to staff & leadership. 
• Come up with innovative solutions. Be the unbiased pair of fresh eyes.
• Structure plans around new ideas (ideally previously tested ideas). 
• Help leadership & HR with hiring new talent and potentially firing current personnel.
• Analyze how the budget is used. Propose better alternatives and highlight inefficiencies.
• Hold team buildings, open communication sessions or other similar programs.
• Identify new market opportunities and potential partners for their clients.
• Conduct market analysis and figure out how to best integrate their client’s business.

The simple truth is that any company has a lot to gain from collaborating with a business consultant.

However many years of experience you have as a leader, an outside perspective helps.

When you spend a lot of time in the same organization, the same “system”, there’s a downside. Inevitably, you’re going to silo yourself in an internal bubble of information. 

If innovation, learning, and evolution aren’t present in your business, you’ll fall into a routine. This routine will quickly become a standard operating procedure. So, in other words, you’ll begin thinking in a very templated fashion. 

When issues and problems arise, you’ll be tempted to always solve them the same way. The usual way.

This can easily be a mistake. New challenges need new  perspectives & solutions.

And that’s where a business consultant comes in. The biggest benefit they bring is their experience. They’ve seen your problems before, but in different contexts.

They have multiple ways of solving these problems. You surely hadn’t even considered some of those methods. For example, business consultants will:

• Provide you their extensive experience and expertise in your field as a specialist.
• Teach you tricks of the business management trade as a generalist.
• Move your company away from a damaging “one size fits all” mentality.
• Identify communication, collaboration and goal alignment problems.
• Be the catalyst that initiates positive change, improvement, and growth.
• Fill in the gaps left by inefficient admin staff.
• Bring an objective & facts-driven outlook on issues.
• Teach your employees how to overcome their efficiency challenges.
• Analyze which employees should be let go.
• Teach you how to create better, achievable plans.
• Assist with the planning process and with achieving the desired goals.
• Provide insights and research findings for new initiatives, campaigns and projects.
• Assist with creating & implementing long-term strategies.

What Does a Business Consultant Do?

Business consultants are there to help you streamline standard operating procedures and improve communication. It might sound surprising, but that’s the core of it.

It takes many little things working unison to create a bigger and more complex thing.

In other words, everyday interactions between colleagues will ultimately determine a company’s fate. Whether you’re successful or go bankrupt depends on workflow efficiency. 

How information is spread and used. How teams come together to collaborate. The willingness of each staff member to be held accountable for their delays and mistakes. Don’t misunderstand though; everyone makes mistakes. But, we have to learn from them.

If mistakes and process inefficiencies are left unaddressed, they spiral out of control. 

And, that’s the moment you call in a business consultant, isn’t it? They’re the experts of getting you back on track, and even improving how you manage your company. 

1. Getting Accustomed

No matter the experience of a business consultant, they’re not spellweavers. You can’t just wave a magic wand and make everything better. A discovery phase is required.

Business consulting is basically a partnership. You want to save your company from your problems in order to be profitable and to stay in business.

Your consultant also wants you to succeed. First of all, because that’s how they get paid. Second, because it always helps to have a CV filled with great case studies. 

However, there’s a third reason too. A lot of business consultants are people who truly appreciate collaboration. Creating a cooperative environment where employees work together easily and appreciate each other is a common personal goal. 

You have to remember that business consultants usually have a calling. Essentially, they’re teaching you leadership skills. And great leaders want to see their people triumph.

That’s why when you work with a business consultant , you already have common ground. There’s shared knowledge between you, and mutual desire to grow the organization.

The only way for a business consultant to help you do that though is by learning more.

About you, about the organization, your struggles and your successes. We know you probably have confidential information you’re afraid of sharing.

Remember that the business consultant signed a contract with you. 

They would be subject to legal actions from your part should they disclose secrets. And, you’d easily win too. So, don’t actively make their job harder. Answer their questions.

For example:

• Introduce them to managers and executives. 
• Give them access to financial and HR information.
• Show them your workflows and daily operation procedures.
• Walk them through an onboarding process.
• Describe a typical sales funnel.
• Detail your current long-term strategy.
• Tour the premises.
• Showcase a typical board of directors meeting.
• Relay common employee grievances.

2. Identifying Problems

We’ve mentioned this before, but you can’t “guide” business consulting. Or in other words, let the business consultant find the issues themselves. 

You need to have the real problems fixed, not what you think are the real problems.

Since you’ve decided to hire a consultant, trust in their expertise. Once they have a better understanding of how you operate, they’ll start seeing the downsides without delay. 

One thing to remember about business consulting though is that it’s not cherry picking. A consultant does not seek to prove an initial hypothesis. Instead, they look at the whole picture. Your company’s weaknesses first, sure, but also its strengths. 

Only after they have this bird’s eye view do they begin evaluating the situation.

Whatever change the business consultant suggests is based on facts. Reality can be difficult to accept sometimes though, so try to keep an open mind. 

• Looking at old problems – business consultants bring an objective outside view. So, they should examine even the issues that the company’s leadership already knows about.
• Finding new problems – it might be daunting to think about, but you probably don’t know all the problems you actually have. Let business consultants advise you in this regard.
• Coming up with solutions – focusing on problems is useless in business. Consultants also specialize in devising solutions that let you move forward with haste.

Identifying all issues and forming an action plan are the first steps. This is how you’ll find the appropriate opportunities to solve them and become profitable (again).

Each case is unique. That’s why business consultants look at the whole picture: sales, marketing, design, development, ITSM, business administration, teamwork, and whatever else.

You have to fully understand what you’re trying to solve before even trying to solve it.

3. Improving Communication

Most company problems start from a lack of quality communication. One of the main goals of business consulting is improving how information and feedback “moves” in the company.

The most important thing for you as a consulting client is maintaining great communication from the start. As soon as the business consultant steps into the organization, provide them all details.

Without open communication, you’re making the process needlessly difficult. 

At the same time, business consultants will also focus on company-wide communication. This means how information is passed between management and staff, but also between staff members on the same or similar hierarchical level. 

Fact of the matter is, a business only works as long as its people work together.

Feedback is the second crucial aspect in this process. A surprising amount of companies face one-way communication chains. Information gets delivered, and then that’s it.

What’s worse, those information delivery methods might not be efficient to begin with. Add in a lack of feedback, and you’re in for a bad time.

Feedback is so crucial because it confirms that the transmitted knowledge was understood. In business, we often face delays because of misinformation, information silos, or information just not reaching who it was supposed to. Those are clear indications of problematic SOPs. 

If you’re stuck in an inefficient communication pattern long enough, you’ll lack the perspective of understanding it’s ineffective. All the more reason to trust the insights of your consultant.

Business consultants will probably have some things to say that you won’t want to hear. And, that’s normal. No one wants to feel criticized. And yet, it’s very important that you are.

Otherwise, there’s no way to improve.

The business consultant’s objectivity will allow you to exchange opinions productively, leading to positive change and growth.

4. Restructuring Processes

Business consulting is a partnership. Whilst business consultants are going to come up with a plan to improve your company, you have to pitch in. 

At the end of the day, you’re the one who’ll be left with the company long after the business consultant leaves. So, the change that you bring about together has to be beneficial.

Once planning and strategizing are finalized, it’s time to put everything in motion. Implementation of new processes, workflows and information chains can be tricky though. The industry you’re in is also going to be a defining factor. 

Sometimes, improvements are fast. Other times, it can take a while.

The willingness of managers and employees to follow the new changes plays an important role too. Generally, people are hesitant to change. They avoid the unknown.

That’s just how we function as humans; inside and outside of our jobs. We prefer familiarity. 

With that in mind, business consultants are going to allot special time towards change management. The methods will different from consultant to consultant though.

Some business consultants choose to hold team buildings. To create stronger bonds between professionals so they can work together regardless of company policies.

Others will prioritize training sessions about new technologies and ways of working. Lastly, don’t forget that you need to grow as well. As a business owner, or an executive, or a manager, or a member of the board of directors.

Whether you’re doing top-down management or have a decentralized business, adjustments will have to be made. And they have to start from how leadership is handled. 

The sooner you agree to change too, the sooner everything can progress.

There are a lot of benefits to getting a business consultant on board. The first among them is objectivity. You can only look at your company with an insider’s view.

It’s easy to become blindsided by issues because after a while, you start ignoring them. 

That outside insight that a business consultant brings is crucial to making important changes fast. Otherwise, you risk losing key employees, clients, customers, or even the whole organization. 

Of course, you’ll want to pick a business consultant that’s familiar with your industry. While a generalist can still teach you tips & tricks from their own experience, they won’t be bespoke to your niche. 

When you work with a consultant that’s already had success in your market before, your odds of getting a better business skyrocket. 

Here at Wesrom, our experienced & skilled consultants have helped dozens upon dozens of professionals. We’re pros at analyzing problem situations and turning them around.

Business Consultants Also:

• Take a look at the big picture you’re in. It’s hard to see the forest from the trees sometimes, and that’s when you should ask for a business consultant’s help. They can take a step back and notice the details you’re missing.
• Revamping your business’s trajectory and long-term plans is a challenge. However, consultants do this daily; they’ll expedite the process.
• Business consultants usually have a big network of other professionals. They can recommend the other experts that you need too.
• Experienced business consultants have a large portfolio of clients. They’ve seen numerous companies before, and a lot of owners, managers, executives, etc. This expertise helps them offer you the best advice.
• Ultimately, business consulting leads to more sales.
• Consultants are experts at SWOT analysis.
• Having troubles managing your budget? Regularly overspending? Hire a consultant!

Everyone can benefit from business consulting. The most obvious scenario is when your organization is already struggling. Thing is, why even let it reach that point?

By reaching out to a business consultant in time, you’ll avoid having problems to begin with.

Regardless what type of business you’re into, a few elements are always the same. For example: people are the key to success, communication is a must, and goals have to be aligned.

If you’re not respecting at least those 3 things, your chances of success are already slim.

In almost any scenario you might think of, a business consultant can lend their valuable expertise and insights to maximize efficiency. 

From optimizing budget use, to improving how teams collaborate with each other, to…whatever else, really. As long as you’re willing to improve, there are always ways to do so.

• Established local businesses can always learn something new. Only by gaining new information, learning new methods and listening to other perspectives can you create meaningful change.
• Want to create more teams? There’s no applicable template between departments. A business consultant can teach you the ropes of helping new professionals succeed.
• Starting a new initiative? A business consultant can guide you through the process and double-check your decisions. They’ve likely seen similar campaigns in the past already.
• Looking to expand into other cities, regions, etc? You’ll need some serious top-level strategizing; another focus point of great consultants.
• If you’re steadily losing money, you need a business consultant. Ignore the problem long enough, and you’ll soon have no idea why you’re in a budget deficit, and where things started to go wrong.
• Startups gain a lot of “real life” knowledge from a business consultant. When you’ve just begun your business, any mistake can be the last. You should listen to the pros.

3 Tools Used by Business Consultants

Business consultants are a lot like project managers in some ways. Both of these professionals are basically trying to ensure that things run smoothly. 

Difference is, business consulting has a wider scope than project management. Project managers must oversee more specific goals, deliverables, and adherence to a project schedule.

On the other hand, consultants have to make sure that the whole company works, as a whole. That the practices, processes and procedures are built to advance the company in every way.

That’s why consultants work hand in hand with business owners, execs, or managers.

Since that’s a pretty tall order though, most consultants use helpful software. These tools help them sort ideas, schedule plans, track progress, etc. Again, similar in practice to project management.

1. CRM Software

One of the key points analyzed in business consulting is how a company interacts with its customers. 

Sometimes, the issues don’t lie in internal management and process inefficiencies. Instead, it might just be bad analytics. 

If tracking and analysis of customer and client information isn’t accurate, then your offers won’t be attractive either. With CRM software, business consultants verify audience targeting accuracy.

Similarly, consultants will look at how the CRM software is used by your staff (and if it can become better).

2. Time-Tracking Software 

Time tracking is used two ways in business consulting. 

First, your consultant might recommend implementing such a solution to better understand where time’s being wasted. 

From an efficiency standpoint, it’s important that your staff get their tasks done, not that they work 8 hours/day. 

Or alternatively, that value is actually being produced in those 8 hours a day.

Time tracking, when used well, can eliminate busy work, delays, work inefficiencies, or outright slacking. It works by simply logging time for projects, meetings, tasks or other activities.

In let’s say 1 months time, the business consultant can look at how time is being used. Then, optimization and suggestions can be brought forward. For example, if a task that should take 30 minutes ended up being logged for 3 hours, the natural question is “ok, why?”.

Through this approach, business consulting moves organizations from stagnation to innovation.

Second, time tracking will likely be used for your collaboration. A lot of consultants charge by the hour.

3. Project Management Software

Business consultants need to look at workflows, processes, how teams collaborate and talk with each other. Similarly, they need insights into your budget, timelines, if you’re hitting deadlines or not.

Are deliverables done on time and to specification? Or, are you lagging behind and still delivering suboptimal results? 

Business consultants will also check reports as well. They do this in order to see if they match up with reality and the data is actually useful and true. 

Another aspect of analysis is client communication. Is it standardized? Tracked? Are the key points carefully noted down and accessible to all stakeholders? 

The same question is then asked for internal communication. After an employee is tagged by a colleague, how long does it take them to offer an answer? Do tasks tend to face blockers? Is everyone actually cooperating?

You must grant consultants access to such tools you’re using so that they can do their job right. 

5 Types of Business Consultants

Business consulting isn’t exactly a homogenous practice throughout its subdivisions. The principles stay the same, but it varies on the type of consultancy being offered.

For example, a financial consultant won’t have the same priorities as a marketing consultant.

That’s why choosing a consulting professional is up to you. Do you want a jack of all trades, master of none, or multiple specialists in multiple stages? It depends on how you prefer to operate.

Business ops will make or break your organization. Even in a decentralized company, high level decisions and management must still come from the top. 

Furthermore, business ops dictate your SOPs and processes; the company policies and its culture.

Operations consultants specialize in making day-to-day processes simpler. They teach you streamlining methods that help you reach your objectives more simply. 

In many ways, this business consulting is about taking a look at what you’re doing right now with your resources. Then, the business consultant will propose better ways to use them. 

Essentially, business ops aims to answer these questions: “How do we gain more outputs from the same inputs? If we can’t min-max, what else do we need? How do we fit that in the budget?”.

Then, the business consultant steps in to optimize your productivity.

Once your “house” is in order, you can start strategizing growth and expansion. This means capitalizing on opportunities, acquiring assets, driving revenue, closing deals, adopting new technologies, etc.

Strategic consultants are long-term thinkers. You should really call them in only when you’ve got the basics covered. Otherwise, you won’t be able to actually achieve your plans.

When you work with strategy business consultants, you can expect to:

• Extend your services/sell your products to new markets. 
• Gain better shares of your current markets. 
• Expand your company’s potential. More clients, more people, better & faster results.
• Cut down costs as you’re developing a better and better actionable business model.
• Invest in profitable ventures that provide sizable gains.
• Partner up with other businesses, merge with them, or acquire them outright.
• Take on a “big picture” role fully, while the business consultant helps with daily operations.

You don’t have to do HR in-house. A lot of companies nowadays choose to outsource the practice almost completely. Keeping only a handful of in-house employees is viable.

When you work with a human resources business consultant, you let them handle core aspects of your company. They’ll handle recruiting, hiring, onboarding, as well as other HR functions.

Employee retention is also taken over, as are monthly payrolls, admin tasks and performance reviews.

Going this route is a great option whether you’re already in a sizable organization, or an SMB. Thing is, HR is very “process-heavy”. Since it deals with legalities, you can’t just wing it.

Recruiting itself can be more dynamic, sure. You can create great candidate experiences.

Eventually though, it’ll all boil down to background checks, psych evals and signing papers. And that’s where the trusty help of a business consultant can really come in handy. 

These types of business consultants go hand-in-hand with your ops and strategy ones. At the end of the day, money will make or break your organization. 

That’s the one resource without which you can’t do anything. 

Yes, you need great staff. But you have to pay them. Yes, you need assets. But you have to buy them with something. You draw the line, you get to finances. It’s how it is.

So, all the more reason why you should make sure that your books are in order at all times. Financial consultants will give you advice about:

• How to handle your business assets.
• When’s the best time to take a loan, or how to get out of debt.
• Managing the overall financial health of your business.
• Areas where you should be cutting costs.
• Areas where you should be putting more money into.

Financial consultants can also delve deep into your expenses. With a comprehensive financial plan, you’ll have transparency about how money is being used. 

It’s not enough to just do the traditional “expenses minus income” formula and call it a day. Sure, that’s your profit, but what were those exact expenses?

How much was tax? What’s your overhead cost? How much of the budget was spent on daily expenses? How about salaries, retirement plans, etc?

Moreover, if you continue spending money on assets (including personnel) that don’t

You need to fully understand how you operate in order to improve.

Don’t leave marketing as an afterthought. If you do, you’ll be left without a business to worry about. Fact of the matter is, your services or products must actually be sold.

It doesn’t matter how good they are, if no one’s actually purchasing. Marketing, PR and branding is how you’ll solve that. However, you can’t just go at it blindly. 

Just like other fields, marketing has its own tricks and best practices. You have to know how to identify your company’s strengths. How to get them in front of leads and convert them into customers or clients.

From brand awareness, to building lead funnels, to performing SEO and CRO optimization, it can be quite a lot to manage. So, why not not just hire a consultant instead? 

The business consultant will be the expert driving your audience targeting, brand awareness campaigns and marketing funnels.

Working with an independent business consultant isn’t your only option. There are a lot of firms out there (like ours!) that offer bespoke consulting packages.

It’s actually a better option than looking for your own consultant. Firms have a portfolio of past consulting services, and their business consultants are generally experienced. 

A consulting firm can also create a custom package for you at an affordable price. 

So, whether you’re in a smaller business or a larger corporation, there’s a solution that can fit your needs. Whenever you’re making a list of possible consulting providers though, make sure to check their reviews and past projects. Those are the 2 direct indicators of quality.

Even if you’d rather work with an individual business consultant, consider this: you’re still going to! Going to a consulting firm just means you get an extra layer of professionalism. 

They’re going to handpick a consultant for you. But, you’ll still work 1-on-1 with that consultant.

There are additional benefits to working with a business consulting firm too. For example:

• A larger network of professionals.
• A wide range of resources which can be used to your advantage.
• More experience to draw from. The consultant will have an entire organization behind them.
• Higher probability of finding a consultant experienced in your niche.
• Custom packages at different price levels.
• The same level of flexibility and adaptability as independent business consultants.
• Access to other consulting experts if you need them down the line.

How to Choose a Business Consultant

There are a few things to keep in mind when choosing the consultant. They can make or break the collaboration you’ll have throughout the process.

These next pieces of advice apply regardless of the type of professional you’re looking for. The ideas are the same whether you want a PPC consultant, or an HR consultant (and so on).

1. Explore Your Options

A consultant is a person who you’ll rely on. You need to be able to trust their judgment implicitly. When they give you a suggestion, you should be comfortable with applying it. 

In other words, you need someone reliable.

Your business consulting partner should be genuinely passionate about their work. Instead of seeing you as just a client, they should be able to invest themselves in your success.

It’s also crucial the consultant is skilled at organizing, management, and has an eye for detail. After all, they’ll be in charge of improving how you run your business.

• Look for recommendations – Ask your own network if they know someone trustworthy. Similarly, look for reviews, accolades, or business consultant profiles with high ratings. LinkedIn is a great place to find business consulting firms or independent consultants.
• Examine freelancers – There are so many freelance websites today. They empower a ton of true professionals to put themselves out there and find contracts. You’d probably have a good chance of finding your next business consultant. Each website also has some form of a review system.
• Work with us – Among other services, we also offer business consulting. Let’s connect and discuss your business needs.

2. Do a Background Check

• Verify the information – Reach out to the people who reviewed the business consultant. Ask how the experience was, and what kind of process was followed. Inquire into the experience itself; what’s the consultant’s personality like, what did they focus on, etc.
• Examine the qualifications – Look into the consultant’s CV. What’s their education? What type of companies have they worked for before? How long have they been a consultant? A great performance indicator is if the consultant was ever a business owner themselves.
• Be weary of experience – To really be a business consultant, you need experience. That’s the truth of it. Coming straight out of college or having just 2 years in the industry is not enough to consider yourself a pro at it. It’s likely you probably know as much as them.
• Look for relevancy – If you’re looking for a marketing consultant, you should search for niche-centric ones. For example, if someone’s run a very successful Google Ads account for a shoe-making company, that’s great. But, less so if you’re selling office supplies.
• Explore their website – Both independent consultants and consultancy firms should have a professionally built website. Is the UX streamlined? Is the design impressive? Does the website itself inspire results, expertise and trust?
• Verify success – Experience is one thing. You can keep doing the same thing for years and years, but it doesn’t mean that you’re actually good at it. Ask for proof that genuine progress was achieved. Make sure the consultant has solved challenges similar to yours.

3. Make Your Choice

After you make your shortlist, you should schedule a call with each consultant/firm. When you meet with them, you’ll get a better idea if they’re the right one for the job. 

Go into details during these conversations, to make sure that your pain points would be addressed correctly. 

Similarly, check if the style and work ethics of those business consultant professionals match up with your own.

Let’s Work Together

At Wesrom, we handled everything from executive coaching, to team training, digital transformation and any other requirements you might have.

Get in touch at your earliest convenience, and we’ll help you overcome your business challenges. 

We’ve helped over 300 organizations; tackling action plans, long-term strategies, roadblocks and SOP revamps. We’ll get you back on track too in no time.

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Business Consulting 101: The Ultimate Guide

March 16, 2023

Are you considering taking on consulting work? Every industry needs business consultants to help individuals achieve their goals. Your knowledge and experiences can make you the next rockstar business consultant, but first, we’ll help you learn how to help clients.

From OnStrategy to Restaurant Boss , marketing to sales, human resources, and more! Business consultants in all fields have found ways to make millions of dollars per year in the consulting field. We’ve interviewed business consultants in most fields to learn the secrets to their success. 

We’ve gathered information from those interviews to help you understand what a business consultant does. We’ll share information from companies making millions per year to help you decide if business consulting is right for you, and give you a guide on how to pursue your goals.

If you’d like to jump to a certain question, use the table of contents below:

• What is a Business Consultant?
• Types of Consultants

What’s the Difference Between Consultants and Management Consulting Firms?

What does a business consultant do, how much does a business consultant charge, how much does a business consultant make, how to become a business consultant, how to start a business consultant business, what is a business consultant.

A business consultant provides advice or services to help organizations achieve their goals within a division of business such as:

• Human Resources 
• Data Analytics
• Sustainability
• Engineering
• Digital Transformation
• Exit Planning

Many consulting services provide more than advice. A good business consultant goes beyond just offering advice to help their clients gain the most by helping implement the advice and train the company on how to make the most of the solutions. We’ll go into each of the types of business consultants next to help you understand what each does.

Types of Business Consultants 

Each field of business consulting has different aspects of business that are the primary focus of the business consultant. We’ll cover some of the common types of consulting options you will come across and what they do.

Type #1. Business Consultant

“Business consultant” is the most generic of the consulting terms. People describe themselves this way primarily when they are giving a quick answer of what they do. A business consultant is focused on helping companies solve problems that the owner or team doesn’t have the knowledge, time, or experience to solve. They will normally fall into one of the other categories that we discuss below because one person can’t successfully solve all problems.

Type #2. Business Management Consultant

A management consultant focuses on solving a specific business problem that a company faces day to day. The consultant will perform tasks including:

• Analyzing business data
• Interviewing employees
• Documenting recommendations
• Helping an organization understand why the changes are important

Implementing a consultant’s recommendations may be part of the consultant’s job or may be handled by the client. The end goal is to help other businesses streamline operations.

Type #3. Industry Business Consultant

Some business consultants choose to focus on a particular industry. For instance, Ryan Gromfin started Restaurant Boss after he had a heart attack and a partnership ended. Now he is a business consultant focused solely on the restaurant industry. Ryan told us about the start of his journey:

I had to Google, ‘What is a consulting business?’

Type #3. Financial Consultant

A financial consultant advises businesses and people on financial matters to help them better achieve their goals. They might provide services like:

• Analyzing the financial performance compared to competitors
• Suggesting ways to save money
• Reviewing proposed executive payment packages
• Valuing a business that a company is planning to purchase

Type #4. Marketing Consultant

A marketing consultant reviews current marketing efforts and identifies ways to improve the results. These consultants often help their client’s business with:

• Creating a new digital marketing strategy
• Running marketing campaigns
• Implementing new marketing and analytics software
• Training the marketing team

Hear from a marketing consultant who created Brandetize with nearly $5 million in annual revenue. The CEO Eric Berman told us:

Type #5. Strategy Consultant

Strategy consulting focuses on helping business leaders create plans that will help the company achieve success. Strategy consultants will often help companies focus of topics like:

• Finding opportunities for growth
• Improving efficiency
• Implementing mergers
• Reducing costs

They may simply provide strategic advice or help with the implementation process like OnStrategy CEO, Erica Olsen. Erica told us:

Having goals is great, but if you don’t have a strategy to get there, it’s hard to achieve them. That’s where we come in.

Type #6. IT Business Consultant

Information technology (IT) consultants help businesses identify and utilize technology that will help the business scale more efficiently. These business consultants help companies with tasks including:

• Identify pain points
• Propose hardware and software solutions to eliminate or reduce the pain point
• Help clients implement the software
• Train clients’ employees on the new software

Type #7. HR Consultant

A Human Resources consultant might help businesses:

• Recruit new employees
• Retain talent
• Develop compensation packages
• Recommend and implement new HR software
• Train the HR team on new software and practices
• Consult regarding how to address employee relations and compliance issues
• Perform staff training on workplace policies and laws

Jessica Miller-Merrell is the CEO of Workology. She told us:

Entrepreneurs don’t go to school to learn how to start a business. We have to learn as we go. I take that same approach to helping companies hire. Look for people who have the basic skills and love learning. They’ll dig deeper to get the right answers.

Learn more about being an HR consultant from Jessica below: Type #8. Pricing Consultant

Pricing consultants focus on helping companies find the right price point to maximize sales for their products and services. Companies hire this type of strategy consultant when they are struggling to encourage purchases through their pricing strategies. To ensure that the client is pricing their items right, these consultants review a variety of data including:

• Economic trends
• Consumer trends
• Marketing strategies 
• Competitor pricing and strategies

They then propose a path forward.

Type #9. Operations Consulting

An operation consultant specializes in operations management, which is finding the most efficient way to run the administrative portion of the business. This type of consultant may also be called a logistics consultant. Operational consulting will:

• Analyze current operations
• Help implement changes
• Train the client’s team on changes
• Provide referrals to organizations that can help

Type #10. Sales Consultant

Sales consultants help businesses improve their performance by increasing the sales team effectiveness. These consultants will:

• Analyze current sales techniques and processes
• Provide recommendations to help the sales team increase revenue
• Train their sales team
• Improve sales processes
• Adopt more successful sales team technology

Learn more about how to increase sales .

Type #11. Security Consultant

Security consultants help clients’ businesses with:

• Performing threat analysis
• Documenting risk management
• Performing vulnerability detection
• Providing recommendations
• Designing a security protocol
• Updating business systems and processes

Type #12. Legal Consultant

Legal consultants are lawyers that help companies with:

• Regulatory compliance
• Risk mitigation
• Negotiations

A legal consultant is especially beneficial for small businesses that do not have the budget for a full time lawyer. They are also used by larger organizations that need expertise that is beyond their on-staff legal council.

Type #13. Accounting Consultant

Accounting consultants are similar to financial consultants because they advise companies on how to improve their financial position by:

• Analyzing the client’s books and processes
• Suggesting improved protocols, processes, and accounting tools
• Helping prepare companies to go public or pursue funding
• Providing tax advice
• Auditing books for financial statements
• Reviewing and reporting project financial results

Type #14. Data Analytics Consultant

A data analytics consultant helps companies improve their use of data through:

• Analyzing current data collection and compliance with applicable laws
• Recommending the structure of the collection and related policies
• Implementing and optimizing information collection and access

Type #15. Sustainability Consultant

Sustainability consultants are rising in demand because consumers and governments expect businesses to reduce their environmental impacts. These consultants help companies identify areas to help:

• Reduce transportation costs
• Find more sustainable suppliers
• Improve energy efficiency
• Report the sustainability initiatives

If you start a sustainability consulting business, you might want to consider applying to become a benefit corporation. These corporations report on how they are positively impacting society.

Type #16. Engineering Consultant

An engineering consultant helps businesses achieve their design and construction goals. You’ll need an engineering degree, work experience, and potentially, any corresponding certifications. Many smaller construction companies do not have LEED APs on staff, so you can help businesses qualify for projects if you become one and work with them as an engineering consultant.

Type #17. Science Consultant

A scientific consultant helps business by:

• Advising on specialized subjects
• Performing research
• Suggesting solutions to problems
• Implementing scientific solutions beyond the client’s expertise

Type #18. Digital Transformation Consultant

Digital transformation consultants help companies adopt emerging technologies by:

• Understanding the client’s business
• Proposing solutions
• Improving design and customer experience
• Automating processes
• Integrating systems for improved efficiency
• Training clients on unfamiliar technology

For instance a friend of mine just became Chief Metaverse Officer, where he’ll be helping companies adopt virtual reality. Much of his work will be helping clients understand how to transition to the new technology and help improve customer experience.

Type #19. Exit Planning Consultant

An exit planner helps business owners create and implement a strategy to leave their business. Depending on the business owner’s goals this may mean:

• Advising on what needs to happen to reduce tax consequences to both them and their kids
• Helping create an alternate business structure
• Connecting the business owner with a business broker 
• Hiring a business manager

Every business is different, so you’ll need to help your clients figure out which exit strategy works best based on their needs.

Other Types of Consultants

Companies often also benefit from lesser-known consultants, like a business idea consultant that helps validate an idea and turn it into a reality. Service business consulting is another form of assistance that helps service entities like plumbers and cleaning companies optimize their business administration.

Ultimately, choosing the right business consultant company for your mindset can help you perform better with the same set of skills.

Business consultants normally work for themselves or as an employee of a management consulting firm, while consulting firms are larger organizations that have a professional network of management consultants working for them.

If you just want to work for yourself, you’ll want to start a consulting business, but if you prefer to have a team and manage the operations of a business consulting service, you might want to consider starting a consulting firm.

A good business consultant will normally:

• Meet with clients
• Collect information about the client’s business
• Perform market research
• Review current operations
• Analyze data to find areas for improvement
• Organize and manage projects based on a client’s needs
• Create recommendations and business plans
• Present the recommendations
• Help the client implement recommendations
• Solve issues that arise during the implementation
• Train employees on the newly implemented processes and procedures

According to Upwork , the best business consultants will normally charge between $25 and $200 per hour. The chart below displays the range of hourly rates. Half of business consultants on Upwork charge over $85 per hour with an average of $92.04, but some charge even more.

When looking for a business consultant, IT can pay $500 to $1,000 per hour to find solutions depending on your skills. It’s far more important to be the right consultant than to set your hourly rate at market value. After all, if you can solve a problem in an hour that takes a lower-cost consultant a day, you should be able to make the same amount for solving the problem.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), a business consultant’s salary is between $50,000 and $160,000 per year. Business consultants who work for themselves can make far more than that because they also receive the profits from the business, and as a bonus, they can run their business from home. If you run a home-based consulting business, the areas highlighted in orange represent the business expenses that would effectively become income. Data is from IBIS Industry Report 54161 .

The job outlook is also much higher than most industries, with a growth of 11%.

You’ll need to develop a reputation to become a business consultant. Consultants normally have a mixture of:

• Hands-on experience
• Case studies and testimonials

Let’s look at how each of these can impact how to become a consultant in the business.

Hands-On Experience

There is no greater proof that you know what it takes to succeed in an industry than decades of experience. Many business consultants start by working with industry leaders, rise in the ranks, then enter business consulting. 

There are substantial benefits to saying and proving, “I helped businesses like Disney, Intel, Marriott, and Capital One achieve their leadership goals.” Find out how Libby Gill did just that in our interview below:

Take some time to learn how the industry works before jumping straight into offering business consulting services.

Another key portion of developing expertise is education. There are three main types of provable education for business consultants:

• Certifications

Bachelor’s Degree

Master’s degree.

Let’s look at some of the most in-demand education requirements for business consultants.

In-Demand Certifications

• Industry Specific Certifications : There are numerous industry specific certifications that may be helpful to prove the consultant has the necessary skills. Check out Indeed’s list of 20 in-demand certifications .
• Consulting Certifications : There are certification courses that require consultants to:
• Work a certain amount of time in the field
• Take courses (or self study)
• Pass a written exam
• Take continuing education courses

Some of the most popular certifications include:

• Certified Management Consultant (CMC) : The CMC certification requires three years of consulting experience, five client testimonials, a written exam, an ethics exam, and an application fee to join the ranks of certified management consultants.
• Bachelor’s degree, three years leading projects, and 35 hours of project management education (or the CAPM )
• High school degree, five years leading projects, and 35 hours of project management education (or the CAPM)
• Certified Human Resources Consultant (CHRC) : The Human Resources Management Institute requires 10 years of experience, four years in management, and passing an exam to become a CHRC.
• Professional Certified Marketer : There aren’t requirements to take the PCM exam , but the American Marketing Association suggests a bachelor’s and seven years of experience for best results.
• Certified Information Systems Security Professional : This certification shows clients you have at least two years of cybersecurity experience. A bachelor’s degree counts as one year. 

Check out more certifications that impress recruiters and hiring consultants.

Whether management consultants work for themselves or for a consulting agency, clients still view a bachelor’s degree as a minimum to establish you have the expertise, skills, and most importantly patience to provide consultancy services. Not all schools are created equal, however. Check out the U.S. News and World Report’s top business schools . Consider fields like business administration, data analysis, finance, marketing, HR, or economics.

Most professionals in the business world have at least a bachelor’s degree so many business consultant types are expected to have a master’s degree or even a PhD to help some of the top-tier clients. You can also find the top MBAs on the U.S. News website.  

While college is expensive, there are ways to cut costs. For instance, if there is a top-ranked college in your state, you might qualify for in-state discounts. I was able to use the Texas A&M online system to get an education that is valued at over $62,000 for around $25,000 by condensing my coursework into a year and enrolling through one of the satellite schools. This only works if the university system in your state shares online resources.

Case Studies and Testimonials

In addition to experience and education, you’ll want to have proof that you have helped others succeed. This can be in the form of:

• Case Studies
• Google Reviews
• Upwork Reviews
• Client Videos
• Partnerships

The main point is to show people that you have helped others as a business consultant.

Now that you know how to become a small business consultant, it’s time to discuss how to start your own business consulting.

You’ll want to perform the following tasks if you want to join the ranks of consulting companies.

• Do market research. 
• Write a business plan.
• Set your pricing.
• Form your business.
• Build a website.
• Create a client proposal template.
• Market your business. 
• Help your clients succeed.
• Measure customer satisfaction

Let’s look at each of these to prepare you for how to be a business consultant.

Step #1. Perform Market Research

At this point you should be able to answer, “What is a business consultant?” and know which type of business consultant you might want to be. So, now you’ll want to research two types of companies to establish how a consultant works. You’ll want to understand:

• Publicly Held Companies : Use IBIS World Reports or the NYU Margins by Sector table to establish the major players in your field and industry benchmarks. IBIS World Reports is easier to use, but is a pay service with 40 consulting business reports. You’ll  probably want their reports for collecting data for clients, so I’d recommend asking about their monthly or annual plans.
• Local Management Consultants: Business consultants work with companies all over the world, but when your company is just getting started, you’ll find it easier to compete in the local environment. That means you’ll need to know who your company is competing against and what others offer in-house.

Make sure to keep track of what McKinsey is doing. They are the biggest business consulting firm in the world and their reports can guide you to new opportunities.

Step #2. Put Together a Company Business Plan

A business plan is just to help you keep your company on track with its goals. You can have a plan that is informal or use one of our business plan resources:

• One-Page Business Plan : Keep it short and simple. Learn how to write a one-page business plan .
• How to Write a Business Plan : Mike Andes explains how he approaches business plans , and we provide a template based on his method.
• Business Plan Template : We provide a template and walk you through how to write a business plan based on how I approach them.

Check out our interview with Mike below:

Step #3. Set Your Pricing

Your company’s finances will be impacted by your pricing. Price yourself too low, and you might not make enough money to survive, get burnt out, and decide to go a different way. Set your pricing too high and you won’t book jobs. Use some of the following tactics to establish a good price point.

• Check the BLS for consultant wages in your area.
• Call management consultants and ask them for a quote.
• Compare pricing on job boards (multiply wages by two then divide by 1,000 hours to get billable rate) and freelance websites. 
• Determine deliverables, and then calculate the time and expenses to give a fixed-rate price.
• Charge a retainer. Many consultants will charge a retainer on a monthly basis. This works best with previous clients who understand the value of your skills.
• If you can negotiate commission based on the value of a positive change, this can be lucrative (but this is rare).

Step #4 Get Business Licensing 

You’ll want to perform the following tasks before operating a consulting business.

• Become an LLC
• Get Business Licensing
• Get Business Insurance  

Some states may require you to pay taxes on services or an income tax. Check with your state business bureau or a tax consultant to understand what you’ll need on a tax reporting basis. 

Step #5. Build a Consulting Website

Most companies today will have a website. You’ll want to create one so prospective clients can:

• Learn about your services
• Learn how you developed your skills as a consultant
• Schedule a consultation
• Pay invoices
• Provide reviews
• Get easy access to tools you regularly suggest (Make sure to use affiliate links to drive extra revenue.)

Learn more about website building .

Step #6. Create a Proposal Template

You’ll want a template for proposals that documents:

• Your Logo : Include your logo in the top left or in another prominent location.
• Both Parties Involved : Include the business name, authorized party name, address, phone number, and email information for both parties.
• Contract Length : Is the project for a few hours, fixed price, or an undetermined length of time?
• Project Scope : What will management analysts review before you propose solutions?
• Deliverables : What will you provide to the business? Companies might offer a document with suggestions, install software tools, and provide training documentation.
• Exclusions : What will not be included in the project? It’s common to exclude the ongoing costs of SaaS software, unless you will be providing ongoing support and billing monthly.
• Payment Terms : How and when will your clients pay your business. Company payment standards should have been determined in Step #3.
• Place to Sign: Include a signature and date block for each party at the bottom.

Step #7. Market Your Consulting Business

In addition to a website, you should market that you’re a consultant. Some of the ways you can market your business include:

• Business Cards : You’ll need them to hand clients. Find out where to get low-cost business cards .
• Blogs: Write about important subjects in your field and optimize it for SEO. 
• Social Media : Share useful information from your social media profile. Participate in business owner groups, too.
• Networking Events : Sure, digital marketing is a great way of reaching customers, but we connect way more with people in real life. Get out there and meet other business owners.

Step #8. Help Your Clients Succeed

Once you’ve booked a client, do everything you can to help your client succeed. You want to prove you are the right business consultant for them. Help them evaluate new systems, help them solve problems or find new clients. You always want to focus on what their needs are.

If you focus on helping them, your business will grow. If you don’t know something or can’t figure it out, find someone who can help. Then, you’ve successfully helped two people and grown your professional network.

Step #9. Measure Customer Satisfaction

One of the keys to growth is showing how what you do helps others. There’s no better way to do that than to ask for feedback. Create a survey that you send with every invoice. Get feedback on what you did well and what you can improve. Don’t forget to include the Google Business Reviews link. 

If a project was something other customers would find interesting, turn it into a case study and use quotes from the customers. Check out this survey from Darby Consulting for inspiration.

Improve the World Through Business Consulting

At this point, you know:

• What is a business management consultant
• Types of business consultants and what they do
• How to become a business consultant
• How to start a business consultant company

The future is yours! Go forth and create a more efficient business. Your knowledge could change people’s lives.

What kind of consultants have you worked with before? Did you find them helpful? What tips can you share from your experiences?

80% of businesses fail... Learn how not to.

Learn from business failures and successes in 5 min or less. The stories, frameworks, and tactics that will make you a 10x better founder.

Brandon Boushy

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212 Best Farm Names (for 2024)

Are you buying a farm or starting any kind of farm business? You’ll want to come up with some creative farm names. What are good farm names? Well, the best farm name ideas combine farm references with some indication of what you do.

[su_note note_color="#dbeafc"] Consider some of these farm business name categories. Then use the helpful tips while naming your farm. Jump to any category to find a memorable name to attract potential customers to your new farm.

26 Funny Farm Names

20 cute farm names, 46 good farm names, 30 cool farm names, 24 unique farm names, 34 chicken farm names, 32 catchy farm names, what should i name my farm company, how to name your farm business.

• Next Steps After Choosing Your Farm Name [/su_note]

Get ready to find a farm business name you’ll love.

While the funny farm is slang for a mental hospital, these funny names are for a farm business that raises animals or grows food.

1. Moo La Land Farm 2. Chuckle Hut Homestead 3. Quack Shack Ranch 4. Giggling Gourd Gardens 5. Poultry in Motion Farm 6. Fifty Shades of Hay 7. Feather Friends Farm and Petting Zoo 8. Crop Circle Circus 9. Snicker Snack Fields 10. Loco Harvest Haven 11. Udder Delight Homestead 12. Chuckleberry Acres 13. Grin and Grain Gardens

14. Whimsical Weeds Farmstead 15. Barnyard Banter Ranch 16. Hootenanny Homestead 17. Laughing Llama Meadows 18. Silly Sprout Fields 19. Chuckle Cove Cultivators 20. Giggle Grove Gardens 21. Quirk Quarters Ranch 22. Udder Nonsense Farm 23. Egg-cellent Acres 24. The Laughing Stockyard 25. Legen Dairy Farm 26. One or the Udder Farm

Pro Tip: When selecting a funny farm name, let humor be your guide while keeping it lighthearted and universally appealing. Incorporate puns, wordplay, or playful references related to farming, animals, or crops to add a touch of whimsy. Consider your target audience and ensure the humor aligns with their sensibilities. Test the name on friends or family to gauge its comedic impact. A funny farm name can create a memorable and enjoyable brand, but be cautious not to choose anything offensive or too niche. Striking the right balance between wit and charm will make your farm stand out and leave a lasting impression on customers.

Want a cute farm name? Consider some of these:

1. GreenVista Farms 2. Harvest Haven 3. Meadow Bliss 4. Sunlit Acres 5. Rustic Roots Farm 6. Sown Serenity 7. Prairie Purity 8. Golden Fields Ranch 9. Tranquil Tiller Farm 10. Cedar Grove Homestead

11. Valley View Gardens 12. Whispering Winds Ranch 13. Country Charm Cultivators 14. Evergreen Meadows 15. Serene Pasture Farm 16. Blue Sky Harvest 17. Hidden Grove Gardens 18. Rolling Hills Homestead 19. Noble Oak Orchard 20. Gilded Grain Fields

Pro Tip: When choosing a catchy farm name, consider incorporating elements that reflect the essence of your farm, such as its location, key crops or produce, or the values it represents. Additionally, ensure the name is easy to remember, spell, and pronounce. Check online and local business directories to avoid unintentional duplicates, and choose a name that resonates with your target audience. A unique and memorable farm name not only sets you apart but also contributes to brand recognition and customer recall, fostering a positive and lasting impression.

There are plenty of good farm business names. Consider some of these for your farm business:

1. Ironwood Oasis Farm 2. Mystic Meadows Ranch 3. Whispering Wind Homestead 4. Hidden Hills Ranch 5. Timber Trail Homestead 6. Starlight Serenity Farm 7. Radiant Ridge Meadows 8. Solitude Springs Homestead 9. Mountain Breeze Fields 10. Whispering Waters Farmstead 11. Sunset Symphony Ranch 12. Serendipity Sown Fields 13. Sunkissed Summit Homestead 14. Whispering Willow Vineyard 15. Azure Sky Harvest 16. Harmony Hills Ranch 17. Rustic Refuge Fields 18. Blissful Birch Homestead 19. Mystic Maple Homestead 20. Mountain Vista Meadows 21. Cedar Ridge Ranch 22. Whispering Willow Fields 23. Tranquil Terrace Homestead

24. Rolling Ridge Vineyard 25. Whispering Wind Ranch 26. Sunset Symphony Fields 27. Starlight Serenity Homestead 28. Hidden Hills Vineyard 29. Rustic Refuge Meadows 30. Blue Horizon Ranch 31. Timber Trail Fields 32. Green Valley Produce 33. The Orchard 34. Ripe Production 35. Cornucopia Produce 36. Sunny Side Farms 37. Green Acres 38. Harvest Moon 39. Green Thumb Farms 40. Farm to Table 41. Green Meadows 42. Farmhouse Country Crops 43. Harvest Bounty 44. Countryside Fields 45. Berry Lush Hills 46. Fertile Valley Farms

Pro Tip: When selecting a cool farm name, aim for a combination of creativity and relevance. Consider incorporating words or phrases that evoke a sense of adventure, uniqueness, or modernity while staying connected to your farm's identity or products. Think about the overall vibe you want to convey and choose a name that aligns with the personality of your farm. Additionally, check online platforms and databases to ensure the chosen name is not already in use. A cool farm name should not only resonate with your target audience but also spark curiosity and interest, making it a memorable and attractive choice for your agricultural venture.

Think farm life is cool? Consider a farm business name like the ones below.

1. Enchanted Harvest Homestead 2. Labyrinth of Crops Farmstead 3. Celestial Sow Ranch 4. Whimsy Willow Fields 5. Timeless Terra Gardens 6. Nebula Nectar Vineyard 7. Secret Sanctuary Farm 8. Celestial Meadows Ranch 9. Zenith Zen Garden 10. Kaleidoscope Cultivators 11. Ethereal Eden Homestead 12. Aether Acres 13. Utopia Uplands Farm 14. Quasar Quarters Ranch 15. Ponderosa Paradise Fields

16. Solar Symphony Gardens 17. Tranquil Tendril Homestead 18. Velvet Vale Vineyard 19. Synchronicity Sown Farm 20. Blissful Bounty Ranch 21. Terra Nova Meadows 22. Radiant Roots Farmstead 23. Infinite Harvest Haven 24. Serenity Springs Homestead 25. Terra Tint Fields 26. Terra Firma 27. Sunburst Farmstead 28. Wildwood Harvest 29. Blossoming Acres 30. Honeycomb Fields

Pro Tip: When selecting a creative farm name, let your imagination roam freely while keeping it connected to the essence of your farm. Combine words, concepts, or themes that evoke a sense of innovation and uniqueness. Consider the story you want your farm name to tell and how it aligns with your values or the products you offer. Embrace metaphors, symbols, or cultural references that resonate with your target audience. Check for name availability online to avoid duplicates and ensure that your chosen name is easy to spell and remember. A creatively crafted farm name can serve as a powerful storytelling tool, helping your agricultural venture stand out and fostering a strong connection with customers.

A farm business name should stand out from the pack. Consider some of these names to get your creative juices flowing.

1. Agrarian Endeavors 2. Rural Resources Ranch 3. Precision Harvest Homestead 4. Sustainable Fields Farm 5. EcoHarvest Holdings 6. TerraSphere Cultivators 7. ProHarvest Partners 8. Modern Farmstead Solutions 9. AgriTech Ventures 10. CultivaCore Agriculture 11. TerraLogic Holdings 12. Harvest Hub Farms

13. GreenVista Agro Ranch 14. ProSeed Precision Farms 15. TerraForm Innovations 16. Sustainable Harvest Network 17. PrimeCrop Agribusiness 18. HarvestSphere Homestead 19. AgriVision Holdings 20. TerraCatalyst Farms 21. EcoGrove Ranching 22. Apex Agro Solutions 23. GreenHarbor Harvesters 24. TerraNexa Cultivators

Pro Tip: When choosing a professional farm name, envision it on business signage, marketing materials, and digital platforms. Opt for a name that is not only representative of your farm's values and offerings but is also visually and verbally versatile. A professional farm name should be easy to pronounce, spell, and remember, facilitating effective communication with customers and partners. Consider the scalability of the name as your business grows and ensure it aligns with a professional and trustworthy image. Lastly, conduct a thorough online search to confirm domain name and social platform availability, securing a cohesive online presence for your professional farm.

Old McDonald had a farm and on his farm, he had a chicken. What did he name his farm?

1. E-I-E-I-O Farms 2. Willow's Haven Farm 3. Meadow Dreams Homestead 4. Sunflower Ridge Ranch 5. Whispering Oaks Fields 6. Hen-derson's Happy Chicks 7. Cedar Haven Homestead 8. Cluck Cluck Here 9. Grandma's Yolk Farm 10. Evergreen Embrace Ranch 11. Here a Cluck 12. Feather Lite Acres 13. There A Cluck 14. Tranquil Tendril Ranch 15. Ponderosa Pines Homestead 16. The Egg-cellent Adventure 17. Golden Gateways Farm

18. Lush Legacy Ranch 19. Starlight Sanctuary Fields 20. The Happy Cluckery 21. Everywhere a Cluck Cluck 22. Whispering Winds Homestead 23. Jolly Wings Farm 24. Ethereal Eden Ranch 25. Rolling Ridges Farmstead 26. Sunset Valley Cluckers 27. Gentle Grove Fields 28. Enchanted Elm Fields 29. Second Chance Sanctuary 30. Elysian Echo Ranch 31. Tranquil Terrace Farm 32. Cluckingham Palace 33. The Yolk's on Us Farm 34. Rustic Reverie Fields

Pro Tip: If you opt for a personal-sounding farm name, focus on creating a connection between your farm and the individuals who will interact with it. Consider incorporating elements of personal significance, such as family names, local landmarks, or sentimental references. This not only adds a touch of authenticity but also fosters a sense of familiarity for your customers. Additionally, choose a name that resonates emotionally and reflects the warm and inviting atmosphere you want to convey. A personal-sounding farm name creates a more intimate brand identity, making customers feel like they are part of a unique and cherished community.

Catchy farm names might reference the natural environment or the critters you keep with names like:

1. Sunshine Acres 2. Ozark Orchards Homestead 3. Green Gables 4. Rockies Retreat Farmstead 5. Bluegrass Bliss Ranch 6. Pacific Peak Fields 7. Shenandoah Valley Homestead 8. Gulf Coast Gardens 9. Adirondack Acreage Ranch 10. Sierras Solitude Farm 11. Chesapeake Charm Fields 12. Napa Valley Nexus Homestead 13. Everglades Essence Ranch 14. Green Mountain Grove 15. Desert Mirage Farmstead 16. Cape Cod Cultivators

17. Yellowstone Yonder Fields 18. Palmetto Plains Homestead 19. Great Lakes Gardens 20. Pine Ridge Ranch 21. Mojave Meadow Fields 22. Finger Lakes Farmstead 23. Hoppin' Mad Ranch 24. Sow Much Love Farm 25. Sundown Patch 26. Rooted in Tradition Farm 27. County Fairground Greens 28. Barn Quilt Farm 29. Bluegrass Dairy Farm 30. Happy Hens Sanctuary 31. Squealing Piglet Acres 32. Moovelous Hilltop

Pro Tip: Consider a location-based farm name that identifies the geographic setting and captures the essence and unique features of your area. Consider the landscape, local flora or fauna, historical landmarks, or cultural elements that make your location special. This ensures that your farm name reflects a sense of pride and connection to the community. Additionally, think about the scalability of the name in case your farm expands or diversifies its offerings. A well-chosen location-based name not only roots your farm in a specific place but also helps create a strong local identity, attracting customers who appreciate the regional character of your agricultural venture.

A good farm name communicates the essence of your farm while being memorable, distinctive, and relevant. Here are some key factors that contribute to a good farm name:

• Relevant: Choose a name that reflects the nature of your farm, whether it's related to the crops you grow, the livestock you raise, or the farming practices you employ.
• Memorable: A good farm name should be easy to remember. Avoid overly complex or confusing names that may be hard for customers to recall.
• Distinct: Ensure that your farm name stands out from competitors. Avoid generic terms and aim for a unique and original name that sets your farm apart.
• Value-Driven: If your farm has specific values or principles, consider incorporating them into the name. This helps convey a sense of authenticity and purpose.
• Positive Imagery: Choose words or phrases that evoke positive emotions and imagery. This creates a favorable impression and attracts customers.
• Scalable: Think about the future growth and diversification of your farm. A good name should be versatile enough to accommodate potential changes in your offerings or business focus.
• Cultural and Regional Considerations: If your farm is rooted in a specific culture or region, consider incorporating elements from that culture or region into the name. This adds a local touch and connection.
• Avoids Trends: While it's tempting to follow current trends, consider that trends change quickly. Opt for a timeless name that will remain relevant over the long term.
• Available: Before finalizing a name, check for its availability online and in business registries to ensure there are no conflicts or trademark issues.
• Easy Pronunciation and Spelling: A good farm name should be easy for customers to pronounce and spell correctly. This facilitates word-of-mouth marketing and online searches.

Remember that your farm name is an essential part of your brand identity and take the time to choose a name that aligns with your vision and values and will resonate with your target audience.

Registering your farm's name is a pivotal step in building and safeguarding your agricultural brand. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to register your farm's name:

• Check Availability: Before you settle on a name, make sure it isn't already in use by another farm, especially in your agricultural sector and location. Conduct online searches, check local business directories, and examine trademark databases to confirm the availability of your chosen name.
• Perform a Trademark Search: A thorough trademark search is essential to ensure your chosen farm name is not already trademarked by another entity. This step is crucial for legal protection and to avoid potential infringement issues.
• Buy the Domain: In today's digital landscape, securing an online presence is crucial. Check the availability of your farm name as a domain to secure a corresponding website address. Even if you don't plan an immediate website launch, reserving the domain is a wise move for future use.
• Determine the Legal Structure: Define the legal structure of your farm, whether it's a sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC, or corporation. The chosen structure will impact the registration process.
• Register with the Local Agricultural Authority: Officially register your farm name with the relevant local agricultural authority. The process varies depending on your location but often involves filing a "Doing Business As" (DBA) or trade name registration with the appropriate local agency.
• Consider Trademark Registration: While not mandatory, registering your farm name as a trademark with the relevant intellectual property office can offer additional legal protection. This becomes especially crucial if you plan to expand your farm's presence nationally or internationally.
• Claim Online Platforms and Social Media: Secure your farm name on popular social media platforms and relevant online marketplaces, even if you don't intend to use them immediately. Maintaining a consistent brand across various channels strengthens your online presence.
• Renew and Maintain: Stay vigilant about renewal requirements for your farm's registration and trademark, if applicable. Regularly update your contact information to ensure you receive renewal notices.

By following these steps, you can effectively register your farm's name, establish a robust brand identity, and shield your agricultural business from potential legal challenges. If you have specific questions or concerns about the registration process in your area, consult with legal professionals or agricultural advisors.

Next Steps After Choosing Your Farm Name

In conclusion, choosing the perfect name for your farm is an exciting step that sets the tone for your agricultural journey. Whether you're drawn to catchy or cool, professional or personal, the key is to find a moniker that resonates with your values and captures the essence of your venture.

To spark your creativity, we provided examples of farm names that are funny, cute, cool, and beyond. Consider exploring all the lists then mixing and matching elements to create a name that suits your farm's personality perfectly.

Once you've found the perfect name, the next step is to register it. Follow our suggested steps for registering farm names, ensuring legal protection and a solid foundation for your brand. Don't forget to check for domain availability and secure your online presence for future growth.

Remember, the right name for your farm is a blend of creativity, relevance, and resonance. Trust your instincts, involve others for feedback, and enjoy the process of naming your farm. Happy farming!

How to Get a Startup Business Loan (in 7 Steps)

Are you struggling to find new business startup loans? Don’t worry; you’re not alone. Fifty-nine percent of business owners do not have their funding needs met, but we’ll show you how to improve your odds of getting startup business loans.

Startup companies can still get loans. Lee Smith, the owner of Urbanity, was six months out of college when he wrote a 75-page business loan and got a $250K loan. Today he’s making over $1.5 million selling clothes. That’s a great return on investment, and it shows how much the right plan and funding can help you succeed.

We’ve partnered with National Business Capital (NBC), the number one online site for getting small business loans approved. They’ve helped secure over $2 billion in business loans for over 25,000 small businesses like yours. That’s an average of $80,000 for business startups.

[su_note note_color="#dbeafc"] We’ll explain:

• What is a startup business loan?
• How do startup business loans work?
• What are the best startup business loans?
• How to apply for startup business loans
• Alternatives to new business startup loans [/su_note]

What Is a Startup Business Loan?

A startup business loan isn’t a specific type, but a catch-all for business loans you can get to start a business. Startup business loans are one of the hardest types of business loans to get. Since the company has not built a track record, the decision is made based on how well the lender can tell the business owner thought through the business plan.

Lee Smith, the owner of Urbanity told us:

[su_quote]I sat down for two months and put together a 75-page business plan. I went and got a loan for a quarter million dollars.[/su_quote]

Check out our interview with Lee below:

Why Is It Hard to Get a Startup Business Loan?

It’s hard to get a startup business loan because startup businesses often fail in the first five years. In those cases, a business startup loan might not be paid back, which causes lenders to be more cautious when lending to a startup business. Don’t worry! There are ways to improve your odds!

How Do Business Startup Loans Work?

A startup business loan will normally rely on the personal credit history because the business does not have the same financial records and credit length to evaluate whether the risk is worth taking. Because banks back the business owner, a business startup loan often requires a personal guarantee. You’ll want to make sure you have the following before you apply for business startup loans:

Personal Credit Score

Tax returns, bank statements, accounts receivable, credit card sales, unpaid invoices, business plan, legal documents.

Keep reading for more about each one.

You’ll want at least a 650 minimum personal credit score when applying for a business startup loan, but higher is better. A higher personal credit score improves your odds of approval and normally reduces the interest rate.

You’ll need at least two years of personal and business tax returns for most lenders. National Business Credit does not normally require tax returns.

You might need three months to three years of bank account statements depending on the lender. National Business Credit is typically three months. 

These help lenders establish how much money people owe your small business and can be used to help secure financing. 

This document is another proof of revenue. It also helps lenders calculate a commonly overlooked cost of doing business.

Unpaid invoices fall into two categories:

• Money owed to the company : Invoices that a customer has not paid yet could be used to secure startup loans.
• Invoices the company needs to pay : These invoices will negatively impact your loan because they reduce the amount you can pay towards the loan. Try to clear as many of these as possible before applying for a startup loan.

Be prepared with a business plan that shows lenders that you have considered how you will make your business thrive. 

Remember to have copies of your business license, LLC or incorporation documents, EIN, and other documents that prove you are a legal business entity. Corporations are commonly viewed as more credit worthy because they have more reporting responsibilities that make it easier for companies like Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) to analyze your credit.

Check out our blog about how to get a business loan to learn more about D&B and other business credit-building tips.

What Are the Best Startup Small Business Loans?

The best small business startup loans are the ones you can actually get! Fortunately, National Business Credit has some loans that are really simple to get:

Equipment Financing

Asset-based lending.

• Small Business Administration Microloans

Personal Loans

Franchise loans.

Let’s look at each.

An equipment loan requires a 650 FICO score OR $120K in annual sales. The equipment secures the loan, so if you don’t pay the business loan, you won’t be able to operate. Find out more about NBC’s equipment loans .

If you have assets to bank your startup business loan, you can qualify for a business loan with three months of bank statements and a soft pull of your credit. People with higher credit scores and higher asset values are more likely to qualify for asset-backed startup loans.

If you have stellar personal credit, you can qualify for a line of credit or a personal loan and use it for your startup business financing. Alternatively, you can refinance your mortgage and pull out equity for your startup business.

Franchises tend to have an easier time getting a startup business loan. If you’re considering a startup loan as a franchisee, check the SBA franchise registry to make sure the business is on the list of companies that get easier and faster approvals.

There are other business financing options that small business owners may come across, but the majority of business loans are not open to startup companies unless they have:

• 2 years in business
• $100,000 annual revenue
• 650 personal credit score (or 80 D&B score)

Small Business Administration Loans

The Small Business Administration is a government agency that helps small business owners succeed. They offer four main services:

• Business Guides : They have good overviews of how to plan, start, run, and grow businesses.
• Funding Programs : We’ll talk about these below.
• Federal Contracting Assistance : Federal contracting has a range of requirements that the SBA can help you meet.
• Local Assistance Centers : Every state is different so going to a Small Business Administration office can be beneficial for state-specific guidance.

Let’s look at the business loan options available from the SBA.

SBA Loans Startup Business

A new business can apply for an SBA loan or business line of credit. There are three categories of SBA loans:

7(a) Business Loan

504 business loan.

7(a) Loans are the SBA’s most common loan program if you are buying real estate because they back loans of up to $5 million that can be used for:

• Short- and long-term working capital 
• Refinance current business debt 
• Purchase furniture, fixtures, and supplies 
• Real estate

Businesses have to meet the following qualifications to get small business loan:

• Must be profitable company
• Must be operating and based in the U.S.
• Owner must be invested in the company
• Exhausted all other resources
• Demonstrate the need for the loan 
• No delinquencies to the U.S. Government

If you are buying an existing business or franchise, you may need to ask the existing business owner for the following:

• Current balance sheet 
• Profit and loss statement
• Three years of tax returns
• Proposed bill of sale with full terms
• Asking price 
• Schedule of inventory
• Machinery and equipment
• Furniture and fixtures
• Licensing agreements from franchise, Jobber, and other companies
• Proof of equity 
• Additional SBA forms based on the scenario

Check out the SBA for more 7(a) information .

This SBA loan is for businesses to upgrade property through a Small Business Development Center as long as they have less than:

• $15.5 million in total 504 loans
• $15 million tangible net worth
• $5.5 million in current needs
• $5 million of net income based on the last two years tax returns

A 504 loan is meant to create both business and job growth through the construction or upgrading of:

• New buildings
• Existing buildings or land 
• Long-term equipment and machinery 
• Parking lots 
• Utilities 
• Landscaping

You cannot use a 504 loan to increase working capital or inventory, restructure debt, or speculate on real estate. Learn more about 504 loans .

These are the smallest type of startup loan you can get from the Small Business Administration. They are up to $50,000 and can be used for anything except buying real estate or restructuring debt. A microloan lasts for no more than six years and will normally have interest rates of 8% to 13%. Find a microloan lender .

How to Get Loans for Startup Business

Applying for startup business loans is simple. Just follow these seven steps:

• Build your credit score. 
• Choose a loan type.
• Choose a lender.
• Prepare your documents.
• Update your business plan.
• Apply for a startup business loan.
• Build for growth.

Step 1. Build your credit score

As mentioned before, you’ll want a 650+ personal credit score or an 80 business credit score from D&B. If you don't already have the necessary business and personal credit score, consider these options:

• Arco Fleet Card

You can also use NAV to find ways to build your business credit score.

Step 2. Choose a loan type

You’ll need to sort through and choose the type of startup loan you want to apply for if you go through a financial institution, but lenders like National Business Capital (NBC) will discuss the best startup loan options for you. NBC will help you get better startup financing because they work with 75 business lenders. That means you get the best business startup loans for your scenario. You can choose from:

• Equipment Loans
• Lines of Credit
• Asset-Based Loans
• Invoice Financing
• Merchant Cash Advances (MCAs)
• Industry Specific Financing

Find out why more people go to online lenders for startup financing than traditional financial institutions.

Step 3. Choose a lender

In this step, you’ll look for a financial institution that will help with your startup financing. You can get a startup loan from:

• Local banks and credit unions
• Major banks
• Finance companies
• Online lenders

Let’s look at each of these.

Local Bank or Credit Union

If you have a bank account with a local lender like a credit union, they are more likely to approve you than larger banks or online lenders. Unfortunately, fewer small business owners apply for bank loans from smaller banks according to the FED Small Business Survey .

Major Banks

According to the Federal Reserve Small Business Survey, most business owners go to a traditional lender like Wells Fargo, Chase, or Bank of America when they apply for business loans, but they do not offer great odds of approval. You’re better off going to almost anyone else. The table below shows what percentage of business owners apply at each location and what the odds of approval are. Finance companies and small banks are the most under-utilized.

Finance Companies

These lenders focus on activities like equipment financing. They tend to be alternatives to a traditional business loan, but they have the best approval odds because the monthly payments are secured by something other than your word and credit history. 

If you need credit, business lines from vendors can be a phenomenal way to start a business. The loan amount may not be as big, but there are benefits to running a lean startup. These may be online or in-store. Synchrony (formerly GE Finance) is a major player in this market, but you can also find plenty of other lenders on National Business Credit.

Online Lenders

Online lending tends to be more friendly to small business startup loans for bad credit. The loan amount might be lower than other business loans and the interest rate higher, but when you want funding for a business start up it makes sense to consider them. One of the nice things about National Business Credit is they bring together private lenders for business startup loans. This helps you get better credit offers and reduces the number of hits on your credit.

Step 4. Prepare your documents

Make sure you have all the documents you need to apply for a startup loan. If you don’t, they can hold up the processing time,  which for many lenders can be three to nine months. Make sure to ask about the business loan application process before you get started. That way you are fully prepared with everything you need to apply for startup capital. We discussed what you’ll need in earlier sections of the blog.

Step 5. Update your business plan

If you haven’t already, you’ll want to update your business plan with the most up-to-date information. Better information helps you be more likely to receive a line of credit or business loan. Pay special attention to the financials and the explanations, especially on how you’ll use the business line of credit.

Step 6. Apply for a startup business loan

Once you have everything ready, it’s time to apply for your small business loans. Startup companies will often be denied credit from traditional financing options unless they have a good personal credit score, business credit, and offer a personal guarantee. Online lenders tend to be more generous as long as you have a 650 credit score and are using the loan amount for something that can secure the business.

What to consider before accepting startup loans for business

Before you accept startup loans for new business ventures, you’ll want to consider:

• Interest rates
• Lump sum loans vs business lines of credit
• Monthly payments
• Impact on working capital and cash flow
• Duration of startup loan

Let’s look at how each of these impact business success.

Payment Terms

Before you accept startup business loans with no revenue, you’ll need a plan to pay them back. The payments will be a combination of interest payment and principal. Depending on the loan, you might have:

• Daily Payments : This arrangement is common with merchant cash advances.
• Weekly Payments : This is also common with merchant cash advances and invoice financing.
• Monthly Payments : As the most common type of payment arrangement, these are used by traditional bank loans, business credit cards, SBA loans, and business lines of credit.
• Paid Upon Triggering Event : Invoice financing often reroutes the invoice payments to the lender and then they pay you. When this occurs, the triggering event is the receipt of the invoice payment.

Make sure you can afford the payments otherwise you may default on the loan or lose your business. This is especially important if you have a period of time between when you accept the startup loan and when you receive revenue. If you keep part of the loan aside to pay the loan payments, you can protect against this risk.

Interest Rates

Your interest rates are effectively a business expense. Every time you pay interest, you have less money to reinvest in your business. We created a table of common startup loans to show you how much you’ll be spending on interest for different types of loans using the SBA data and calculator.net .

High rates are one of the main reasons that successful small business owners discourage taking out small startup business loans with bad credit. 

Next, we’ll discuss why business lines of credit are some of the best small business loans you can get.

Term Loans vs Business Lines of Credit

Always choose a business line of credit over a term loan if you are offered it. Lines of credit are some of the best loans for startup business operations. Term loans pay you a lump sum upfront and you pay interest on the full amount. A line of credit is similar to how a business credit card works; it charges you interest on the amount of credit you use. 

Let’s look at how that can impact your payment using the 25-year loan from the example above. Pretend you only need $25K in the first month. Instead of paying $2,187.72, you’d pay 9.52% interest on $25,000 making it where your payment is only $218.77. You just saved $1,968.95.

As you pay the line of credit off, your available credit goes back up. This doesn’t happen with a traditional loan.

Impact on Working Capital and Cash Flow

A startup loan will impact your working capital and cash flow. Let’s look at a few definitions:

Working Capital = Current Assets (convert to cash in less than a year) minus Current Liabilities (must be paid within a year)

Cash Flow = Money In minus Money Out

Here’s how a loan impacts your capital and cash flow:

• The loan will initially provide working capital and cash flow to help with startup costs.
• Payments on the loan will reduce working capital and cash flow.
• Depending on how well you convert the investments into revenue, the working capital and cash flow may increase or decrease as you earn revenue and make the loan payments.

Duration of Startup Loan

The duration of the loan will impact the payments and interest rates. Assuming the loan amount stays the same, you’ll see the following impacts on other aspects of the loans for startup business operations.

Step 7. Build for growth

Once you get approved for a startup loan, it’s time to put your business in hyperdrive. Use the loan for the purposes you stated in the startup loan application. If you received an SBA loan, make sure you aren’t using it for items that are specifically excluded from your terms. Lee told us:

[su_quote]I spent way too much on the build-out (remodeling the business.) If I had it to do over again, I would have reduced the amount spent on bathrooms and invested in more inventory.[/su_quote]

Next, let's look at some alternatives to loans for startup businesses. 

Alternatives to New Business Startup Loans

Creativity offers a ton of ways to start a business without applying for a startup loan. Consider some of these alternatives to a startup business loan:

• Credit Cards

Small Business Grants

Friends and family, crowdfunding.

We’ll look at each of these below to help you with more ideas to get business funding.

Business Credit Cards

You can use business credit cards instead of a startup business loan. It’s easier to qualify for these forms of credit, but they most likely won’t cover more expensive costs like buying equipment or property. In addition, business credit cards tend to have higher interest rates than startup business loans. That means lower profits.

Startup grants are by far the best way to get money for your small business if you can get them. The Small Business Administration has grants for:

• States to Help with Exporting : Learn more about the SBA exporting grants . Apply with your state to get exporting assistance.
• Research and Development : Grants for developing scientific or military applications are available from the Small Business Innovation Research ( SBIR ) and Small Business technology Transfer programs.
• Management and Technical Assistance : If you want to provide managerial or technical guidance to small businesses, there are grants for you too. It’s called the 7(j) program .

Check out other SBA grants .

Friends and family can help you become a small business owner. They can either give you money or offer you a startup business loan. You’ll need to find a provider that offers loan servicing for individuals, but it can be done.

I financed my home through a friends and family loan that was managed by WestStar to get a lower interest rate than was available on the open market. You may want to ask if they service business loans that way too.

Business owners can also get startup funds through crowdfunding. When you use this method to start a new business, you may be committing to deliver a product in exchange for help covering business expenses. Learn how Pooch Selfie approached crowdfunding below:

Selling equity requires incorporation, but business owners can raise far more money through selling equity. This method of fundraising involves selling stock, which means the business has multiple small business owners and each is entitled to part ownership. You’ll want to hire a business lawyer to help you draft the incorporation documents if you plan on taking this approach.

Build Your Business 

It’s not always easy to get loans for startup business operations, but if you can acquire one, it can help you accelerate your business growth. Just make sure you have a solid plan for how you’ll use it or you may find yourself in a worse spot than when you started.

What kind of business loans have you used?

Equipment Financing Asset-Based Lending SBA Microloans Personal Loans Credit Cards Other: Specify

Food Truck Financing: 7 Funding Options (2024)

How to Buy a Food Truck?

How much is a food truck, what are food truck loan options.

• How to Get Financing for a Food Truck Business?
• How to Get Food Truck Financing with Bad Credit?
• How to Improve Your Credit Scores with NAV?
• Why Should Food Truck Owners Start with National Business Credit financing?
• Type of Food Truck : Are you buying a food truck, food trailer, or food cart?
• Condition of Food Truck : Have you found a new food truck or used food truck for sale?
• Buying a Food Truck Business : Are you buying a used food truck business?
• Equipment in the Food Truck : Is the equipment already in the food truck?
• Means of Purchase : Will you buy, rent, or lease your food truck and equipment?

Type of Food Truck

• Food Truck : These are usually a modified box truck, conversion van, or RV.
• Food Trailer : Connects to the towing hitch of a truck, SUV, or other vehicles. They are normally enclosed.
• Food Cart : You’ll either have to move these manually or connect them to a form of transportation. Food carts are not normally enclosed.

Condition of the Food Truck

Buying a food truck business, food truck equipment, purchase agreement.

• Buy : Most options for food truck financing. The food truck equipment counts as both an expense and an asset.
• Lease : This is a direct competitor of equipment financing, and the tax consequences can be treated differently for each. These are often offered directly by the food truck equipment manufacturer. You probably won’t be able to use the food truck to secure additional business loans when you lease.
• Rent : This way of securing a food truck and equipment is likely to be considered under working capital loans or a line of credit, but not equipment loans because you will not own the food truck.
• Buying a Food Truck Business : Are you buying a used food truck business or just the truck?
• Equipment financing  
• Working capital loan
• Merchant cash advance
• Business line of credit
• Business term loan
• Small Business Administration loan
• Vendor leasing programs

• Buy or rent a food truck
• Get the initial supplies
• Upgrade equipment 

Working Capital Loan

Merchant cash advance, business line of credit.

• 600 personal credit score
• Meet specific financial requirements
• Cash flow for up to $250,000
• B2B accounts receivable for up to $10 million

Business Term Loans

• Financing food trailer upgrades
• Hiring workers
• Refinancing debt
• Purchasing materials
• A year in business
• $10,000+ monthly revenue
• 580 credit score

Small Business Administration Loan

• A 680 credit score
• Personal guarantee 
• Down payment
• Business plan

Vendor Leasing Programs

• Small food truck
• Small food trailer
• Used food truck 

How to Get Financing for a Food Truck Business

• Create a business plan .
• Choose a business structure . (Corporations get the highest Dun & Bradstreet ratings because they disclose the most. LLCs are second best.)
• Register for an EIN number .
• Get a business bank account .
• Get a DUNS Number (not necessary at National Business Credit).
• Meet the minimum requirements.

How to Get Food Truck Financing with Bad Credit

• Borrowing from friends and family
• Taking out a secured loan
• Borrowing from your retirement accounts

How to Improve Your Credit Scores with NAV

Why every food truck should consider national business credit financing.

• Apply online.
• Have a consultation call to establish what your small food truck business needs.
• Get the best offers for secured and unsecured lines of credit from more than 75 lenders
• Get the money in a couple of days.

Hi Brandon, I think there’s a typo in you bio: “He consistently excelled at everything he did, but preferred to make the rules rather than follow him.” I’m guessing you meant “…rather than follow THEM.” Thanks for all the interesting info!

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• Write Your Business Plan | Part 1 Overview Video
• The Basics of Writing a Business Plan
• How to Use Your Business Plan Most Effectively
• 12 Reasons You Need a Business Plan
• The Main Objectives of a Business Plan
• What to Include and Not Include in a Successful Business Plan
• The Top 4 Types of Business Plans
• A Step-by-Step Guide to Presenting Your Business Plan in 10 Slides
• 6 Tips for Making a Winning Business Presentation
• 3 Key Things You Need to Know About Financing Your Business
• 12 Ways to Set Realistic Business Goals and Objectives
• How to Perfectly Pitch Your Business Plan in 10 Minutes
• Write Your Business Plan | Part 2 Overview Video
• How to Fund Your Business Through Friends and Family Loans and Crowdsourcing
• How to Fund Your Business Using Banks and Credit Unions
• How to Fund Your Business With an SBA Loan
• How to Fund Your Business With Bonds and Indirect Funding Sources
• How to Fund Your Business With Venture Capital
• How to Fund Your Business With Angel Investors
• How to Use Your Business Plan to Track Performance
• How to Make Your Business Plan Attractive to Prospective Partners
• Is This Idea Going to Work? How to Assess the Potential of Your Business.
• When to Update Your Business Plan
• Write Your Business Plan | Part 3 Overview Video
• How to Write the Management Team Section to Your Business Plan
• How to Create a Strategic Hiring Plan
• How to Write a Business Plan Executive Summary That Sells Your Idea
• How to Build a Team of Outside Experts for Your Business
• Use This Worksheet to Write a Product Description That Sells
• What Is Your Unique Selling Proposition? Use This Worksheet to Find Your Greatest Strength.
• How to Raise Money With Your Business Plan
• Customers and Investors Don't Want Products. They Want Solutions.
• 5 Essential Elements of Your Industry Trends Plan
• How to Identify and Research Your Competition
• Who Is Your Ideal Customer? 4 Questions to Ask Yourself.
• How to Identify Market Trends in Your Business Plan
• How to Define Your Product and Set Your Prices
• How to Determine the Barriers to Entry for Your Business
• How to Get Customers in Your Store and Drive Traffic to Your Website
• How to Effectively Promote Your Business to Customers and Investors
• What Equipment and Facilities to Include in Your Business Plan
• How to Write an Income Statement for Your Business Plan
• How to Make a Balance Sheet
• How to Make a Cash Flow Statement
• How to Use Financial Ratios to Understand the Health of Your Business
• How to Write an Operations Plan for Retail and Sales Businesses
• How to Make Realistic Financial Forecasts
• How to Write an Operations Plan for Manufacturers
• What Technology Needs to Include In Your Business Plan
• How to List Personnel and Materials in Your Business Plan
• The Role of Franchising
• The Best Ways to Follow Up on a Buisiness Plan
• The Best Books, Sites, Trade Associations and Resources to Get Your Business Funded and Running
• How to Hire the Right Business Plan Consultant
• Business Plan Lingo and Resources All Entrepreneurs Should Know
• How to Write a Letter of Introduction
• What To Put on the Cover Page of a Business Plan
• How to Format Your Business Plan
• 6 Steps to Getting Your Business Plan In Front of Investors

How to Hire the Right Business Plan Consultant While they will cost you time and money, some experts believe strongly in the utility and value of hiring outside help to craft your business plan.

By Eric Butow • Oct 27, 2023

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

This is part 3 / 8 of Write Your Business Plan: Section 6: Getting Your Business Plan to Investors series.

Businesspeople tend to fall into two camps when it comes to consultants. Some believe strongly in the utility and value of hiring outside experts to bring new perspectives and broad knowledge to challenging tasks. Others feel consultants are overpaid yes-men brought in only to endorse plans already decided upon or to take the heat for unpopular but necessary decisions.

Related: Find an Entrepreneur-verified expert to help you write your plan

Who's right? Both are, depending on the consultant you hire and your purpose for hiring one. Most consultants are legitimate experts in specific or general business areas. And most consultants can be hired to help with all or part of the process of writing a business plan.

Related: The Benefits and Risks of Writing a Business Plan

The downside is you have to spend a lot of time on communication before and during the process of working with a consultant. Be sure you have fully explained, and the consultant fully understands, the nature of your business, your concept and strategy, your financial needs, and other matters such as control, future plans, and so on. Refer to these important issues throughout the process—you don't want to pay for a beautifully done plan that fits somebody else's business, not yours. And when the work is done, debrief the consultant to find out if there's anything you can learn that wasn't included in the plan.

If you decide to hire a consultant to help you prepare your plan, take care that you select the right person. Here are the guidelines:

• Get referrals. Ask colleagues, acquaintances, and professionals such as bankers, accountants, and lawyers for the names of business plan consultants they recommend. A good referral goes a long way to easing concerns you may have. Few consultants advertise anyway, so referrals may be your only choice.
• Look for a fit. Find a consultant who is an expert in helping businesses like yours. Ideally, the consultant should have lots of experience with companies of similar size and age in similar industries. Avoid general business experts or those who lack experience in your field.
• Check references. Get the names of at least three clients the consultant has helped to write plans. Call the former clients and ask about the consultant's performance. Was the consultant's final fee in line with the original estimate? Was the plan completed on time? Did it serve the intended purpose?
• Get it in writing. Have a legal contract for the consultant's services. It should discuss in detail the fee, when it will be paid, and under what circumstances. And make sure you get a detailed, written description of what the consultant must do to earn the fee. Whether it's an hourly rate or a flat fee isn't as important as each party knowing exactly what's expected.

The Lowdown on Consultants

A good consultant should provide the following:

• They should lay out expectations. In any working relationship, you need to know exactly what is expected of whom you are hiring.
• The consultant should only make promises they can keep. Hold them to their word. Business is about making and keeping promises.
• All plans should be made in advance and make promises that were inherently discussed beforehand. Without a concrete plan a consultant can "wing it," leaving you without any way to look at milestones and keep tabs on her progress.
• A consultant should provide regular, specific updates. You need to set up a schedule and a means of regular communication. You want to know—specifically— what she is doing, and this means regular ongoing communication, which is an integral part of a healthy business relationship.
• They should not have a personal agenda. If the consultant is not acting in the best interest of your company, then they are not doing the job ethically. Make sure anyone you're hiring is working for your needs, not theirs.

Related: 12 Reasons You Need a Business Plan

What Does It All Mean?

In the end, consultants can only help you know what it is you're looking to accomplish with your business. Business plan competitions can give you a leg up on the competition, but you will then need to use that edge wisely by putting your award-winning plan into the right hands. SCORE and other organizations can benefit you in the business planning process, if you are ready to listen, learn, and ask questions.

Remember, though, there is no magic formula for success. Your business plan should lay down the foundation from which you will do everything you can to build and sustain a successful business. It should tell the story of your business going forward and help you think hard about every aspect of your business. It should help you make the key decisions as you proceed. It should also keep you thinking about all of the possibilities.

Related: How to Write a Business Plan

Writing a business plan is not easy, but neither is starting and running a successful business. Many new businesses (as well as older ones) fail every year. Some have no concrete plan, others have drifted from the plan, and many have lost the motivation to grow and change to keep pace with the changing marketplace. Complacency stops many businesses from taking the next steps.

A business plan means what you want it to mean. It can be a way of guiding you through the process, a means of getting investors, a way of finding advisors, a document to help lure new talent, or all of the above. It is not something that you finish and forget to look at, but instead something you can go back to, just as you would do with a blueprint of a house or a building as you plan to add on a new room or rewire the facility.

Of course, the business plan is worthwhile only if you are honest in what you put on paper, meaning being honest to yourself. If you are writing down an idealized version of what you'd like to see without including well-researched facts and forecasts that are based on due diligence, then your business plan will simply lead you to disappointment. Therefore, as you write the plan, stop and look at it periodically to make sure you are being realistic and have other people you know and trust read it to confirm that you are being forthright and not overly optimistic.

Related: How to Create a Business Plan Investors Will Love

The real optimism of a business plan is creating something that you can accomplish and make successful over time. It's fine to use the business plan to shoot for the stars—but start with one star at a time.

More in Write Your Business Plan

Section 1: the foundation of a business plan, section 2: putting your business plan to work, section 3: selling your product and team, section 4: marketing your business plan, section 5: organizing operations and finances, section 6: getting your business plan to investors.

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Going Beyond Writing: The Multifaceted Role of Business Plan Consultants

Most people think of a professional business plan company primarily as a "business plan writer." However, here at Masterplans, we choose to approach this role more broadly and holistically as that of a "business plan consultant." Crafting a comprehensive business plan is not just about translating information into a narrative. The consulting role goes beyond mere recitation; it involves understanding, analyzing, and interpreting the essence of your business, ensuring that the final plan not only encapsulates your vision but also adds value and insights that can guide your business's direction.

Business plan consulting is a dynamic process that calls for market research, realistic financial modeling, and strategic development of the business model. This approach is about asking the right questions and encouraging the business owner to uncover insights they might not have recognized. This results in a cohesive document that does more than tell a story – it guides the business's direction with informed and actionable insights.

The diverse range of thinking involved in business plan consulting necessitates a collaborative approach, often best undertaken by a team rather than a single freelancer. Leveraging varied expertise ensures that all aspects of the business plan are thoroughly analyzed and articulated. This team-based methodology brings additional depth and breadth to the plan, aligning it more closely with the multifaceted nature of the business landscape. It underscores the importance of viewing the role as that of a business plan consultant, emphasizing strategic guidance, rather than simply focusing on the writing aspect.

Why Is Business Planning Crucial for Startups and Established Businesses?

Business planning is the strategic backbone of both startups and established businesses, guiding critical decisions that mitigate risk, align the team behind a singular vision, and validate the business model. A comprehensive business plan, crafted with the expertise of business plan consultants, serves as the vital written documentation of this strategic process. It reflects the depth of planning, tailored to speak to the audience, whether a bank for Small Business Administration-backed funding or for angel and VC investors . By adhering to specific guidelines and structures, the plan ensures that the audience can find exactly what they need to make informed decisions, laying the groundwork for securing funding and future success.

Engaging a professional business plan writer or utilizing a business plan writing service is not just about creating a document; it's about shaping the future of the business. It infuses the planning process with depth, structure, and insights that go beyond mere numbers or a static business plan template. From financial forecasting to strategic alignment, the expertise of business plan consultants can be a game-changer, turning business ideas into actionable and sustainable business strategies.

The Role of a Business Planning Consultant

Strategic planning.

A business planning consultant's primary role is to provide strategic direction. They assess the business's current position, set future goals, and outline the path to achieve them. They employ their expertise to create a robust and realistic strategic plan that aligns with the business's vision.

Market Research and Analysis

In-depth market research and analysis form the backbone of any successful business plan. A consultant identifies competitors, evaluates market trends, and understands customer behavior. Their insights shape the marketing strategies and competitive positioning, tailored to the business's unique context.

Financial Modeling

Financial projection and modeling are critical components of a comprehensive business plan. A consultant will develop financial statements, budget forecasts, and investment strategies that align with the business's goals. This financial roadmap guides decision-making and prepares the business for potential challenges and opportunities.

Evaluating the Need for a Business Plan Consultant

Assessing the complexities of your business strategy and recognizing the limitations in internal expertise can make engaging a professional consultant essential. Experienced consultants can provide financial projections and strategic insights, significantly enhancing your business plan's quality.

Analyzing Internal Capabilities

Understanding the existing skill set within your organization can guide your decision to hire an external business plan writer. Evaluation of the internal team's ability to handle comprehensive market research and financial planning is crucial. Business plan consulting services offer specialized expertise that might not be available internally. From crafting detailed financial projections to conducting thorough market analysis, consultants bring a depth of knowledge that can enhance the overall quality and effectiveness of the business plan.

Getting An Outside Perspective

A skilled business plan consultant is not merely a scribe; they are a strategic partner in crafting your vision. The more complex your business model or the larger the funding you seek, the more specialized and rigorous the planning that goes into it. Business owners often wonder, "How can I trust an external business plan consultant to understand my business?" The answer lies in the unique synergy between the business owner's expertise and the consultant's ability to craft that vision to resonate with the target audience.

Consultants have the innate capability to align a business plan with the specific industry, target audience, and strategic objectives of a company, whether a startup or an established entity. They not only understand the unique needs and goals of a business but translate that understanding into a compelling, well-structured plan.

The tailored approach ensures that the plan meets the expectations of potential investors, banks, and other stakeholders, providing them precisely what they need to make an informed decision. It's about recognizing the complexities of your business ideas and presenting them in a way that resonates with those who hold the keys to your success. This process of understanding and adaptation is what sets apart professional business plan consultants and enables them to assist in securing pivotal funding.

Timeframe for Developing a Business Plan

Creating a comprehensive business plan is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor. Various elements can influence the timeline, including the complexity of the business model, the depth of market research required, and the specific needs of stakeholders.

Typical Duration with Professional Assistance

Creating a comprehensive business plan can be an intricate and time-consuming task for a business owner, often taking up to a year to complete. Hiring a business plan writer or consulting firm, however, can significantly streamline this process. With professional assistance, the duration to produce a business plan can be reduced substantially, depending on the complexity of the plan and the consultant's approach. Generally, a business plan consultant might take anywhere from a few weeks to a couple of months to craft a well-thought-out business plan, allowing business owners to focus on other vital aspects of their venture.

Efficiency and Quality Balance

While time efficiency is crucial, a rush to complete the plan can lead to oversights. Striking a balance between speed and quality is key. Engaging a consultant who understands this balance ensures that the resulting plan is both timely and robust, aligning with the strategic objectives of the business.

How Much Does A Business Plan Consultant Cost?

Just like the timelines, the cost of hiring a business plan consultant varies widely based on several factors. The complexity of the business plan, the consultant's experience level, industry expertise, and the required timeframe can all influence the price. Specialized skills, such as in-depth financial projection or market analysis, may also add to the cost.

The price range for hiring a business plan writer or consultant can run from a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands, depending on the scope and complexity. Understanding what is included in the package is crucial. A comprehensive business plan should encompass strategic planning, financial modeling, target market analysis, marketing strategy, and ongoing collaboration and revisions.

Evaluating the cost should not only be a matter of price but also the value that the consultant brings to the business. Investing in a seasoned consultant who offers comprehensive services can pay off in the long run by providing a robust and tailored plan that aligns with your business's unique needs and goals.

Can a Business Plan Consultant Guarantee Success?

The pursuit of business success extends beyond mere funding, encompassing various aspects of planning, implementation, and growth. Engaging a professional business plan consultant can significantly increase the chances of success, but it cannot guarantee it, as success goes beyond the plan itself. The comprehensive planning carried out with a consultant plays a crucial role, but it's equally vital for the business to implement and keep the plan updated.

Impact on Growth

A study shows that entrepreneurs who completed a business plan were 2.6 times more likely to launch their business than those who did not. Additionally, businesses that engage in rigorous business planning experience 34% faster growth than those that don't.

Seeking external support from a business plan consultant results in 27% faster growth , highlighting the importance of professional guidance in the business journey.

Enhancing Funding Success Rates

Various factors beyond the plan itself play a role in the funding decision, such as the business's financial standing and market environment. However, a well-structured and persuasive plan developed by a consultant can enhance the chances of securing funding by meeting the expectations of potential lenders and investors. Significantly, those who completed business plans were nearly twice as likely to obtain capital as those who didn’t write a plan.

Selecting the Right Business Plan Consultant

Choosing a business plan consulting service requires examining their professional background and relevant experience. Look for proven expertise in areas such as financial projection, industry analysis, and strategic planning. Past successes, client testimonials , and a strong portfolio can be indicative of a skilled consultant.

Questions to Ask a Prospective Consultant

When selecting a business plan consultant, a potential client should consider asking the following essential questions to ensure that they are the right fit for your specific needs and expectations:

• Who is the person in charge of developing the plan? Understanding the qualifications and experience of the individual(s) responsible can give you insights into their ability to handle the complexities of your project.
• How much communication will we have throughout the process? Clarifying expectations around communication can help create a collaborative and transparent working relationship.
• How does the revision process work? Understanding how revisions are handled will give you confidence in the consultant's willingness to align the plan closely with your vision and feedback.
• What is your experience with businesses in my specific industry? Industry expertise can greatly enhance the effectiveness of your business plan.
• Can you provide references or client testimonials? Past successes and satisfied clients can be indicative of a consultant's skill and reliability.
• What are the timelines and costs for the project, and how what does that inclued? Knowing the expected timelines and fee structure can help you plan accordingly and ensure that your project stays on track, ensuring there are no hidden surprises.

The Masterplans Difference

For over 20 years, the Masterplans team has dedicated ourselves to supporting entrepreneurial visions. Our legacy is not just in the number of years but in the expertise cultivated through those years. Engaging with over 18,000 businesses across various sectors has enabled us to understand unique challenges and opportunities startups face and allows us to tailor our services precisely to each client's needs, providing insights and strategic guidance that are both relevant and impactful. 

Strength in Numbers

Unlike a single freelancer's limited perspective, our team-based approach leverages the diverse skills and experiences of business planning experts working together. Every Masterplans business plan is supported by a strategic planning consultant, a market researcher, and a financial modeler. This collaboration ensures that every angle of your business is thoroughly examined, aligning your vision with realistic and robust strategies.

We work closely with you throughout the planning process, reflecting your vision and meeting your specific business goals. This collaborative approach not only adds depth and structure but also empowers you with the knowledge and tools to feel capable and in control of your venture. 

Proprietary Approach

What sets Masterplans apart in the business planning consulting industry is our trade-secret Model-Based Planning™ methodology , which enables us to create a business plan that's as distinctive as your venture. Unlike generic templates or outsourced writers, our approach ensures that you receive a well-crafted, personalized strategy, backed by thorough market research , realistic financial modeling , and strategic development .

We're committed to delivering a top-notch startup business plan written specifically for your needs. No templates or one-size-fits-all solutions. Just comprehensive planning that's rooted in understanding your business, asking the right questions, and encouraging you to see things you might not have seen before. 

If you'd like to hear more about how Masterplans can help bring your vision to life, schedule a free 15-minute appointment with one of our experts .

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Your Expert Business Plan Consultant

Call Us Today at:

800-216–3710

What Makes Growthink Unique

Customized business plans.

We work closely with you to understand and improve your business model, target market, plans for securing funding and increasing sales, and other aspects of your unique vision to build a custom business plan and financial plan that will help you reach your company goals.

Experienced Consultants

Growthink’s business planning team has world-class academic, entrepreneurial, and financial backgrounds, including experience starting, financing, and growing businesses and working as angel, venture capital, and private equity investors.

Vast Client Experience

We have developed business plans for clients worldwide in hundreds of industries across every organizational type – startups, small businesses, mid-sized companies, large corporations, nonprofit and government organizations.

Better Strategic Planning

We don’t just document your business ideas on paper. Our business plan consultants conduct market research and collaborate with you to create strategies for you to succeed in both today’s environment and over the long term.

$5+ Billion in Funding Raised

We are in constant contact with investors, lenders, and other funding sources. This enables our consultants to develop business plans and pitch decks that raise capital. Growthink clients have raised billions of dollars in debt and equity funding.

Expert Market Research

We have access to several market research databases to help you better understand the emerging trends in your industry and better identify your target markets, potential risks, and growth opportunities to develop a truly comprehensive business strategy.

What the Media Says

Based on Growthink’s track record and leadership, the media constantly contacts us for advice and information on business planning and capital raising. In fact, multiple media sources refer to us as the “Business Plan Experts.”

Growthink has been featured in over 500 media sources including the following:

We are also proud to have been selected as one of America’s Best Management Consulting Firms by Forbes Magazine and Statista.

Speak With a Growthink Business Plan Consultant

Who we serve, early stage entrepreneurs, small businesses, mid-sized to larger companies, fortune 500 companies, nonprofit and government organizations, representative clients, sample clients who have entrusted growthink with developing their business plans include:.

See what our clients have said about Growthink’s quality business plan consulting services:

Client success stories.

I was very impressed with how quickly Growthink grasped our unique industry and business.

In a short period of time, they completed research, a beautiful pitch deck and financial projections that we used in our Series A round, which closed successfully.      

I worked with the team at Growthink to accelerate the development of the original Integreon business plan.

They are a sharp, creative, and results-focused group. I recommend them highly to companies of all sizes looking to turbo-charge the development of their strategic business plans and their businesses.

We really appreciated working with you! The team you assembled, the quality of your work and the process you took us through really helped us in our thinking. It wasn’t just the meetings and reports you created, but also the structured process that forced us to really think through our target customers, our marketing process, our onboarding process, what technology we must deliver and when – all of that was super helpful.

V Starr Interiors

I loved working with Growthink.

The staff are passionate about their work and committed to what they do in a way that can only be achieved when you love what you do. They helped keep us on track to achieve our planning goals.

I am looking forward to continued success working with everyone from Growthink in the future.

I absolutely loved working with Growthink!

They listened to our objectives and truly understood what our mission was prior to beginning our project. They hit all their milestones on-time and on-point. They ultimately delivered a very valuable tool that will have tremendous use to us in our growth plan.

I highly recommend Antonio and the Growthink team.

Our Story & Mission

In 1999, Growthink co-founders Dave Lavinsky and Jay Turo graduated with their MBAs from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. They conceived Growthink from their deep and abiding passion and curiosity for business. As Turo says, “The work we do at Growthink is what Dave and I would just naturally do whenever we got together – talking about businesses we love and how to make them better.”

Growthink’s mission is to help executives and entrepreneurs grow their businesses so they can create jobs, offer customers better products and services, realize personal satisfaction and wealth, and fund programs that make the world a better place.

Speak with a Growthink business plan consultant today

What it’s like to work with a professional business plan consultant, our business plan consulting methodology, management interviews, strategic market research, draft plan & financial modeling, review & revise, package & finalize.

• Management Interviews : In this first phase, we collect and document your “verbal” growth plan, including your vision, key accomplishments to date, challenges and opportunities, business objectives and goals, and growth strategies. In this phase we also identify and refine key research questions, and work to define and communicate an effective “story” for the business plan. Your “story” is what’s going to appeal to investors and lenders.
• Strategic Market Research : In this phase, we size the relevant market place, analyze competitors, profile existing and prospective customer groups, and perform our due diligence to identify opportunities to grow your own business. Growthink also conducts “benchmarking research” — this involves identifying other companies that have succeeded and/or failed with similar businesses and/or initiatives.
• Executive Summary
• Company Analysis
• Customer and Market Analyses
• Industry and Competitive Analyses
• Development, Operations and Marketing Plans
• Management Team

We will also deliver your complete financial model at this time , including the financial projections .

• Review and Revise : In this phase, we review the draft plan with you and discuss the focus, wording, and flow of the document. We incorporate any necessary revisions and refinements, and prepare the revised plan.
• Package and Finalize : The final stage involves creating a clean, professional document, with graphical enhancements, that is copy-edited, formatted, and ready to be presented to stakeholders and investors.

Business Plan Consulting FAQs

A business plan consultant helps small business owners, entrepreneurs, start-ups, and established businesses develop business plans that will help them raise bank loans, equity funding and other forms of funding for their businesses. A quality business plan advisor will also ensure the business’ growth strategy is solid. We are the industry experts in helping many entrepreneurs, business owners, and executives create professional business plans that are well thought out to point your business in the right direction and powerful tools to convince potential investors to fund your project or lend you money.

Every business is unique, so there’s no cookie-cutter business plan. Every business owner has different strengths and weaknesses they bring to the table. We want our clients to get the most out of their business plan by solving problems, leveraging strengths, and highlighting new business opportunities for growth – all while taking it one step at a time.

Growthink starts with what’s important to you: What are your current challenges? What do you hope this business will achieve? Our business planning advisors are there to help make your vision a reality – whether through helping improve your day-to-day operations or providing the strategic planning necessary for companies on an upwards trajectory. Whatever stage you’re at in your company’s life cycle, our business plan consulting firm can help judge the needs of your business and provide solutions based on our years of experience working with companies in a variety of industries.

Read more about  Our Business Planning Process & Methodology .

Growthink’s business plan consultants can produce a custom business plan in as little as seven days, but it may vary depending on the complexity of the business.

The cost for professional business plan development services varies depending on the complexity of the company.

Business Plan Consultants Case Studies

Fathead is the leading brand in sports and entertainment wall graphics with hundreds of officially licensed products. The Company’s product line-up includes Fathead Tradeables, Fathead Jr., Fathead Skins, Furniture for Fans, and of course, our “Real.Big®” Fathead, the officially licensed, life-size, hi-def wall graphics of professional athletes, animated heroes, entertainment characters, team helmets, and logos. Growthink was engaged to analyze trends within the market and create the Company’s strategic business plan. Since working with Growthink, Fathead was acquired by a leading conglomerate of sports and entertainment properties.

Cardio Quick Systems

Porsche Design

Porsche Design Group is a majority-owned subsidiary of Porsche. The company’s activities are focused on the business areas of Porsche Design, Porsche Design Driver’s Selection, and the Porsche Design Studio. Growthink was retained to design and draft a business plan to extend the Porsche unique male luxury brand positioning into the retail arena — specifically sunglasses, leather goods, golf, and electronic products. The business plan and findings were presented directly to the Porsche family, which fully backed it. The Porsche Design Group has since grown dramatically and now operates in many retail locations in the United States and worldwide.

Integreon is a business process outsourcing (BPO) firm that offers a wide range of knowledge and legal support  services  to professionals. Growthink was retained to develop Integreon’s business plan, which focused on raising capital and scaling the business. Since working with Growthink, Integreon has raised over $50 million in venture capital, grown from 12 to 2,000 employees, and is now one of the largest BPO firms in the world.

GET A FREE CONSULTATION

Let growthink's business plan consultants help you.

We are very proud of our business plan consultancy services and are confident we can help you raise money and grow your business. Call us today or fill out our form to get started.

Strategic Planning Consultants

Our expert strategic planning consultants can lead your sessions using our best practices, real-world experience, and hands-on exercises to build an excellent agile strategic plan., work with an expert consultant today..

Why work with our strategic planning consultants?

OnStrategy has been trusted by 1000s of organizations to build and implement their strategic plans. Our expert strategic planning consultants help establish a bold vision supported by an agile strategy with OKRs to accelerate your impact.

We’ll lead your stakeholder feedback processes, facilitate your strategic planning sessions, create your final written strategic plan, and guide your ongoing implementation to ensure you see results from your panning process.

Strategic planning consulting for growth and impact.

Here’s why we’re the clear choice for your planning services:

We’ve built 1000s of plans. Seriously 1000s.

Every plan framework, every size plan, always implementation-ready. We have 20 years of planning experience. Business fads come and go, but good strategy stands the test of time.

We’re running more than 300 strategy execution cycles right now.

We stand up implementation processes that are sticky, consistent, and lightweight. We promise you’ll never launch and leave your plan. We ensure your board, senior management, and stakeholders are engaged for successful execution.

We create alignment and focus with your stakeholders.

We’ve been in the business of strategic planning services and facilitation for nearly two decades. We know how to guide team members and stakeholders through consensus building to create alignment, focus, and clarity on what matters most in your organization.

We’re the ONLY team that includes an AI focus in your planning process.

Our strategic planning process includes a focus on identify your AI opportunities and integrating them into your plan. We’ll bring AI experts to your planning sessions and help your organization realize the promise of Generative AI.

How we deliver strategic planning consulting services:

• Strategic Plan Facilitation

Let our experts lead the process for you to build a plan virtually or onsite.

• Strategic Planning Facilitation

Strategy Consulting

Get an expert strategy consultant to build your strategy and guide implementation.

OKR Consulting

Create a plan with OKRs aligned to your organization’s strategic direction

AI Strategy Consulting

Build an AI strategy and roadmap with our strategy and AI experts.

Our strategic planning consultants are serious about helping leaders achieve their vision and create growth. Here’s how we’ll help:

Our strategic planning consulting approach sidesteps the pain points in planning.

We’ll work with your team to create an agile approach to engage your entire organization and connect them to what matters most. build an actionable plan that sticks — the first time. contact us to get started. contact us to get started ., collaborate to create a bold vision of the future.

We run facilitate stakeholder participation sessions to define your bold vision of the future.

Build a Plan with a Growth Strategy and Goals/OKRs

Build a plan with a growth strategy, goals/OKRs, AI opportunities, and action plans.

Set & Adopt an Agile Execution Cycle

We’ll co-create a custom strategy execution cycle that’s been field tested by thousands of teams.

Recalibrate Quarterly, Refresh Annually

Walk away with a planning and implementation approach you can replicate to refresh your plan.

Meet our a few of our expert strategic planning consultants.

Erica Olsen

Ceo and co-founder.

Erica Olsen quite literally wrote the book on strategic planning – Strategic Planning for Dummies, in fact.

As CEO and co-founder of OnStrategy, Erica has dedicated almost twenty years to growing OnStrategy with one goal in mind; help organizations around the globe create and implement strategic plans to achieve their bold visions of success.

Erica’s expertise as a strategic planning consultant includes strategic plan facilitation, strategy design, implementation, OKRs, and consistent results management. Her dedication to the craft of strategic planning has helped organizations like Patagonia, Microsoft, Make-A-Wish, the City and County of San Francisco, and Keystone Healthcare Management.

Erica’s Expertise as a Strategic Planning Consultant:

• Internal and External Assessments
• Brand Strategy
• Executive Team and Board Retreats
• Culture Shift
• Team Leadership
• Business Development and Performance Management
• Strategic Plan Roll-Out
• Strategic Plan Adoption

Previous Clients

Make-A-Wish

• MGM Resorts
• Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority
• Brycon Construction
• Washoe County
• City of Reno

Principal Strategist

Jeff is always looking at the bigger picture. His ability to step back, assess, and analyze how things fit together strategically is among the reasons he is one of our most efficient and effective senior strategic planning consultants.

Jeff has experience in revenue recognition and brand development for organizations ranging from startup to venture-backed and publicly traded. His versatility and background give him the versatility to help our clients find solutions to the complex problems they face. His client rap sheet includes Intuit, IBM, Harley Davidson, and Volcom.

• Sales and Sales Methodology
• Business Consulting
• Advisory Services
• Team Leadership and Mentorship
• Communications
• Maryland Food Bank
• Outdoor Industry Association
• Reno Rodeo Association

Kim Perkins

Kim’s kind nature encases everything she does. While practical and pragmatic, her approach truly comes from her internal desire to bring people together to see success. As a consultant, her focus is empowering the public sector with the strategy to make an impact in our communities.

As an expert in public sector planning, her work as a strategic planning consultant includes various governments, non-profits, and school districts. Clients who’ve seen success directly from her career include Boy Scouts of America, North Slope Borough School District, Sovereign Nation of the Chitimacha Tribe, and the Discovery Museum of Northern Nevada.

Kim’s Expertise as a Strategic Planning Consultant

• Growth Strategy
• Plan Design and Implementation
• School Districts and Non-profit Management
• University of the Redlands
• University of Santa Cruz
• Ronald McDonald House Charities
• Fairbanks North Star Borough School District
• First Star Credit Union

Get an expert in your corner.

Tap in to our team of expert strategic planning consultants to build your agile plan today., leigh abbott.

Leigh leverages decades of experience across a multitude of industries to move companies through strategic planning and change management. She’s an expert in communication and collaboration, driving organizational growth through the strategic planning and implementation process.

Leigh holds a Bachelor of Arts in Art from Penn State; an MBA from Virginia Wesleyan University; and is currently a doctoral student, Strategic Leadership at Liberty University.

• Strategic Planning Consulting
• Canadian Automobile Association
• County of Santa Clara – TSS
• Dacro Industries
• Commute.Org

Kamryn Mock

Lead strategist.

As our team’s youngest strategist, Kamryn landed at OnStrategy equipped with the skills essential to navigating the 21st Century business environment. Her clients’ success is rooted in her commitment to learning as much as possible through listening, collaboration, and forward-thinking.

Kamryn has become one of our strategy implementation and execution experts, helping organizations around the globe roll out their plans and adopt an approach to keep their teams focused on what’s critical to success. Her client list includes the Maryland Food Bank, City of Reno, and Credit Union West, just to name a few.

Expertise as a Strategic Planning Consultant

• Research Design and Synthesis
• Project Management
• Client Relationship Management
• Facilitation Synthesis
• The King Center
• Destination Madison
• Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma
• City and County of SF, Digital Services
• Costa Farms

Meet a few of our partner consultants.

Stacye Thrasher Brim Principal Strategist

Jeffrey Prottas Principal Strategist

Jennifer Cunningham Lead Strategist

Cammy Elquist LoRé Lead Strategist

Why ceos, csos, & strategy leaders ❤️ onstrategy, “i have been telling my peers about our off site and how impressed i was with our facilitator and onstrategy. bringing onstrategy in was probably the best thing i have done.”.

CEO/CO-Founder

Applied Network Solutions

“The level of individual engagement is great all around! And your leadership through this strategic planning process has been excellent.”

Dallas Smith

Executive VP, Co-Founder

Healing HealthCare Systems

“Thank you so much for all your help with the process this year! Having your guidance and suggestions made it so much smoother, and now we are ready to kick off the execution stage!”

VP of Marketing

“I’m very pleased with how the team was able to knock out so much last year despite the unrest and uncertainty. We stuck to the intent of the plan and made use of its agile nature. All of the preparation and discussions to build the plan really paid off as we shifted on what felt like a weekly basis.”

President/CEO

Experience Kissimmee

“The software made it easier for the team build out their respective department goals, targets, and supporting initiatives. We've been doing planning for 20 years and we're finally driving a level of coordination, communication, and collaboration across all nine of our divisions”

Mark Binsfelt

VP of Marketing and Business Development

J.F. Brennan

Book a call with an expert strategic planning consultant today.

A strategic planning consultant leads organizations through the process of building a strategic plan. This includes conducting a current state analysis for the organization, collecting insights from the team, creating the framework for the planning sessions, facilitating the planning retreats, building the organization’s strategic plan, and ensuring successful implementation and adoption.

We offer retreat facilitation, employee insights, market assessments and competitive analyses, strategic planning, OKR coaching, organization benchmarking, OKR services, and strategic plan implementation services.

After the initial 90-day plan build, we will set quarterly meetings to review your OKRs and goals and recalibrate your plan for the next 90 days.

The steps in a strategic planning process are to assess your lay out your strategic foundation, assess your current state, design your strategy and direction, build your plan with action, and set up and manage your implementation approach. Here’s a more detailed approach.

• Establishing the mission, vision, and values of the organization: Define the purpose and direction of the organization to guide decision-making and goal-setting.
• Conducting a situational analysis: Evaluate internal strengths and weaknesses as well as external opportunities and threats to understand the current state of the organization.
• Setting strategic goals and objectives: Identify specific, measurable goals that align with the mission and vision of the organization.
• Developing strategies and action plans: Determine the actions needed to achieve the strategic goals and allocate resources effectively.
• Implementing the plan: Execute the strategies and action plans, monitoring progress towards goals and making adjustments as needed.
• Evaluating performance: Measure outcomes against objectives, gather feedback, and assess whether the strategic plan is effective in achieving desired results.
• Reviewing and updating the plan: Regularly review and update the strategic plan to adapt to changing circumstances and ensure continued relevance and success for the organization.

An expert strategic planning consultant should be able to build your plan in as few as 90 days.

We help leaders achieve their visions of success.

We dig in deep and help clients solve their biggest challenges. listen in to see how our clients work everyday to achieve their visions of success:.

The Best Visions Connect to Your Head, Heart, and Soul

Tony Quiñones, Bright Path Labs

Strategy Stories

Using a Bold Vision to Solve Homelessness

Dana Searcy, Washoe County

Strategy is Communication, Communication is Strategy

Meg Kimmel & Carmen Del Guercio

Creating the Next Generation of Leaders and Stewards of our Waterways

Aligning an Organization & Leadership Team to Save the Planet

Committing to a Bigger Impact to Grant Wishes to Every Eligible Child

Growing an Organization to Create Clear Ownership & Accountability

Authority Partners

Unifying a Team with a Clear Focus to Transform the Construction Industry

Defining an Ambitious Strategic Plan to Preserve & Protect Lake Tahoe

Join 60,000 other leaders engaged in transforming their organizations., subscribe to get the latest agile strategy best practices, free guides, case studies, and videos in your inbox every week..

Do you want to 2x your impact?

Free Download

10 Questions to Ask

Before hiring a business plan writer.

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Business Plan Writing Service

Maximize your chances of getting funded

Our business plan writers develop plans that can help you win funding.

What you can expect working with our Team:

Business planning pros

You’ll work with a professional plan writer who will build a custom business plan for your unique industry

The #1 planning tool

Get free access to LivePlan software, which makes it easier to share and update your plan

A winning format

Our unique business plan format has helped over 1 million businesses

Expert business plan writers for any type of business

Business plans for startups

• Establish milestones to achieve success.
• Outline accurate startup costs.
• Fully establish the vision for your business.

Pitching to investors

• Plans are formatted to meet lenders' expectations.
• Ensures your projected financials are realistic.
• Be prepared with a strong plan to back up your pitch.

Retail, eCommerce, restaurants and other popular industries

• Plan writers with experience and expertise in your industry.
• Insights into what details are vital to succeed in your industry.
• Develop a strong value proposition to stand out from the competition.

What makes our business plan writing services different?

Our business plan format has helped companies raise millions.

Our writers use a business plan structure that has been tested and refined over the past 20 years. So when you hire a LivePlan business plan writer, you'll be maximizing your chances of securing a loan or investment.

Business plan writers trusted by top business schools across the U.S.

Since 1988, Palo Alto Software—the creator of LivePlan—has helped over a million entrepreneurs achieve success. Our business plan structure is even taught at top universities, such as Princeton and Rice.

Get matched with a business plan writer who knows your industry

Our writers are experienced professionals who have written hundreds of business plans. That means there will most likely be someone on our team who has experience in your specific industry.

The best decision I could have made to launch my business in the right direction. I definitely recommend these services to entrepreneurs and future small business owners.

Melinda Holden

Elite Liason Consulting

Maximize your chances of securing funding

Hire a LivePlan business plan writer today

How the process works:

Research and discovery

We first gain an in-depth understanding of your business. Then, we begin market research and examine your growth drivers.

Plan Writing

Once our research is complete, we'll write the body of your business plan and provide you with a draft to review.

Financial modeling

We'll turn your financial assumptions into forecasts that include everything lenders and investors need to see.

Design and review

You'll get a polished business plan with a design that matches your brand. You can then print the plan or share it online with a unique and private link.

Ready to get started?

Fill out the form below to connect with a liveplan team member, your request has been received..

A LivePlan business plan writing expert will email your quote shortly.

Get a head start today:

My plan writer was responsive, and understood my vision from our first communication. I now have a living document that I can use and manipulate as needed going forward.

Marcus Flowers

TimeOut Sports Bar & Grill

Frequently Asked Questions

Business plan writing help and services for hire, will you review my plan and make changes.

Our review-only service just includes feedback, but if you decide you'd like to engage in our full plan writing service after participating in a review, we'll give you a discount.

What if I already started writing my plan?

If you have a partially completed plan, we can work with that. In fact, it helps the plan writing process go faster because we'll have to ask fewer questions, but you'll want to choose the full business plan writing service.

Do you do market research? What does that include?

Yes, we do market research. We have access to industry reports for most industries and we will use them to lend more credibility to your plan and validate the assumptions we are making in your financials.

What is included with the full plan writing service?

When it's all said and done, you'll have a full, lender or investor ready business plan, a one page pitch, and a free year of LivePlan so you can make changes to your plan as well as use our cash flow and business management tools to stay on track.

Can you guarantee that my business will get funded?

There are a lot of factors that go into the decision making process for lending that are beyond our control, like your personal credit. What we can say is that it is very difficult to get funding without a solid business plan and we make solid business plans.

Will you share my information?

We take your privacy very seriously and will not share your information.

How long will it take to finish my plan? / Do you offer an expedited service?

The average business plan completes in 3-6 weeks, depending on your responsiveness to your writer and our work load. We offer expedited services if you are in a rush.

Yes, we can deliver an expedited plan in as little as two weeks for an additional $1,000.

Does my business plan include financials?

What formats do you deliver in.

We deliver in PDF format, Word and we also give you access to edit your plan in a free LivePlan account.

How many pages is the average business plan?

We subscribe to the lean business planning method so we try to keep your plan short and to the point. Depending on the complexity of your business, your finished plan can end up being anywhere from 25-50 pages.

Pricing and Options

How much does this service cost.

The full plan writing service cost can vary depending on your needs. Book a call with us to request a quote. We also offer a lower cost business plan review service and a forecasting service.

Do you offer a la carte services?

We offer a review service (feedback only, no edits), forecast only service or full business plan writing service. If you have a partially completed plan, we can work with that, but you'll want to choose the full business plan writing service.

Do you offer a review service?

Yes. One of our business planning experts can review your plan and financials line by line and give you critical and constructive feedback to help improve your plan and increase your confidence when it comes time to deliver.

Do you offer an expedited service?

What if i don't like my plan.

You'll have the opportunity to review and leave feedback after each draft. We recommend taking the time to be thorough and thoughtful in your feedback as that is your chance to help mold your plan into something that really resonates with you.

Expert Plan Writers and Consultants

Who writes my business plan.

You will be paired with one dedicated individual from our small team of highly trained and experienced business planning professionals. Each one is a uniquely qualified business planning expert who can translate your ideas into a business plan that will appeal to your audience.

Is my plan writer an expert in my industry?

Our business plan writers are experts specifically in business plan writing. We've worked with every industry imaginable so the likelihood that they have some familiarity with your industry is high, but if you are looking for a business consultant this may not be a good fit.

What kind of background will my writer have? Are they outsourced from other countries? Have they been writing business plans for very long?

We are a small team of well educated business planning experts. Each writer's background varies but they all have financial or business education as well as years, small business management or consulting and business plan writing experience. They are all well vetted and really good at what they do, which is write plans that help you get funded.

Small Business Definitions

What is a business plan.

In its simplest form, a business plan is a guide—a roadmap for your business that outlines goals and details how you plan to achieve those goals. At its heart, a business plan is just a plan for how your business is going to work, and how you're going to make it succeed. Read our full article on "What is a business plan" here.

What is in a business plan?

The executive summary is an overview of your business and your plans. It comes first in your plan and is ideally only one to two pages. Most people write it last, though.

The opportunity section answers these questions: What are you actually selling and how are you solving a problem (or "need") for your market? Who is your target market and competition?

In the execution chapter of your business plan, you'll answer the question: how are you going to take your opportunity and turn it into a business? This section will cover your marketing and sales plan, operations, and your milestones and metrics for success.

Investors look for great teams in addition to great ideas. Use the company and management chapter to describe your current team and who you need to hire. You will also provide a quick overview of your legal structure, location, and history if you're already up and running.

Your business plan isn't complete without a financial forecast . We'll tell you what to include in your financial plan, but you'll definitely want to start with a sales forecast, cash flow statement, income statement (also called profit and loss), and your balance sheet.

If you need more space for product images or additional information, use the appendix for those details.

Read our full article "How to Write a Business Plan — the Comprehensive Guide" for more information, here.

Why is a business plan important?

There are many reasons why it is important to have a business plan. A business plan is essential if you're seeking a loan or investment, can help you make big spending decisions with confidence and is a solid foundation for ongoing strategic planning and prioritization. Read our full article on "8 Reasons Having a Business Plan is Important" here.

What is a business plan writer/consultant?

A business plan writer/consultant is a business and financial expert who can help guide you through the process of creating a business plan and do much of the labor involved in creating it. They will work with you to understand your business model, do market research, create financial projections and offer guidance as all of those pieces are brought together in a full business plan document.

How to pick a business plan writer/consultant?

Picking a business plan writer or business plan consultant is an important decision — you'll want to find someone dedicated to your success, with experience in your industry or field and that is in it for the long haul. Read our full article on "Things to Look for When Hiring a Business Plan Writer" here.

Why should you pay someone to write your business plan?

You don't have time. Starting a business is time consuming. Oftentimes people have to juggle a regular 9-5 job while working on starting their business. That doesn't leave a lot of time for a big writing project. Hiring a professional to write your business plan can help you give you time to focus on the tasks that are critical to getting your business off the ground.

You want to make sure it is done right, the first time. You only get one chance to make a first impression. Hiring a professional to write your plan for you can give you the peace of mind that your plan is the best it can be when you present it to potential lenders or investors.

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Strategic Planning Consultants: Your Complete Guide

by Funding For Good | Feb 13, 2023 | Strategic Planning

If your organization is preparing for a strategic planning process, you’ve likely heard the advice to find a great strategic planning consultant.

But finding that great consultant is often easier said than done. While there are plenty of strategic planning consultants out there, the trick is finding one that’s right for your unique organization.

In this article we cover:

Strategic Planning Basics

The role of a strategic planning consultant.

• How to Choose a Strategic Planning Consultant , including services and fees
• Working Effectively with Your Consultant
• What to Expect Once Your Strategic Plan is Completed

Before you start searching for a strategic planning consultant, it’s worth reviewing what strategic planning actually is, why it matters, and the consultant’s role.

What is strategic planning?

Strategic planning is a structured process to guide an organization in creating, documenting and committing to a vision for the future, including the strategies, goals, objectives and activities that will bring that vision to life.

A strategic planning process culminates in the creation of a strategic plan. So, what is a strategic plan?

A strategic plan is a written roadmap for where an organization is going, how it will get there, and specific ways to determine if the organization has “arrived” at the destination. Through a strategic planning process, organizations might clarify their vision for the coming 3, 5, 10, or more years. However measurable goals and actions plans typically cover a shorter 3-5-year period.

While many organizations and consultants focus their energy on the written document, strategic planning is more than a simple product. A written plan can easily be shoved in a drawer or left on a shelf. And it often is. According to studies, over 60% of strategic plans never make it to full implementation .

That’s why it’s important to focus on strategic planning as a process.

Strategic planning is a process, not a product.

The process of bringing together an organization’s leadership and stakeholders to build a shared vision for the future is arguably the most important part of strategic planning.

Why is strategic planning important?

Without a strategic plan, organizations and their leaders often struggle to prioritize. Daily, leaders make choices about programs, staff, infrastructure, technology, and more. Each choice carries real financial consequences. Without a strategic plan to guide decision-making, it’s easy to spend precious staff and financial resources on ineffective work that doesn’t truly advance your mission.

Another common problem is mission drift or mission creep —where organizations take on projects and programs that distract from, rather than contribute to, core missions. We often see this accompanied by burnout, low staff morale and high turnover. It can also affect fundraising and financial stability.

If an organization’s leader doesn’t know where they’re going, how can they expect staff, board, volunteers and donors to follow?

Read more: What Happens Without a Strategic Plan? Check out Peloton

Luckily, the strategic planning process can yield important benefits for your organization. The process helps you:

• Build consensus across your board and staff leadership about your organization’s direction, programmatic and financial priorities, and measures for success. This creates valuable buy-in that will keep your team focused and supportive through the inevitable ups and downs.
• Align your entire organization around a shared vision for the future—one that is clear, concise, and motivating. Research shows that 95% of employees don’t understand their company’s strategy . Getting your full team on the same page can be transformative.
• Increase your impact and better leverage your resources. You’ll set clear and measurable organizational goals and gain the tools to evaluate progress in real-time. You can identify what’s working and what isn’t—and course correct to better use precious financial and staff resources.
• Kick-start strategic decision making —a decision-making process that is guided by long-term objectives and shared values. Your strategic plan becomes your guidepost for strategic decision-making, enabling you to identify the choices that advance your vision, mission, and values rather than work against them.

Are you ready to build a sustainable, impactful organization?

What does a strategic planning consultant do?

A strategic planning consultant oversees an organization’s strategic planning process, manages stakeholder participation and ensures successful execution. This typically includes developing a workplan and timeline, assisting with stakeholder feedback processes, facilitating strategic planning sessions or retreats, facilitating consensus building, and preparing a final written strategic plan.

A strategic planning consultant does the hard work of ensuring your planning process stays on track and is a success.

A consultant may also provide support for strategic plan implementation. This could include an overarching implementation plan and individual plans by department.

The value of a facilitated strategic planning process

While some organizations undertake strategic planning on their own, most choose to use an outside strategic planning consultant or facilitator.

Creating a strategic plan on your own may initially seem like a cost-saving measure. But it can ultimately cost your organization more. Here’s how:

• Strategic planning requires time and investment from your senior board and staff leadership . And those hours translate to dollars. Your most highly paid staff members will inevitably spend time on the mechanics of your planning process rather than focusing on the substance of your organization’s strategy. When your CEO is spending time planning agendas or developing stakeholder questions, there are massive opportunity costs. Consultants can save CEOs time and money by taking the guesswork out of the process, simplifying the process, streamlining pre-planning processes, holding team members accountable, and more.
• Strategic planning is a great antidote to groupthink in both nonprofit and for-profit organizations . But only if you bring in an outside facilitator. Otherwise, power dynamics may compromise your strategy process . Even senior staff members who aren’t the CEO may be less inclined to share fresh and potentially unpopular (with the CEO) input. A skilled consultant can ensure that everyone participates equally. Your facilitator creates spaces where tough feedback is welcomed rather than shut down.
• Strategic planning requires building consensus . This can be hard if your board, staff, and other stakeholders have wildly different ideas about the direction of your organization. If you can’t move your planning group toward consensus, you risk never completing the planning process. Or, if you decide to railroad a plan through, your team won’t benefit from the buy-in that results from creating a shared vision. Your consultant will bring years of experience facilitating consensus-building while also being seen as a neutral agent .

Because of these factors, most organizations choose to work with a strategic planning consultant. This way, your board and staff leadership can focus on strategy while your consultant handles the logistics.

How To Choose a Strategic Planning Consultant

Unless you’ve worked with and liked a particular strategic planning consulting firm, you’re going to need to create a strategic planning RFP or request for proposals. Ideally, you’ll want to interview and compare proposals from at least two to three strategic planning consults.

What to look for in a strategic planning consulting firm

Generally, you will conduct an initial call with each strategic planning consulting firm to share more about your organization and goals for strategic planning. After the call, the consultant will prepare a proposal and scope for your consideration.

As you evaluate strategic planning consulting firms, you’ll want to consider:

• Experience: Look for a consultant who has previously facilitated strategic planning processes with successful results. When it comes to consultants, there is often a sweet spot where a consultant is highly experienced—having worked with dozens of similar clients—but still committed to customizing the process for your organization. You don’t want to end up with a cookie cutter strategic planning experience that never gets below the surface.
• Familiarity with organizations like yours: Make sure your consultant is at least familiar with your sector. For example, a mid-sized nonprofit direct service organization vs a Fortune 500 company will have very different internal and external dynamics. Also consider whether the consultant has worked with organizations of similar size, budget, and development or growth stage. If you’re a nonprofit organization, consider seeking out a consultant who specializes in nonprofit strategic planning .
• Proposed scope: The project scope a consultant provides you will tell you a lot about their process, qualifications, and professionalism. There should be a detailed description of the full strategic planning process, including timelines and outputs. When evaluating a proposal, be sure you understand: What does the consultant’s process encompass? How long does their process take? What is the expected time commitment from your team? Make sure roles and responsibilities are clearly spelled out. For example, what elements will be included in the written strategic plan? Will there be a or other similar process conducted?
• Strategic planning models used: There are dozens of strategic planning models and tools . Ask consultants to explain which method or methods they are proposing to use, why they recommend it or your organization, and whether it is evidence-based. For example, when discussing strategic planning models, you might hear terms like the Classic Model, Issue-based Model, Technology of Participation, SWOT Analysis, or Environmental Scan . Your strategic planning consultant should be able to clearly describe their proposed method, including the process, outcome, and approach to stakeholder engagement. If you’re interviewing multiple consultants, the number of models and terms can become overwhelming. We designed our guide to the Basics of Strategic Planning Models to help.
• Track record: It’s best practice to ask for references—previous clients who can speak to the consultant’s work and approach. If a consultant isn’t willing to provide references, consider this a red flag.
• Fees: All services, fees, and payment schedules should be outlined in the proposed scope. When conducting a time intensive effort like strategic planning, expect to pay a deposit up-front before work begins.

How much does a strategic planning process cost?

Strategic planning consultant fees vary widely. If you search online, you’ll find strategic planning consultant fees ranging from $5,000 up to $80,000 or more!

Which is why it’s important to understand your needs and budget up front. Consider creating a budget range and sharing that with consultants during your initial conversation. If you speak to several consultants, and most can’t work within your budget, you may need to reassess your budget and expectations.

Several factors can affect cost.

• A consultant’s experience and size of firm. Smaller consulting firms may have lower fees, while you can expect large and well-established firms to cost more. Note the size of the firm isn’t necessarily an indicator of the quality of the process.
• A bare-bones, cookie-cutter service vs a comprehensive, tailored process. While a bare-bones process may be tempting, keep in mind that your leadership will be doing more of the work (vs the strategy).
• The size and complexity of your organization. A large organization with multiple affiliates in multiple cities, and a history of past mergers, will require a more complex and time-intensive strategic planning process than a smaller organization with a singular mission.

Consultants may also include additional fees for add-on services like:

• Travel and supplies
• Extensive stakeholder interviews or custom surveys
• Implementation planning services
• Department-level planning services
• Follow-up support and ongoing services (quarterly reviews, annual reviews, etc.)

Strategic planning is usually a significant investment for an organization—both in cost and in outcome. After spending valuable time and money, you don’t want to end up with a strategic plan that doesn’t work for your organization. Which is why making sure you find the right consultant, rather than just the cheapest, is so important.

10 questions to ask a strategic planning consulting firm

As you review proposals from strategic planning consultants, or hold follow up conversations, you’ll want to ask a standard set of questions that probe below the surface. For example:

• How will you tailor the strategic planning process for our organization?
• How many organizations in my sector (and/or size, growth stage, etc.) have you worked with before? What are some of the lessons you’ve learned from that work and the best practices you’ve created?
• How would you describe your facilitation style?
• How do you approach building consensus?
• How do you help clients navigate conflicts?
• What do we, as organizational leaders, need to do to be successful in our strategic planning process?
• What are the most common challenges you’ve seen organizations struggle with during the strategic planning process?
• If you encounter strategic issues outside of your expertise, how will you handle that?
• Once the strategic plan is ready, what support will be available for implementation? If needed, do you provide add-on services for the implementation process?
• How often do you recommend that we consult our strategic plan? Under what conditions should it be updated or revised?

Working With a Strategic Planning Consultant

Now that you’ve vetted and selected your strategic planning consultant, it’s time to get to work!

What are the steps in a strategic planning process?

Generally, a strategic planning process includes at least three steps:

1) Preparation. This includes creating a work plan and timeline, setting roles and expectations, gathering and analyzing stakeholder input, conducting an organizational assessment to identify internal and external challenges and opportunities, and ensuring that the organization’s vision and mission are clear.

2) Strategic planning sessions or retreat. Your strategic planning consultant will facilitate one or more intensive strategy sessions with your board and staff leadership, and any other stakeholders you’ve agreed to include. This is where the hard work of building consensus and alignment truly happens.

3) Strategic plan creation. The final stage of your strategic planning process is preparing and finalizing your written strategic plan. Your plan could take different forms, such as a written report and a detailed slide deck. This is the part of the process where ensuring internal awareness, alignment, and buy-in across your organization is especially important. Make sure you work with your consultant on a thoughtful roll out strategy .

You will likely see several variations of this process among consultants. But be sure that at least these three basic elements are included.

While implementation can make or break a strategic plan, it’s generally not considered part of a strategic planning consulting scope or cost.

When to lead and when to follow

Sometimes we see organizational leaders start a strategic planning process thinking they already know the ultimate outcome. If you’re a CEO, of course, you should have a clear vision of where your organization is going. But it’s just as important to be open to new insights through the process of strategic planning.

We encourage organizational leaders to see themselves as participants in, rather than drivers of, the strategic planning process.

You’ve invested a lot of time, effort and resources in choosing your strategic planning consultant. Now it’s time to trust them. Bring your best ideas and be ready to listen to others. The magic of strategic planning is the opportunity to make unexpected connections, find creative new insights , and have plenty of “ah-ha” moments with your team.

If your strategic planning consulting firm is a bad fit

However, there is one moment where a CEO or Executive Director should step back into the driver’s seat: if your strategic planning consultant simply isn’t a good fit.

This does happen occasionally, and it can be challenging to navigate. Perhaps the consultant’s style is a mismatch. Maybe the consultant doesn’t know as much about your sector or challenges as expected. Regardless of the cause, organizational leaders owe it to themselves, their organizations, and their strategic planning consultant to call a pause.

Take a step back and have a conversation with your strategic planning consultant. Make sure your consultant’s primary point of contact is also included in this conversation. Frequently changing points of contact can create an impossible-to-navigate situation for consultants.

During your step-back conversation, share specific feedback, including concrete examples, about what isn’t working. Be open to discussing ways to get the engagement back on track. If it’s truly a wrong fit, your contract should spell out terms, conditions, and fees for ending the engagement.

Your Strategic Plan is Ready…Now What? 

Congratulations, you have completed your strategic planning process! You’ve worked with a skilled consultant to prepare a concise written strategic plan that you’re certain will position your organization for success.

Now it’s time to implement your strategic plan. Which means the work has only just begun…

How to roll out a strategic plan

If your organization has more than 20 employees, it’s likely some may know little about the strategic planning process your leadership team has gone through. Let’s be honest, even if you’ve briefed all-staff meetings, given managers talking points, and shared updates over email, many people probably haven’t paid attention. This is absolutely normal.

Which is why developing a thoughtful roll out strategy for your strategic plan is so important.

When talking to staff, board, volunteers, donors, and other stakeholders about your strategic plan:

• Break out the toplines in easy-to-digest formats. For example, you could take your three-year goals and create a graphic, a slide deck, and a brief email.
• Show your own authentic enthusiasm. If you’re a CEO or Executive Director and you’re not excited about your strategic plan, how can you expect your team to be? Ideally, you should wrap up the strategic planning process energized, engaged, and eager for the future. Make sure your staff, board, and stakeholders see that enthusiasm!
• Be upfront about how the plan will affect different stakeholder groups. Staff may be especially concerned about how their jobs will be affected. For example, if you’re restructuring a program unit—or adding a new one—how will current staff positions change?
• Create space for questions and answers. Depending on the size of your organization, this could take place in one-on-one check-ins, department meetings, all-staff meetings or—ideally—all of these.
• Prepare for hard questions. Your strategic planning consultant should have guided you in doing the work to bring your entire team along and build buy-in. But even so, you may still encounter hard questions. Be ready by preparing FAQs or even sending a survey to gather insights on what people are most worried about and most excited about.

Operationalizing a strategic plan

Finally, it’s time to move from strategy to action. Operationalizing a strategic plan isn’t a one and done activity. Implementation lasts the life of the plan. Consider:

• How will each department or program unit be affected? What goals is each department responsible for? If this adds work to a department, will other activities be deprioritized, or will capacity be added?
• How many new hires will you be making? Do you have internal recruitment and HR capacity, or will you need to work with a recruiting firm? How will onboarding be handled?
• How will you pay for new costs? If you’re a nonprofit, this means honing your fundraising strategy.
• How will implementation decisions be made? Leaders will face constant small decisions throughout the implementation process. Is your leadership team committed to using your strategic plan as a starting point for strategic decision-making?

These questions are only the beginning.

Operationalizing a strategic plan is a major undertaking. It’s also not included in a general strategic planning scope. So you may want to consider finding a strategic planning consultant who can also help create implementation plans.

How often should a company revise its strategic plan?

Organizations should be using their strategic plan like a roadmap. That means every time you get in the car, you look at your map to make sure you know where you are and where you’re going.

Organizationally, we recommend that board and staff leadership review progress toward strategic plan goals and benchmarks on a quarterly basis (at minimum twice per year). This gives you the chance to keep your strategic vision front and center for everyone. It also enables you to learn, evaluate, and course-correct in real time.

Many strategic plans generally cover 3-5 years. So you should start thinking about the next strategic planning process during the budgeting time frame before your current plan expires. Realistically, for a new strategic planning process, most organizations take 9-12 months to explore budget options, establish scope, and secure consultants.

In some cases, you may find that your implementation has veered wildly from your original plan. If that’s the case, you probably want to invest in a revision process. At the point where your strategic plan no longer makes sense for your organization , it’s time to get a new one.

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Hire the Top 3% of Freelance Business Plan Consultants

Toptal is a marketplace for top business plan consultants and experts. Top companies and startups hire freelance business plan consultants from Toptal for their mission critical projects.

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Hire Freelance Business Plan Consultants

Aleksey N. Krylov, CFA

Aleksey served in CFO roles of public and VC-backed private companies. As an investor, he contributed to 25+ private equity deals that have deployed $500 million. He has advised 50+ clients on raising $1.6 billion in equity in the healthcare, consumer, media, software, energy, and industrial sectors. Aleksey enjoys working with officers of early-stage and mature small-cap firms, and he freelances because it exposes him to a wide range of companies.

Previously at

Ftera Advisors

Josh Chapman

Josh is an investment banker turned VC who lives in Denver, CO. At Morgan Stanley, he covered the world's top hedge funds and sold over $5 billion in IPOs for companies like Alibaba, LendingClub, GrubHub, and more. He also has experience in M&A, startup fundraising, and as a founder. Currently, Josh is one of the managing partners of Konvoy Ventures, a VC firm focused on esports and video gaming.

Konvoy Ventures (VC Firm)

Gary Calnan

Gary is a serial entrepreneur with CEO and CFO experience. Before co-founding an aerospace startup in 2017, Gary was the director of finance at a $120 million revenue SaaS company, where he was responsible for the financial management of multiple departments and supported three mergers. Gary leverages his unique blend of finance and entrepreneurial experience across early and growth-stage businesses to add value to Toptal clients.

CisLunar Industries

Marc Howland

Marc is a Harvard Business School graduate with honors, a former investment banker from Goldman Sachs, and private equity investor at The Carlyle Group. He has helped execute more than $70 billion worth of global M&A and financing transactions in the tech, media, telecom, infrastructure and sports facility finance markets. Marc enjoys freelancing to contribute his knowledge and skills to others while working on his own early-stage ventures.

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Travis Borden

Travis was part of the founding team at Moelis & Co., a $2.5 billion global investment bank, and has 18 years of experience advising clients on $40+ billion of M&A, capital raising, and restructuring transactions. In 2015, he founded a socially responsible advisory firm, Keene Advisors, named "Best for the World" 2017-2019. Travis joined Toptal to expand his network and share his expertise advising companies from startups to Fortune 500 firms.

Keene Advisors

Andy Vietor

Andy was recognized twice as an All-Star Analyst by the Wall Street Journal. He has been a strategist, operating executive, financier, and top-ranked industry analyst. As a freelancer, Andy advises a range of companies—from early-stage and middle-market to large caps—delivering customized solutions including effective investor presentations, dynamic financial models, and project finance structuring.

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Bertrand Deleuse

Bertrand is a 25-year finance veteran with a true 360 experience, honed as an investment banker, venture advisor, project developer, CFO, and expert witness consultant in international arbitrations. He has advised and partnered on over 100 transactions and investment initiatives totaling over $16 billion. Bertrand is a seasoned problem solver and decision-maker with expert facilitation skills. Bertrand advises on M&A, corporate development, venture growth, project development, and financing.

Quadrant Economics

Olivia Passoni

Olivia has over a decade of advisory experience, specializing in valuation, financial and business planning, M&A, capital raising, and due diligence. She has advised business owners globally on financial planning and strategy optimization during the fundraising and exit process. Olivia also works with investors for portfolio valuation work, the development of fund models, and due diligence. She is a Certified Valuation Analyst and is specialized in early-stage valuations.

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Andrew Grigolyunovich, CFA, CFM

Andrew ranked fifth at the 2017 Financial Modeling World Championships. He served as CFO for Latvia’s leading retailer for seven years, navigating the firm through the global financial crisis and executing a turnaround that led to profitability and international expansion. He went on to freelance consulting, growing his client base to 250+ in 17 countries. Andrew joined Toptal to work with clients on FP&A, financial modeling, and M&A.

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Our clients frequently pair these additional services with our freelance Business Plan Consultants.

A Hiring Guide

Guide to hiring a great business plan consultant.

Business plan consultants have the industry knowledge and expertise to develop a business plan that maximizes your company’s potential and attracts investors. This guide to hiring business plan experts offers insight into best practices, skill requirements, job description tips, and interview questions and answers to help you identify the best candidate for your needs.

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How do I hire a Business Plan Consultant?

To hire the right business plan consultant, it’s important to evaluate a candidate’s experience, technical skills, and communication skills. You’ll also want to consider the fit with your particular industry, company, and project. Toptal’s rigorous screening process ensures that every member of our network has excellent experience and skills, and our team will match you with the perfect business plan consultants for your project.

What do I need to look for when I choose a business plan consultant online?

Do not hire a business plan consultant online without interviewing them at least once, ideally via video conference so you can evaluate your rapport with them. It’s critical to ask them questions about your industry, their industry-specific experience, and their thoughts on current trends—all elements you can’t gauge from an online résumé. In addition to evaluating their experience and knowledge, it’s important to validate it through examples of work products and references.

How do I choose between two quality business plan consultant candidates?

When you have two highly qualified consultants vying for an engagement with your company, compare their skills with your internal capabilities and select the consultant who best complements the skills you and your team have. You’ll also want to consider their interpersonal skills and general fit with your preferred ways of working. Your objective should be to hire the consultant who rounds out the most capable team you can create to develop your business plan.

Do I need to hire a business plan consultant?

You should strongly consider hiring a business plan consultant. Business plan professionals offer significant benefits through their expertise and unbiased point of view. They’ll stress-test your current plans, identify potential risks and growth opportunities, provide a market analysis and industry insights, and ensure that your business plan is credible, positioned to maximize your company’s potential, and appealing to investors.

Who are business plan consultants and how do they add value?

A business plan consultant is a highly qualified individual who combines the skills of a management consultant and a CFO to advise and assist management teams of businesses of all sizes. Beyond creating business plans, they can assist with a number of projects, including market sizing; go-to-market and customer acquisition strategies; pricing and monetization planning; and fundraising strategy. Additionally, they can help you produce a pitch deck, board presentations and presentation materials, research and market reports, financial models, analyses, forecasts, and more.

How are Toptal business plan consultants different?

When you hire a business plan consultant with Toptal, you’ll always work with world-class, custom-matched business plan consultants ready to help you achieve your goals.

By  Nicholas Piscani

Nicholas is a corporate strategy and FP&A expert who works with businesses to optimize their operations and execute high-priority strategic initiatives. He has helped entrepreneurs raise more than $600 million.

How to Hire Business Plan Consultants

Every company needs an effective business plan to maximize its potential.

A comprehensive business plan details a company’s present and expected future status and needs in order to guide strategic decisions and resource requirements. Research has shown that, historically, companies with business plans have grown 30% faster than those without them and that companies with business plans have been nearly twice as likely to receive funding. That’s because potential investors and investment banks often won’t take your business seriously without a comprehensive business plan.

While business plans are proven to maximize potential at all stages of maturity , many business leaders fail to develop or execute them. They may believe it isn’t worth the investment, or they may be overwhelmed by the number of steps involved and the amount of information required to get started. Other business owners may attempt to develop such plans without external assistance.

However, many company owners do recognize that specialized skills are required to maximize the impact of a business plan and to develop a complementary pitch deck for potential investors. These executives typically hire a business plan consultant to guide them through the entire strategic and business planning process. This hiring guide offers insights into how to select and hire a business plan consultant who can advise and collaborate with you to deliver the business plan you need.

What attributes distinguish quality Business Plan Consultants from others?

Above all else, quality business plan consultants have business planning and industry-specific experience. Typically, more experience equals more expertise, but don’t get caught up in thinking about experience only in terms of years. Once a professional business plan consultant has five or more years of experience, other factors, such as the number of business plans written and the number of successful funding rounds they’ve been involved in, are more important.

When selecting a business plan advisor, it’s important to find someone who develops complete business plans frequently, has a strong track record of success, and has specialized industry experience relevant to your business. For example, the core components of business plans in healthcare and construction may be similar, but industry-specific knowledge adds significant credibility when detailing the organization’s strategic direction, financial plans and models, and resource requirements.

Quality business plan professionals provide clear and concise guidance, and work with you and your management team to develop primary and contingency strategies. The consultant should be able to collaborate effectively during the planning process and illuminate potential shortcomings and pitfalls of an existing or new plan. While they may use a standardized template for creating business plans, the consultant should be willing and able to customize the plan to meet your organization’s specific needs.

How can you identify the ideal Business Plan Consultant for your business?

The ideal business plan consultant will possess a mix of hard and soft skills across multiple business areas so that they can skillfully craft a successful plan and pitch deck. The best business plan consultants have these complementary skills:

Industry knowledge – The business plan consultant best suited to help your organization will have solid industry knowledge and significant experience working with other companies in your sector. Understanding the industry, its competitive landscape, significant trends, and market segments is critical to developing an effective business and marketing plan.

Market research and analysis – This skill is required to establish accurate estimates of the total market, total addressable market, serviceable market, and obtainable markets. Business plan consultants need to gather and analyze significant amounts of data, interpret the results, and derive target markets and market-share goals for your company.

Financial modeling and forecasting – In addition to validating existing financial plans, the business plan consultant should be able to provide insight into current and alternative pricing strategies for revenue growth, understand whether capital and resource assumptions are valid given industry-average and best-in-class capital efficiencies, and confirm that margin expectations are reasonable given other operating assumptions. In-house financial analysts may be able to help fill this need with guidance from the expert business plan consultant you hire.

Data analysis and visualization – A quality business plan consultant should be able to compile and analyze all the inputs your organization provides and use them to create the components of the plan. This should include a go-to-market strategy that highlights your value proposition, identifies how you’ll reach your target market(s), and convinces investors that your organization has significant growth potential.

Presentation skills and storytelling ability – An underrated but essential value that a business plan consultant can bring is the ability to take all the individual components of the plan and weave them together into a compelling, original story that creates stakeholder buy-in and investor interest.

In addition to the aforementioned important capabilities, the best business plan consultant for your company should demonstrate the following soft skills:

Communication – The consultant should be able to distill complex ideas into accessible concepts to ensure understanding among stakeholders, investors, and employees. They should also be willing and able to ask hard questions and challenge assumptions.

Organization – The business plan expert needs to gather, analyze, and organize extensive data and other inputs from multiple sources. This requires impeccable organization and attention to detail.

Critical and strategic thinking – A quality business plan professional can consider threats, present alternatives, and stress-test the business plan to ensure it is sound and considers all possibilities.

A business plan advisor who possesses these complementary soft skills is more likely to be highly effective and deliver a plan that generates a high ROI.

What criteria can hiring managers use to match Business Plan Consultants to their specific industry or business needs?

Hiring managers should consider these three critical criteria when matching business plan professionals to their specific industries and needs:

• Industry experience – Each industry has a unique environment, with unique relationships between the hiring company and its customers, suppliers, competitors, etc. Navigating different compliance requirements and barriers to entry requires specific knowledge. While there is no set requirement for years of industry-specific experience, three years is a sufficient minimum threshold.
• Financial acumen – The consultant should be able to build detailed, dynamic financial models that drive the business plan. Experience with three-statement modeling is ideal, as the consultant will need to understand how investment and operating plans impact cash flow, the balance sheet, and the income statement. The hiring manager should prioritize credentials such as advanced degrees and certifications pertaining to corporate finance, valuation, and modeling financial projections when evaluating candidates.
• Leadership experience – Hiring managers should look for a consultant with a demonstrated history of leading teams and stakeholders through strategic initiatives. At a minimum, consultants should have reached a managerial level with a focus on strategy and business planning. Director- and VP-level experience, along with a track record of successful consulting engagements, becomes more important as the scope and scale of the project at hand increases.

How to Write a Business Plan Consultant Job Description for Your Project

First, define the use case for the business plan and identify the industry in which your company operates. Clearly identifying the sector will help candidates self-select, minimizing the number of irrelevant résumés to review.

Next, specify the experience and any specializations you require. Some technical expertise may be optional: For example, it may not be as important for your business plan consultant to have in-depth financial modeling expertise—as long as that’s a strength of your internal team. On the other hand, your business plan consultant must have extensive knowledge about your industry and market segments.

Your job description should also take into account how far along your organization is in the strategic and business planning process. If you have many of the pieces in place and simply need a business plan professional to ensure you have a cohesive and compelling plan to present, you’ll require a different skill set than if you need a business plan expert to research, analyze, define, and document the strategic path forward.

What are the most important Business Plan Consultant interview questions?

As you prepare to interview your top candidates, you should already have a basic understanding of their experience and skills. During the interviews, it’s important to ask questions that get to the heart of what your organization needs and whether the consultant has the expertise to deliver an effective plan. These questions will help you evaluate and select the best business plan consultant for your situation:

How would you approach this project?

With this question, you’re looking for the consultant to explain how they would use internal and external resources to gather relevant information and craft the story that the business plan will tell as it relates to your specific case. Ideally, the consultant can identify external resources that will provide industry, competitor, and market insights, including potential environmental, regulatory, or legal hurdles and risks.

Can you share your thoughts on the industry’s current state and future outlook?

The consultant you hire should be well versed in your industry, its present state, and the key factors influencing its future. The success of a business strategy hinges on the quality of the market information, data, and insights the expert has access to, and how they will use that information to guide the plan. A qualified business plan professional will be able to discuss total market size, growth rates, key competitors, and significant trends. Their answer should leave you confident that the candidate has the industry experience and knowledge you require.

Can you share specific examples of successful business plans you’ve developed?

The answer to this question should demonstrate how the candidate has applied their expertise in previous engagements or corporate roles. Although the consultant may be able to effectively explain their approach, specific examples will confirm they have the experience and capabilities to deliver what you need. Ask them to define the qualities of a successful engagement to be sure your expectations are aligned.

How do you ensure that a business plan is adaptable and remains relevant?

The last thing you want to do is lead your business down a path that reduces or eliminates agility. The consultant should highlight specific tools, such as scenario and sensitivity analyses, that can be used to develop contingency plans should the primary strategy shift because of changes in the market. The most qualified consultants should be able to identify gaps and trends in the market and suggest potential strategies and technologies to address them.

Additional questions to ask include how the consultant would communicate with you and your internal teams, how they handle disagreements among principals about the strategic direction the organization should pursue, and what, if any, special research and analysis they might perform for this engagement.

A well-rounded business plan consultant will answer your questions in ways that leave you feeling confident in their ability to successfully execute the project and deliver an effective custom business plan that maximizes your company’s potential and attracts investors.

How can a hiring manager ensure the confidentiality and security of sensitive information during the hiring process, especially when sharing business plans or proprietary data with candidates?

Hiring managers and recruiters can take decisive actions to protect their company’s confidential information during the hiring process. These include:

• Requiring candidates to sign nondisclosure agreements before they receive sensitive materials.
• Conducting thorough background checks to verify candidates’ credibility, trustworthiness, and adherence to data security protocols.
• Using secure document-sharing platforms or virtual data rooms with access controls, encryption, and audit trails.
• Using secure communication channels, such as encrypted email services or secure messaging platforms, when sharing sensitive information.

Why do companies hire Business Plan Consultants?

Business plan experts can deliver tremendous value to companies that are developing business plans to guide strategic decisions or pursue funding. While founders and employees may have a significant grasp of the company, its strategic direction, and its business goals, they may not have the expertise to craft a compelling business plan and pitch deck that attracts investors.

One of the quickest ways to lose the interest of potential investors and partners is by presenting a business plan that comes across as disorganized and fragmented. Business plan advisors with extensive experience dealing with investors solve this problem for their clients. They have the well-rounded business background and skill set to contribute and add value to the entire strategic planning process. They have the capability to propel a business forward by weaving a company’s market data, industry trends, business strategy, business goals, and resource requirements into a compelling story for stakeholders and potential investors.

While many business owners develop business plans without external assistance, hiring a business plan consultant can significantly increase the quality and credibility of a business plan, its likelihood to maximize business success, and its ability to attract investors.

Featured Toptal Business Plan Publications

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Top Business Plan Consultants are in High Demand.

Business Advisor

How Much Does a Business Consultant Cost: Consulting Fees and Pricing Structure

Consulting fees and pricing can be structured in several ways. But like most businesses offering services, the number one challenge is pricing their offers.

Having closed my first consulting contract back in 2008 before launching several 7-figure businesses (along my business advisory ), I’ve consulted over 400 clients and worked with 50+ consultants across the portfolio of companies I manage with my agency and within my investment companies.

Pricing products is easier than pricing services because, with products, you can easily trace the production costs. However, with services, determining the value of what constitutes your services — time, staff, expertise  — is highly subjective. 

This is why different consultants employ different techniques to ensure they price their services appropriately. In the process, consultants consider every factor necessary to ensure they do not overcharge or undercharge. Otherwise, the risk of losing clients over pricing remains a constant possibility.

So – how much do consultants make?

Different Consulting Fees and Pricing Structures

According to a study conducted by Consulting Success , the following statistics show how most consultants structure the pricing for their consulting services.

• 31.37% of consultants use a project-based rate to price their projects.
• 23.38% of them use hourly billing
• 17.30% use value-based fees
• 15.40% use monthly retainers
• 12.55% of consultants charge daily

Two factors come into play when consultants determine the value of their advice or service and set their fee structures and these are the following:

• What is the cost associated with the service that would make it worthwhile for the consultant?
• What are clients willing to pay for the advice (forecasted ROI)?

Some of the highest-charging consulting firms include the following:

• McKinsey & Company
• Boston Consulting Group
• Bain & Company
• Strategy&
• Roland Berger
• A.T. Kearney

Most of these consulting firms consider their fee structure as a vital competitive asset that they rarely reveal to non-clients which makes it difficult to benchmark rates of other consultants.

And companies like McKinsey charge anywhere between $300 and $800 per hour (broadly) while most projects start at $500K or over. Individual consultants would charge a multiple for smaller projects (let alone one-off calls) if these are allowed in their contracts.

The largest group of consultants that comprise the market are the self-employed or independent ones and they usually charge depending on what they feel they are worth especially since there is usually no ceiling to their rates, particularly for those in the private sector.

1. Hourly or Daily Rate

Charging by the hour is a time-based arrangement. You only charge by the number of hours worked. 

How do consultants determine their hourly rate?

Often, when consultants charge by the hour, they base their pay on how much they were getting from the company they used to work for or still work for on an hourly basis, with a little markup.

According to SBA , the hourly rate is taken from dividing the former salary by 52 work weeks and then dividing that number by 40 or the number of regular work hours in a week.

Next, consultants must check with their competitors to ensure that the markup does not go beyond 25-30 percent.

New consultants undercharge to build a portfolio so you would expect to get great deals from working with one. Although the fees could vary primarily depending on the location among other factors.

The daily rate is basically derived from a consultant’s hourly rate multiplied by the number of hours per day that a consultant is expected to be available for work.

Most consultants prefer to charge this way since clients are usually used to hiring services on a daily basis to avoid limitations on the scope of work which usually happens if you charge by the hour.

Clients are often more comfortable with an hourly or daily rate because they could assess every now and then the need for consulting services without the complications of most long-term agreements.

I am available for WordPress consulting and business growth strategies via Clarity so you can schedule a 15-minute call to unblock the challenges you’ve been struggling with.

I've helped 400+ executives turn their businesses around.

2. project-based.

High-level consultants usually charge per project due to the demands of the job that includes strategic planning and management advisory. This is a common strategy if you start as an independent consultant.

The rate is determined by estimating how much time will be spent on a project. Most projects require several stages such as the following:

• implementation

Clients may not have active participation in all of those stages but they are certainly part of the consultant’s job thus necessary in estimating project costs. A reliable consultant will assure you that there will be no hidden charges from start to finish.

3. Monthly Retainer

There are cases wherein a consultant’s services are needed on an ongoing basis. In such cases, a retainer agreement is more appropriate.

Some examples of consultants who render services on a recurring basis are legal consultants, IT consultants, and even financial consultants. You pay a retainer fee in advance to ensure that your consultant will be available anytime you need advisory or assistance.

Hiring consultants on a monthly retainer guarantees that you have help whenever you need it, especially if you are working with high-value consulting firms.

I offer an advisory retainer priced at $1,800/mo available on the Community page . If you’re just starting with your career as a business consultant, I’ve crafted a 4-week email course to help you land your first 3 consultancy clients .

Retainer fees are normally calculated the same as project rates, but putting a consultant on a monthly retainer may get you a discounted rate. Monthly retainers guarantee a consultant a regular income stream without spending on additional sales and marketing costs for securing a project with you. 

You can take advantage of this kind of deal once you have tested a consultant after a month or two, or once you have already covered the entire scope of the project. That said, some consultants are only available for retainer arrangements – given the fact there is the initial investment in exploring the business and its needs, a long-term commitment may be necessary.

How Much Should I Pay a Business Consultant?

As a rule of thumb, some consultants simply take the hourly wage (plus benefits) that they would earn when working on salary for someone else and double or in most cases triple that amount. So for example, if you want to hire a business strategist who makes $150 per hour for longer-term projects, he would charge you between $300 – $1,000 per hour for their services.

Higher profile coaches and strategists can be found on networks like Intro. Sahil Bloom can be booked for $5,000/hour if you’re determined to work with him.

Of course, there are different ways to price the arrangement. One-off calls are often more expensive since there’s back-and-forth and the total amount isn’t too exciting for most consultants. So hourly calls at $500 or so aren’t rare either, even for less skilled consultants.

The reason why many of them charge within the $250 – $500 hourly range is the prospect of expanding a call into a long-term contract, thus the discounted rate. I’ve met a handful of VPs and C-level executives making $500K – $1M+ a year and offering calls for $200/hr as an opportunity for strategic networking and business relationships.

The best option you have is to pay based on the value that the consultant brings your business, not just the time he spares or the materials he gives you. 

Have you structured your business plan yet?

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Would you pay a flat fee of $50,000 per month? Imagine that this consultant helps you bring 10% more new sales leads and nurtures a profit increase of $500,000. Then paying that price is absolutely a win-win scenario. But if at the same time, you are paying $3,000 per month for 10 consulting hours and brainstorming sessions with no beneficial outcome, then this is not the value you are looking for.

This is why fractional CXOs often charge monthly retainers instead – distributing their time in the most meaningful way to the business.

Finding the right fit for your business might be extremely hard as navigating through the consulting landscape is very challenging when you don’t have a reliable reference or enough budget for a top industry guru. Check out my lengthy guide on how to find and evaluate a consultant that would help you scale your business.

Factors in Determining Consulting Fees and Pricing Structures

I have discussed pricing with 40+ other business consultants in my network and what I’ve gathered is an estimation based on the following factors :

• Market averages . How much do other consultants charge on average?
• Expected duration of a consulting project. Comparing one-off calls vs. monthly packages or longer sessions lasting for several days at a time.
• Projected business value . What is the consultant’s expected ROI based on the target audience of the consultant? SMB consultants often charge less because the impact is higher as a percentage but lower as a total amount.
• Business package perks . Are there other opportunities you can leverage as part of your deal with a consultant? Brand recognition or connections help a lot.
• Own self-worth . What would the consultant’s efforts result in had he spent the same time on other business/other activities? The best consultants run their own businesses or present at keynote talks worth $50K and more.
• Industry expertise . How well does a consultant understand a specific industry/niche where you are struggling with?

Let’s discuss further each of these factors in the following sections.

A. Market Rates

The market rate refers to the market’s average price or what the customers usually pay for certain products or services. While this does not serve as a mandatory ceiling on your prices, determining the market rate is crucial in structuring consulting fees. 

Across my network, the average consulting fee is between $150 and $1,000 per hour.

The lower amounts usually suggest longer iterations, i.e. booking at least several days for a coaching plan, a training course, or a monthly consulting retainer.

Or working with small businesses in a consulting and implementation capacity, i.e. marketing campaigns, helping out with recruitment, general high-end strategy.

For example, I charge $600/hr for one-off consulting sessions and $300/hr for monthly plans or larger packages. As a fractional CXO, this could go as low as $180/hr for ongoing engagements that also retain DevriX as a vendor. This offers extended value for me where my consultancy and my agency play together, optimize for efficiency, and hedge the risk across both businesses.

B. Consulting Engagement

As indicated above, the type of relationship would dictate the rate since the longer the plan, the larger the final amount, the less time spent on discovery or presales, and better financial planning in the long run.

Some of my peers sell one-time consulting calls and then upsell their other services through their agencies or partners.

Others have a minimum cap of “one day” or some other arbitrary amount of work they feel as a minimum requirement to get a job done. This may include other factors like commuting or conducting video training for in-house departments.

According to The B2B Marketer, there are usually two types of consulting engagement and these are the Project and Service.

The project type of consulting engagement is usually non-recurring, while the service type is recurring.

C. Projected ROI

The services the consultants render are tied to some expectations in terms of return on investment.

If a consultant charges X/hr for implementation work, it’s getting harder to keep a premium rate that is comparable to the work of a senior developer/ marketer /recruiter.

Professional business consultants often focus on strategy and direction, navigating the work of larger departments, analyzing metrics and the existing roadmap, identifying monetization or automation opportunities, and supporting the retention rates of the business.

Working “at scale” and impacting a larger number of people or directly supporting the revenue goals of a business tends to generate a lot more, which justifies a high consulting rate too.

D. Business Plan Benefits

Although this is not set in stone, high-priced consultants often provide external opportunities and benefits that low-cost consultants charge extra (or simply don’t offer).

For instance, I had a couple of calls with a VC charging $600/hr. He introduced me to a large startup community with valuable peers I still network with occasionally.

Another consultant in Australia charging $500/hr gave me access to his coaching community and his blueprints. We’re still using some of them for our lead generation initiatives.

Sometimes, it could be an invite to a mastermind, a business event they host (or a conference), a private Slack community, a free promotion at events, and a lot of other factors included in a larger package.

Low-pricing consultants often lack these kinds of added benefits so clients will end up looking for their own community or investing more in networking through their initiatives that have not been proven to work yet. 

If you think a consultant has something to offer other than his expert counsel that is of great value, consider this in deciding on which consultant to work with.

E. Own Self-Worth

This is especially valid for consultants who don’t offer full-time consulting (at least charged by the hour) but run agencies, a course program, invest in other businesses, etc.

So unless they expect to convert consulting clients to leads, spending the time on coaching takes a while: scheduling calls, preparing for meetings, generating reports, managing emails , etc. This aggregated time can be invested in their businesses instead, which would generate additional ROI or direct revenue.

This revenue comparison also aligns with the hourly rate they decide on.

If an agency business generates $5M in revenue, this is about $420K/mo or $20K per business day. Spending too much time on side consulting activities can jeopardize long-term clients or decrease the loyalty in leadership from key team players. A consultant commands a reasonable rate to justify the time spent on consulting.

We at DevriX provide a lot of consulting and support, which means we need overlap among team members collaborating together, meetings within the team (Slack or Hangouts), deployments for clients, launching new versions, maintenance, and uptime monitoring and the like. 

Since we serve clients across 17 different time zones in a team of 50+ people, that’s important.

We were a lot more flexible with a team of 10 people, but working with enterprise-grade projects and web platforms serving hundreds of millions of monthly page views requires commitment and availability, and a lot of teamwork. We consider these factors since we don’t want to compromise our company in the long run.

F. Industry Expertise

Niche industry expertise can be truly invaluable when choosing a business consultant to partner up with.

For instance, while I work with businesses on marketing , tech, recruitment, management, and general business strategy, I get frequent inquiries from SaaS businesses or enterprises eager to enter the WordPress space.

I’ve been running an expert team building high-scale WordPress projects for a decade and I’m closely familiar with the market , its leadership, top companies and vendors, plugin and theme developers, the evolution of the platform, how businesses can succeed, media outlets open to PR opportunities and a lot more.

Some of my unique skills that are rare and my clients ask about are:

• Scaling digital publishers . My agency has successfully scaled over a dozen publishers past 100 million monthly sessions. We excel in profitable ad layouts, increasing reader engagement, and scaling paid ads.
• Data-driven platforms . My engineering background led to consulting and development engagements with 3 banks, 2 telecoms, large automotive and airline manufacturers, and other high-scale businesses. I’ve helped design and architect data layers, big data warehouses, ETLs, and recurring automation and deployment processes at scale.
• Agency operations . Running and consulting agencies since 2008 has taught me a ton about structuring teams, streamlining lead generation, designing value propositions, crafting retainer plans, hiring and onboarding, and measuring efficiency.
• Fractional CXO . I’ve worked in fractional CTO, CMO, COO roles in different organizations – building and organizing teams, automating processes, creating roadmaps and workflows for improved efficiency and transparency.
• International hiring and outsourcing . I’ve hired over 700 employees over the years, several hundred contractors and freelancers, and over a hundred agencies worldwide. I’ve helped European businesses incorporate in Bulgaria for a 10% flat tax rate and explore US LLCs with doola and their tax packages.
• Efficient content marketing . As a Semrush partner , I’ve ranked DevriX on page one for the most competitive WordPress terms, this blog for “business advisor” and other consulting keywords, and developed content repurposing strategies at scale for publishers and B2B vendors.

My in-depth expertise in this field, combined with my speaking background at WordCamps can be a lot more valuable for businesses who don’t understand the space. Several hours of my time would tap into over a decade of my work almost full-time in this environment, and this can literally save months in R&D for a business navigating the space.

Is Negotiating Fees Reasonable?

I do believe in value-based pricing. And revealing the value of a project (or a fix) upfront works significantly well for several reasons:

• It lets you gauge quickly whether it’s a hit or miss.
• It indicates how important that project is in general. Low-priority projects may cause delays and abandonment; top priorities may be too stressful (yet rewarding).
• You already have a rough ballpark in your head – if it’s the same (or lower), you’re in a good place.
• It prevents the tedious process of discussing requirements in-depth in a discovery phase. Or at least this is taken as a given (if the budget is right).

That said, consultants are valued professionals – and their terms are usually clear.

Underpricing a consulting fee for a one-off project (or a couple of calls) sends the wrong message and may affect the quality of service even if you receive a discounted fee.

With long-term projects, however, there may be some room for negotiation .

Some of my clients allocate annual budgets and plan their consulting sessions accordingly. Arranging an annual contract with a fixed number of hours per month is a good justification to introduce a discount for the work. Moreover, in case of larger contracts (such as training courses or the like), buying a bulk of hours at a lower rate may also be an option.

The Bottom Line

The consulting industry is growing rapidly and there are loads of small business consultants and small niche firms that work fast and can work directly with growing businesses. 

Some businesses hit a plateau at some point and need external advice to keep scaling.

With hundreds of millions of businesses out there, commonalities are discovered in different segments – service vs. product businesses, small vs. large corporations, on-site vs. distributed businesses, and various industries. What works for a 20-person tech shop won’t for Target or Walmart.

Smaller businesses still try to uncover the most profitable and repeatable channels that generate revenue – think of business development and lead generation . 

Large corporations tend to hire niche consultants for areas of expertise outside their own comfort zone. Think of integrating a specific technology or implementing an innovative marketing channel. Digital transformation is a big aspect for many who have primarily positioned themselves locally, including print and billboards as marketing instruments.

Moreover, the best athletes in the world and many Fortune 500’s CEOs work with coaches and mentors.

Make sure you know the problems your business faces before hiring a consultant. Have a budget, and realize that a great advisor can scale your business and change your life but a bad one can simply lose your time and money.

And if you need a personalized consulting session, here’s how it works .

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Consulting Fees Guide: How Much To Charge For Consulting (3 Formulas & Examples)

What should you charge for your consulting fees?

How can you raise your consulting rates — and get clients to accept higher fees?

Whether you’re a new consultant or you’ve been in the game for years, pricing your consulting services is one of the most challenging aspects.

After spending over 2 decades helping consultants raise their fees by 30%-400% +, we’ve got the data on what works — and what doesn’t.

This guide will not only help you figure out how much to charge for your consulting services…

…it will help you raise your fees (if you want to).

Let’s dive into our first consulting fee formula, which is an easy option for beginners.

QUICK LINKS:

The Hourly Method

The project-based method, the value-based method.

• Consulting Fees Key Findings
• Past Study Comparison

Consulting Pricing Strategies

Consulting fees positioning & mindset, consulting business financials, consulting projects & clients, consulting demographics, how to set your consulting fees (consulting fees calculator), consulting fees action plan.

The Hourly Formula is when you charge by the hour for your consulting services.

You set an hourly rate, track your hours, and then bill your client by the hour.

This simple, easy method is great for beginners who are working on their first few consulting projects.

However, if you’ve developed deep expertise in your field, we recommend you DON’T use the hourly billing method .

So, how do you actually come up with your hourly price?

The Hourly Method Formula For Setting Your Hourly Rate

Step 1. Open up Google and search for the average salary for your position. Write that number down.

Example: “senior marketing manager average salary” = $98K.

Step 2. Enter the average salary in a salary to hourly converter .

For work hours per week, enter “20.”

As a beginner consultant, you’re typically not working 40-hour weeks.

You’ll spend just as much time winning projects as you do delivering them.

For work weeks per year, enter “48” (or however many weeks you want to work, subtracting the number of weeks you want to take off).

(You can also use our Consulting Fees Calculator if you have a target income in mind )

Step 3. Round your new hourly rate up or down in $25 dollar increments.

Example: A salary of $98,000 equates to a monthly pay of $8167, weekly pay of $2042, and an hourly wage of $102.

$102 = $100 per hour.

This is your starting hourly fee.

If you feel like it is too low, raise it. But don’t lower your fee.

Consultants are notorious for undercharging — especially when they charge by the hour.

Every time you successfully complete a project, increase your hourly rate by $25.

Eventually, you’ll get to the point where charging by the hour is no longer the best method for you or your clients.

One of the issues with the hourly method is that your client feels uncertainty around how much they’ll end up paying you. And uncertainty around a project will stop your client from moving forward.

Using the project-based method will eliminate this uncertainty.

The project-based method is a strong pricing method for beginner and intermediate consultants. It’s a bit more complex than the hourly method. But it removes a lot of the uncertainty around hourly billing. Your client knows what they pay upfront.

Here’s how you set your consulting fees using the project-based method.

The Project-Based Formula For Setting Your Consulting Fees

Step 1: Create a list of deliverables for the project.

Think about everything your client gets as a result of this project — the “inputs.”

Example: Branding Consulting Project

• Design themes research
• Competing design analysis
• Presentation of results
• 4 logo options
• 1 design theme applied to business card and print materials
• Complete website redesign with new brand identity
• Application of new identity to 3 web ads and 3 print ads

Step 2: Estimate how long each deliverable will take.

This is where your past experience comes into play.

Use an app like Toggl to track your time spent on each deliverable. If you don’t know the exact number, estimate. Add an extra hour or two just to be on the safe side.

• Design themes research – 6 hours
• Competing design analysis – 4 hours
• Presentation of results – 3 hours
• 4 logo options – 5 hours
• 1 design theme applied to business card and print materials – 3 hours
• Complete website redesign with new brand identity – 6 hours
• Application of new identity to 3 web ads and 3 print ads -3 hours

Step 3: Add up all the hours, and times that by your hourly fee.

Example: 30 hours X $100 = $3000

Step 4: Times the total by 1.5.

Projects take longer than you think.

You also have to factor in your time spent marketing, making revisions, etc.

Example: $3000 X 1.5 = $4500 total for the project.

After you get the total, adjust the fee to a number you would feel good about work.

If you don’t feel like you are being compensated fairly for the value you’re providing, you won’t do your best work.

If you are a more experienced consultant with 2-5+ years of experience, we recommend switching to a higher-leverage pricing model like value-based pricing.

Value-based pricing is when you price your services based on the tangible and intangible value you create for your client.

That means you’re not charging for your time. You’re not evening charging for your deliverables.

You are charging based on what your client cares about the most = the results and outcomes you’ll create for them.

Using the value-based method is just as much art as it is science.

You’ll have to improve your sales skills, accounting skills, project management skills, and more.

But there is no better method for raising your rates and creating more value.

Here’s how you set your consulting fees using the value-based method.

The Value-Based Method For Setting Your Consulting Fee

Step 1: Have the “Value Conversation” with your client.

The value conversation is where you ask questions to your client to uncover where they want to be — and agree on the value of a successful project.

Example: You’re a marketing consultant speaking with your prospect, Acme Financial Services.

During the value conversation, you learn that they want to win 3 new clients per month.

Each client is worth $500 per month to their business.

Step 2: Write The Intangible Value

Now you have some numbers to work with.

But before you start using those numbers, write the intangible value for the client.

The intangible value is the project’s emotional and subjective factors that influence the buyer’s decision.

Example: You ask the client “what would a successful outcome do for you personally?”

They tell you that they wouldn’t have to stress about payroll and could enjoy working on things they really enjoyed.

Safety, comfort, peace of mind, ego, and prestige are all examples of powerful intangible benefits.

If you get stuck on the next step calculating the tangible value, ask the client more about the intangible value. Tangible value is often hidden deeper in intangible value.

Example: Stressing about payroll takes up at least 1-hour of the CEO’s time. That’s hundreds of dollars per day wasted stressing.

Step 3: Calculate The Tangible Value

You know that each client is worth $500 per month to your prospect.

And they want to win 3 clients per month.

Now, you can calculate the tangible value.

The tangible value is the quantifiable value your offer provides.

For example, if you help Acme Financial Services win 3 new clients per month, you’ll help them generate:

• $18K in monthly recurring revenue.
• $117K in total revenue after a year.

Ask the prospect if $117K in revenue would mean the project was a success. They will agree because you are using their numbers.

Step 4: Use The ROI Formula

The ROI Formula: Intangible + Tangible + Annual = Value-Based Price

Intangible: Emotional and subjective factors that influence the buyer’s decision.

For example, completing the project will make the CEO’s life much easier — she wants to focus more on running the business rather than stressing about payroll.

Tangible: The quantifiable value your offer provides.

For example, helping your client generate 3 clients per month will generate $18K in monthly recurring revenue.

Annual: The year-over-year (YOY) tangible benefits.

For example, if your service helps your client increase their revenue by 5% — and that will continue for 2+ years — you can factor the YOY growth into your price.

With every value-based price, you want to create a 3-10x ROI for your client. Remember, you are charging based on the ROI you will create.

For example, since the successful completion of your project would result in $117K in new revenue for your client, you can calculate different ROI levels.

• 5% of $117K: $6K
• 10% of $117K: $12K
• 20% of $117K: $24K

You’ll use the numbers in the final step.

Step 5: Offer 3 Pricing Options

Give your client 3 options in your proposal, and allow them to choose their level of risk.

• Option 1 – Lowest Price: The minimum service offering or features your buyer needs to reach a successful outcome.
• Option 2 – Middle Price: All the services or features from Option 1, plus additional services that add more value — and increase the level of certainty.
• Option 3- Highest Price: Imagine that your client had no budget, and wanted the result as fast as possible. Include everything from your low option, middle option, and added value if they are willing to invest significantly more.

Example: You’re ready to present your pricing options to your prospective client Acme Financial Services.

Option 3 – $24K

• Brand positioning overhaul
• Website messaging audit
• Direct outreach sequence
• Website marketing strategy
• LinkedIn content + outreach plan
• Search engine optimization
• Lead-magnet development & implementation

Option 2 — $12K

• Website content strategy

Option 1 — $6000

These prices aren’t random. They are based on the levels of ROI calculated in step 4.

Notice how we lead with Option 3, the highest-priced option.

This helps you leverage the anchoring bias: the first price they see determines how they perceived the rest of your prices.

Option 2 and Option 1 will look more attractive and affordable in comparison to Option 3.

Finally, it’s best if you present your 3 options over a call.

That way, you can answer objections if and when they come up.

Instead of “pitching” your client, you’re collaborating with the client on different ways to help them achieve their goals.

Value-based pricing will raise your consulting fees and provide more value to your clients.

But, as you can see, it takes an experienced consultant to make it work.

For an in-depth look at value-based pricing, take a look at our article: Guide to Value-Based Pricing for Consultants: 10 Experts Share Their Fee Strategies .

And if you’re looking for hands-on coaching to implement value-based pricing in your consulting business, check out our Clarity Coaching Program .

Learn More About Clarity Coaching

Consulting Fees Study (2023)

Do you feel stuck at lower rates while other consultants command premium consulting fees?

That ends today.

Our new survey reveals exactly what high-earning consultants are charging and how you can set fees confidently to amplify your revenue.

In this must-read report, you’ll discover the pricing secrets of the industry’s top earners.

Learn what consultants across every niche are charging per project, how they structure retainer deals , and what’s holding you back from earning more.

Arm yourself with previously undisclosed data on real-world consulting fees. Gain the knowledge, confidence, and proven strategies to raise your rates significantly. Stop leaving money on the table and start commanding the fees you deserve.

Keep reading to access these exclusive insights and take your income to new heights.

The first step to making your best year ever is within this report.

Before we dive in it’s important to note that none of this is financial or legal advice. We’ve summarized key takeaways from the almost 1000 consultants who participated in this survey.

Summary of Our Key Findings on Consulting Fees

We’ll get started with some of our key findings from this year’s study.

• 79% of consultants are actively looking to increase their fees .
• 39% of consultants have never tried value-based pricing because they don’t know how .
• Productized consulting services are becoming more popular — 44% of consultants offer a productized service . In our previous study, only 30% of consultants had a productized offer.
• 25% of consultants will lower their fees in order to win clients .
• 88% of consultants do not list their fees on their consulting website .
• 58% of consultants work with 6 or fewer clients per year .
• 38% of consultants are earning $10K+ per month .
• The #1 reason holding consultants back from raising their fees is fear of losing clients .
• Strategy consultants tend to have more retainer-based consulting income than management consultants. Twice as many strategy consultants have the majority of their income from retainer services over management consultants .
• Consultants who primarily use value-based pricing have a higher average project value than those who use hourly fees . 39% of consultants using hourly fees have an average project value of $10K+, whereas 51% of consultants using value-based fees have an average project value of $10K+.
• Consultants earning $45K+ per month have a much higher average consulting engagement value , with over 50% of them putting their average consulting engagement value at $50K+.
• Consultants who have specialist expertise in their industry command higher fees and earn more than consultants who aren’t specialized.

Past Consulting Fees Comparison

This is our 4th time doing the Consulting Fees study.

To see the past year’s results, click on one of the links below:

• 2019 Consulting Fees Study
• 2018 Consulting Fees Study
• 2017 Consulting Fees Study

What’s changed over the past 4 years on the topic of consulting fees? Here are some of the trends we’re noticing based on the data.

• More women are getting into entrepreneurial consulting . In 2019, the gender split of survey respondents was 75% male, 25% female. In 2023, the split was 61% male, 37% female.
• Project-based rates remain the most used pricing model. In 2023, hourly fees are used more than value-based pricing, but in 2019, value-based pricing was more prominent.
• At least a 1/3 of consultants have never used value pricing because they don’t know how to use it — and this has remained consistent over the years.
• Management consulting and strategy consulting make up over 40% of survey respondents consistently over the years.
• 4/5 of consultants are actively looking to increase their consulting fees — and this number has stayed consistent throughout the years.

There are many different ways to price your various consulting offers .

We asked consultants about their pricing strategies. The results might surprise you.

How Consultants Set Their Fees

Here’s how consultants set their fees:

• 30% used a project-based rate.
• 29% use an hourly rate.
• 16% use a monthly retainer.
• 15% use value pricing.
• 10% use a daily rate.

One of the highest ROI moves you can make is switching to value-based fees .

Here are some more interesting findings about this data:

• Nearly 60% of consultants use a pricing strategy we DON’T recommend: project rate (based on hours) and hourly.
• For consultants who are making $10K-$45K per month, they are more likely to use monthly retainers and value-based pricing than those making $2K-$5K per month.
• Male consultants use daily rates and monthly retainers more than female consultants.

How Many Consultants Have Used Value-Based Pricing

Value pricing is a hot topic in the consulting world, and for good reason.

It’s one of the best ways for consultants to create leverage — and increase their earnings without working more.

However, it’s not an easy strategy to implement.

• 39% of consultants have never used value pricing because they don’t know how.
• 31% of consultants use value pricing on some of their projects.
• 18% of consultants use value pricing on most of their projects.
• 12% of consultants have never used value pricing because they are satisfied with their current pricing structure.

Here’s a more in-depth look at the data around value pricing:

• For consultants whose average project is between $20K-$50K, 55% have used value pricing. For consultants whose average project is between $500-$2000, only 37% have tried value pricing.
• Men and women use value pricing at virtually the same rate. 2% more men have tried it versus women.
• Consultants who are specialists in their industry and make it known in their marketing are far more likely to use value pricing. 57% of them used value pricing versus only 29% of consultants who aren’t specialists.

How Many Consultants Do Performance Deals

Performance deals are when you are paid based on the performance and outcome you have created during the project. This is typically above an agreed-upon baseline.

EXAMPLE : Your client is currently making $100K per month. You help take them to $200K per month. With a performance deal, you’re charging a percentage based on the extra value you’re creating. So, if you and the client agree on 10% of the extra value, then you’d be earning $10K per month on the project — in addition to your base pay.

So, how many consultants use the pay-for-performance pricing strategy?

• 58% of consultants do not use it, but are open to it.
• 21% of consultants do not use it, and are not open to it.
• 15% of consultants do use it, and it’s worked out well for both them and their client.
• 6% of consultants have used it, but it didn’t work out very well.

Here’s a segment-based look at the data for performance deals:

• Many more men have tried performance deals than women (25% versus 12%). However, for both genders, the majority have them have never tried a performance-based deal.
• Consultants aren’t more likely to have done a performance deal if they’re 60 years old versus 30-40 years old.
• Performance deals are much more popular in Asia, where 36% of consultants have tried them. That percentage is 15% in North America.

How Many Consultants Have Retainer-Based Work

One of the best ways to build more predictable revenue into your consulting business is to use monthly retainers .

With a monthly retainer, you’re working with (and billing) your client on a monthly basis. It’s recurring revenue.

Recurring revenue provides predictability and security. Why? Because you know how much revenue you have coming in each month.

Here’s the data on how many consultants use monthly retainers:

• 41% of consultants don’t have any retainer-based clients but would like to.
• 37% of consultants have some work that is retainer-based.
• 17% of consultants said that the majority of their income is retainer-based.
• 5% of consultants do not offer monthly retainers and aren’t interested in them.

Here’s how comparing segments provides more insight into consulting retainers:

• Consultants with more retainer work tend to make more per month. 21% of consultants making $10K-$45K per month say that the majority of their work ins retainer-based compared -— a percentage twice as high compared to those making $2K-$5K per month.
• Strategy consultants are more likely than management consultants to utilize monthly retainers.
• Men are more likely than women to offer monthly retainers.
• The older and more experienced the consultant, the more likely they offer monthly retainers.

How Many Consultants Offer Productized Services

Productized consulting is when you strip one of your offers down to its essentials. They’re fixed (non-changing) in terms of both scope and price.

They’re another fantastic way to create greater leverage in your consulting business.

How many consultants offer productized consulting services?

• 46% of consultants don’t offer productized consulting but are interested in it.
• 44% of consultants do offer productized consulting.
• 10% of consultants don’t offer productized consulting and don’t plan to.

Here’s a further look at the data around productized consulting:

• Consultants who are specialists are more than twice as likely to offer productized consulting versus non-specialists.
• There was no correlation between offering productized consulting and earning more income per month.
• Women are slightly more likely to offer productized consulting than men, with 46% of them offering productized services (compared to 42% for men).
• Years of experience correlated with the likeliness of the consultant offering productized services.

Pricing comes down to your confidence.

We asked consultants about their pricing mindset: how they think about their fees and pricing.

Do Consultants Lower Their Fees To Get Clients?

We don’t ever recommend lowering your fees to win consulting business. Doing so sends the wrong signals to the client about your value, and what you can do for their business.

• However, 47% of consultants have lowered their fees in the past to win business, but don’t do it anymore.
• 28% of consultants haven’t and would never lower their fees to win clients.
• 25% of consultants do this often to win business.

Here’s a deeper look at the type of consultants to lower their fees…

• There is virtually no difference between male and female consultants when it comes to who lowers their fees to get clients.
• Consultants who charge more per project and who earn more per month are less likely to lower their fees in order to get clients.
• Consultants who are specialists are less likely to lower their fees to get new clients compared to consultants who aren’t specialists.

Do Consultants Offer Discounts?

How many consultants offer discounts for specific clients or projects?

• 47% of consultants don’t offer any discounts.
• 26% of consultants offer a 10-25% discount to specific clients.
• 20% of consultants offer a 5-10% discount to specific clients.
• 4% of consultants offer a 25-50% discount to specific clients.
• 2% of consultants offer a 50%+ discount to specific clients.

After segmenting the data and taking a deeper look, we also found that…

• Consultants who earn more are less likely to offer discounts. Of those earning $10K+ per month, 58% don’t offer discounts. Of those earning $2K-$5K per month, 55% do offer discounts.
• Over 60% of consultants in Asia offer some form of discount. In North America over 50% of consultants don’t offer any form of discount.
• Consultants with more years of experience are less likely to offer discounts for their services.
• Female consultants are slightly more likely to offer discounts for their services.

How Many Consultants Are Specialists

Specialization is a key pricing factor in consulting.

Clients are often willing to pay a premium fee for consultants who’ve demonstrated expertise in their industry.

How many consultants have this specialty expertise?

• 66% of consultants are specialists and make it clear in their marketing.
• 23% of consultants are specialists, but don’t make it clear in their marketing.
• 9% of consultants are not specialists, but are looking to specialize their firm.
• 3% of consultants are not specialists and are not looking to specialize their firm.

Here’s a deeper look at the segmented data when it comes to specialization:

• Specialists tend to charge more for their average consulting engagement. Of the consultants who charge between $20K-$50K for their average project, 81% of them are specialists.
• There is virtually no difference between men and women with regard to their specialization. However, male consultants are a bit more likely to be clear about their specialization in their marketing than women.

How Many Consultants Want To Raise Their Fees

As you might expect, the majority of consultants (79%) want to increase their fees.

And 21% of consultants are not actively looking to increase their fees.

Do Consultants List Their Fees On Their Website?

When it comes to whether or not consultants list their pricing on their website , the preference is clear.

• 88% of consultants don’t list their fees on their website.
• 8% of consultants list a range of their pricing on their website.
• And 4% of consultants list their exact pricing on their website.

Here’s a deeper look at the data around listing fees on your consulting website:

• Less experienced consultants are more likely to list their fees on their website. 15% of consultants with 1-3 years of experience list their pricing on their website. That percentage is 8% for consultants with 15+ years of experience.
• 93% of consultants who charge $20K-$50K for their average engagement do not list their fees on their website.
• Women are slightly more likely than men to list their consulting fees on their consulting websites.

When Do Consultants First Mention Price With Clients?

Consultants bring up their fees at different stages of the pipeline .

• 46% of consultants first talk about pricing during the proposal stage.
• 26% of consultants first talk about pricing during the first call.
• 25% of consultants first talk about pricing before sending their proposal.
• 3% of consultants first talk about pricing before the first call with a client.

Here’s an inside look at the data around mentioning price with clients:

• Consultants with a higher average project engagement value ($20K-$50K) are more likely to first discuss price during the proposal. 59% of them first bring up the price at this point.
• Women are slightly more likely to bring up pricing earlier in the sales process than men.
• More senior consultants (60+) tend to bring up prices later in the process than younger consultants (30-40).

Have Consultants Ever Lost Business Due To Pricing?

• Most consultants (64%) have lost business due to pricing their services too high for the client.
• 35% of consultants have never lost business due to their fees.
• And 2% of consultants have lost business due to their pricing being too low.

Upon further inspection, we’ve found some interesting data around this question:

• Specialists are slightly more likely to have been rejected due to high pricing, with 67% of them experiencing this (compared to 55% of non-specialists).
• There is virtually no difference between men and women on this factor (2% more women have lost business due to their pricing being too high).
• Consultants who charge more per project ($20K-$50K) have only been rejected due to high pricing 9% more than consultants who only charge $500-$2K per project.

What Consultants Charge Per Hour

What are consultants charging per hour for delivering consulting work?

• 39% of consultants charge between $100-$250 per hour.
• 25% don’t use hourly fees.
• 19% charge between $250-$500 per hour.
• 12% charge less than $100 per hour.
• 4% charge between $500-$1000 per hour.
• And 0.5% charge $1000+ per hour.

So, how does segmentation affect this consulting fees data?

• Specialist consultants have a higher hourly rate than non-specialists. 28% of specialists charge $250+ per hour. Only 7% of non-specialists charge $250+ per hour.
• Male consultants are slightly more likely (5%) than female consultants to not use hourly fees.
• Of consultants making $2K-$5K per month, 64% of them are charging less than $250 per hour. For consultants making $10K-$45K per month, 37% of them are charging less than $250 per hour.

What’s Holding Consultants Back From Raising Their Fees

There are many different reasons why consultants aren’t raising their fees despite wishing to do so.

• 24% aren’t raising their fees because they are afraid of losing their clients.
• 21% aren’t raising their fees because they don’t know how to raise them effectively.
• 20% claim nothing is holding them back from raising their fees.
• 13% aren’t raising their fees because they feel like they need more experience.
• 12% aren’t raising their fees because they feel like they need to create better results for their clients.
• 9% aren’t raising their fees because they feel like they lack confidence.

Here’s a deeper look at the data around what’s holding consultants back from raising their fees.

• The biggest thing stopping specialists from raising their fees is the fear of losing clients. The biggest thing stopping non-specialists from raising their fees is their perceived lack of experience.
• The biggest thing holding women back from raising their fees is that they don’t know how to do it effectively (25% of them list this as their main reason). For men, the biggest thing holding them back from raising their fees is the fear of losing clients (24% list this as their #1 reason).

How much are consultants charging for their services? How much are they earning per year?

We asked our list of 45K+ consultants these questions for the latest insights into the financials of small consulting firms.

Average Consulting Project Value

Here’s how the numbers break down for the average consulting engagement value:

• 23%: $500-$2000 USD
• 16%: $2001-$5000 USD
• 15%: $20,001-$50,000
• 15%: $5001-$10,000 USD
• 14%: $10,001-$20,000
• 10%: $50,001-$100,000
• 7%: $100,000+ USD

Here’s how average consulting project value breaks down upon further analysis:

• Consultants who are specialists have a much higher average consulting engagement value. 52% of specialists charge at least $10K+ per project. Only 18% of non-specialists charge at least $10K+ per consulting project.
• Women tend to have a lower average consulting engagement value than men. The majority of female consultants charge under $10K per project. The majority of male consultants charge over $10K per project.
• Consultants in North America tend to have a higher average consulting engagement value than consultants in Asia.

How Much Consultants Earn Per Month (USD)

Why should you start a consulting business ?

One of the reasons consultants start a consulting business is for the unlimited earning potential.

With the correct strategy and mindset, consultants can earn five/six figures — or even more — per month .

Here’s how much solo consultants and small consulting firms are earning per month:

• 32% of consultants earn $10K-$45K per month.
• 22% of consultants are earning less than $2K per month.
• 20% of consultants are earning $5K-$10K per month.
• 20% of consultants are earning $2K-$5K per month.
• 3% of consultants are earning $45K-$100K per month.
• 1% of consultants are earning $100K-$250K per month.
• And 1% of consultants are earning $250K+ per month.

Here’s a deeper look at the data on how much consultants earn per month:

• Consultants who are specialists earn more per month than those who are non-specialists. For non-specialists, 73% are making $5K per month or less. For specialists, 42% are making $10K+ per month.
• Consultants whose average project value is $20K-$50K per project are earning are more per month than those whose average project value is $500-$2000. 66% of them are earning $10k+ per month compared to 6% of consultants whose average project is worth $500-$2000.
• Age and experience in consulting are correlated to earning more per month.

Average Consulting Business Profit Margin

Consulting is known to be a high profit-margin business — and the data generally supports that:

• 34% of consultants enjoy a 70%+ profit margin.
• 14% of consultants have a 60% profit margin.
• 14% of consultants have a profit margin of 20% or lower.
• 14% of consultants have a profit margin of 50%.
• 13% of consultants have a profit margin of 30%.
• And 10% of consultants have a profit margin of 40%.

Here’s a further analysis of the profit margin in consulting:

• Consultants who are specialists tend to have a higher profit margin. 54% of specialists have a profit margin of 70% or more. For non-specialists, only 35% of them have a profit margin of 70% or more.
• Consultants who typically charge $20K-$50K per project tend to have a higher profit margin than those charging less. 56% of consultants who charge $20K-$50K per project have a profit margin of 60%+.
• Male consultants typically have a slightly higher average profit margin than female consultants. 39% of male consultants have a profit margin of 70%+ compared to 28% of female consultants.

Will Consultants Raise Their Fees Next Year?

• In 2024, 55% of consultants plan to raise their fees.
• 45% aren’t sure whether or not they’ll raise their fees.
• And 1 respondent plans to lower their fees.

Here’s a deeper look at the data on who plans to raise their fees:

• There was virtually no difference between Men and Women on this question.
• Consultants who are charging and earning less than higher-earning consultants are more likely to be planning to charge more.
• 63% of consultants aged 30-40 are planning to raise their fees compared to 47% of consultants aged 60+.

How Much Consultants Plan To Raise Their Fees By

For the consultants who plan to raise their fees in 2024, here’s how much they plan to raise their fees by:

• 33% plan to raise their fees by 10%
• 29% plan to raise their fees by 20%
• 16% plan to raise their fees by 30% or more.

Here’s more insight into this question and how the data breaks down:

• Men are more likely to plan for higher fee raises (20%+) than women.
• Consultants in Asia are more likely to be planning for higher fee increases (20%+).

For the first time, we asked consultants about their projects, clients, and how these factors play into their pricing.

Average Consulting Project Length

How long do entrepreneurial consultants spend on their projects?

• 30% of consultants spend 1-3 months on their average project.
• 25% of consultants spend 3-6 months on their average project.
• 20% of consultants spend 6-12 months on their average project.
• 12% spend 12 months or longer, and 12 % also spend less than 1 month on their average project.

Here’s how the segmented data looks in terms of average consulting project length:

• Consultants earning $10K-$45K per month tend to work more on 3-6 month projects and 6-12 month projects compared to consultants making $2K-$5K per month. For consultants making $10K-$45K per month, 78% of their projects are 3 months or longer (compared to 45% of consultants making $2K-$5K per month).
• There is a correlation between the length of consulting projects and how much consultants charge for said projects. The longer the project, the more consultants tend to charge.
• Consultants in North America tend to work on longer projects (3 months or longer) compared to consultants in Asia.

How Many Consultants Are Staffed On Projects

How many consultants do firm owners staff on their projects?

• 51% of consultants work on client projects themselves.
• 44% of consulting firm owners put 2-6 consultants on their average client project.
• 3% of consulting firm owners put 6-10 consultants on their average client project.
• 2% of consulting firm owners put 10+ consultants on their average client project.

Here’s a further look at this particular survey question and data:

• In North America, 56% of consultants typically work on client projects independently on their own. In Asia, 67% of consultants typically have 2-6 people work on their client projects. Consultants in Asia are more likely to have additional people staffed on client projects.
• Female consultants are more likely to work on client projects independently (61% of them). For male consultants, that number is 45% -—with 49% of them having 2 or more people working on client projects.
• Age and experience in consulting are correlated with having more people involved in client projects.

Average Company Size That Consultants Work With

How many employees do a consultant’s clients typically have?

• 37% of their clients have 10-100 employees.
• 30% of their clients have less than 10 employees.
• 16% of their clients have 100-500 employees.
• 10% of their clients have 1000+ employees.
• And 7% of their clients have 500-1000 employees.

Here’s a deeper look at how this data breaks down:

• Consultants who charge more ($20K-$50K) for their average project tend to work with bigger companies (10+ employees).
• Consultants who earn more per month ($10K – $45K+) tend to work with companies with more employees.
• There is a small correlation between a consultant’s age and experience and working with companies that have more employees.

We always ask our list of consultants to tell us about other aspects of their business. This helps us break down the numbers even more.

Here is the demographic data from our list of 45K+ independent consultants and small consulting firm owners.

Average Level Of Experience Consultants Have

How much experience do consulting business owners have consulting?

• 24% have 15+ years of experience.
• 19% have 1-3 years of experience.
• 5-10% have 5-10 years of experience.
• 15% have 3-5 years of experience.
• 14% have less than 1 year of experience.
• 11% have 10-15 years of experience.

Types Of Consultants

There are many types of consultants . Here are the types of consultants in this study:

• Management consultant 25%
• Strategy consultant 17%
• Operations consultant 9%
• IT/Tech consultant 8%
• Marketing consultant 7%
• HR consultant 5%
• Non-profit consultant 4%
• Financial advisory consultant 3%
• Sales consultant 3%
• Data consultant 2%
• Design/branding consultant 1%

How Many Clients Consultants Work With Per Year

You don’t have to work with a ton of clients per year to run a highly profitable consulting business.

• 31% of consultants work with 3-6 clients per year.
• 27% of consultants work with 1-3 clients per year.
• 25% of consultants work with 6-12 clients per year.
• 10% of consultants work with 10-20 clients per year.
• 4% of consultants work with 20-40 clients per year.
• 3% of consultants work with 40+ clients per year.

And here’s a deeper look at this particular question:

• 58% of consultants who charge between $20K-$50K for their average project work with between 3-12 clients per year.
• 42% of non-specialists work with between 1-3 clients per year. That percentage is only 24% for specialist consultants.
• Strategy consultants work with slightly more clients per year than management consultants.
• There is virtually no difference between male and female consultants with regard to how many clients they work with.

Do Consultants Work With Employees Or Contractors

If you want to scale your consulting business , hiring employees or contractors can be a great way to do that.

• 46% of consultants hire contractors but don’t employ anyone full-time.
• 39% of consultants don’t use contractors or have employees.
• 14% of consultants have full-time employees.

Here’s an inside look at how the segments play into this data:

• 47% of female consultants do not work with any contractors or employees. For men, that percentage is 35%.
• The more consultants earn per month and the higher their average project engagement value, the more likely they are to work with contractors or have employees.
• Specialists are much more likely to employ full-time people than non-specialists. 16% of specialists employ people full-time compared to 6% of non-specialists.
• Of consultants 60+ years of age, 11% employ people full-time. For consultants aged 30-40, 25% of them employ people full-time.

How Many Employees Consulting Firms Have

For the consultants who do have full-time employees, here’s how many employees they have:

• 1-3 employees (21.43%)
• 4-10 (7.28%)
• 11-25 (1.32%)
• 26-50 (1.19%)
• 100+ (0.53%)
• 51-100 (0.13%)

Average Age Of Consultants

You can be any age and start a consulting business.

• The majority of consultants we polled (31%) are 50-60 years old.
• 27% are 40-50 years old.
• 26% are 60+ years old.
• 13% are 30-40 years old.
• 3% are 20-30 years old.

Consulting Gender Demographics

61% of consultants polled are male, and 37% are female.

1% preferred not to share or selected “Other.”

Here’s a deeper look at the consulting gender data and consulting fees:

• Of consultants charging between $20K-$50K for their average project, 68% are men, and 32% are women.
• Of consultants making $10K-$45K per month, 70% are men, and 29% are women.

Consulting Geography Demographics

Consultants all around the world took our fees survey.

Here’s where they are from:

• North America – 62.89%
• Western Europe – 12.37%
• Asia – 7.63%
• Africa – 6.97%
• Australia/New Zealand – 5.79%
• Eastern Europe – 2.37%
• South America -1.97%

Want to know exactly how much you should be charging to reach your income goals?

For that, we developed a Consulting Fees Calculato r.

In 4 steps, you’ll learn your daily billable rate and your ideal hourly rate so that you can reach your target income.

It’s an invaluable tool to help you get clear on how much you should be charging your clients.

That said, we advise you to move towards greater leverage — away from billing based on your time. Here’s how you can do that:

• Productized Services : Giving your services a fixed scope and price, creating a more efficient delivery.
• Value-Based Fees : Pricing your services based on the value you might create for your client instead of the time you spend delivering.
• Monthly Retainers : Recurring revenue where your client either pays for your work or pays for access to you.
• ROI-Based Fees : Pricing your services based to capture a percentage of the earnings or savings you create for your client.
• Equity : Working for shares in your client’s business instead of a fixed amount of money.

Here are three action items for you if you’re serious about raising your rates and increasing your revenue.

• Elevate your mindset . If you’re uncomfortable with the idea of raising your rate or you would feel that your clients would leave you, then you need to work on your mindset before you think about your pricing. Read The Elite Consulting Mind — and take action on what you learn there.
• Raise your hourly rate . Even though hourly rates aren’t ideal, they are often the foundation of your pricing strategy. And no one is going to give you the green light to raise them — you must do so yourself. What better time than now? Commit to raising your hourly rate by at least 10-20% by the first of January 2020.
• Experiment with a leveraged form of pricing . Whether that be productized consulting, value-based pricing, or ROI-based pricing, charge a client using a method other than just your time. You’ll learn how much more revenue you can earn when you stop charging for your time and start charging what your clients really care about — the value you’re creating for their business.

Want Expert Help To Raise Your Consulting Fees?

No matter your level of experience, the Consulting Success® team can help you raise your consulting fees.

Our Momentum program is for newer consultants who want to follow a step-by-step system to predictably and reliably get to 6-figures per year or more.

Our Clarity program is for consultants committed to maximize their value and fees through personal coaching and strategy on more advanced pricing strategies, marketing systems to generate consistent leads — to grow and scale their business.

Whether you’re struggling to price your services based on value, want to build in more recurring revenue, or want to know how to structure an equity deal properly, our programs will help you increase your pricing with confidence.

That concludes the Consulting Fees Study.

What did you learn?

More importantly, how are you going to use this information to increase your value, raise your prices, and reach your target income?

Information without action won’t get you anywhere.

I challenge you to take what you’ve learned here to make your consulting business better.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about this study.

Leave a reply in the comments — and share your thoughts below!

32 thoughts on “ Consulting Fees Guide: How Much To Charge For Consulting (3 Formulas & Examples) ”

Wonderful survey! You’ve done a great job surveying such a large pool of consultants and sharing the results! I was curious if you’re willing to maybe show us a breakdown by industry? I’m operating in the IT/Tech consulting and I’m curious how the numbers look for that…Cheers!

Thanks Bogdan – appreciate the comment and support!. We will look into this and notify you with any updates.

very incisive,detailed information and very helpful .Thank you Micheal.Solid hard work and your generosity in sharing with us Micheal.God bless you!

Great work, yet again. Really impressed with your output. Would it be possible to get this as a .pdf please? I’d love to share it with my MBA students, but the current format doesn’t lend itself.

Much appreciated Joe. We don’t have a PDF available but why not provide the direct link to the study to all your students. They can access it on their phones, tablets or computers : )

The depth and quality of your content is unique. I’ve recently joined a specialist consultancy (small team 50+) part of an international consultancy and advisory organisation. I would love for some collaboration in the future, I’m only in 2 months so have to settle before I start recommending external support to the Senior Management Team, they have a great foundation to expand from.

Appreciate that Peter and congratulations on the new position, that’s exciting!

Very comprehensive study. It shows in detail what consultants all over the world are doing. Thanks, Michael!

Appreciate the feedback Earline. The team did a great job on the study and we’re looking forward to putting out the next one.

Hi Michael Thanks for the report. I was wondering how can we have access to the data sources. Thanks

Hamed, you’re very welcome. We aren’t providing access to the data currently. Wish you great success.

I am very happy to read the above information. It is really helpful for me, I learned many new things from your website. Big thanks to you all for everything and I am really very happy. Can you share which is the best placement consultancy in Pune

As I was reading your article I must say it was quite helpful. Most of the time small businesses go that far or stuck at some point because they don’t know what to do. As being the CEO of well-known business consulting firm Makateb. I appreciate the way you explained the cause of how they affect business. I also appreciate the way you delivered their remedies. Most people don’t know it and that’s why they had to stop in the middle. You did a great job by mentioning the major factors that became hurdles (most of the time). From Insufficient Funding to Failure to Seek Out-side Assistance, Talent Deficits to Destructive New Technology, all of these are major obstacles for business whether it’s a small one or reaching the heights of success. If a company overcome these obstacles, they’re more likely to grow. In the end, I just want to say you did a great job by sharing this article with people who are struggling with this.

Thanks for the good info. Interesting to see it all broken down like that.

You’re very welcome Jonathan, appreciate the comment.

Very insightful. Lots of hard work has been put into this and then shared very generously with everybody. Greatly appreciated. Thank you and God Bless.

Thank you Michael, appreciate your comment and glad it resonates with you.

An interesting read on consulting fees, it gives you something to think about.

Glad you found it interesting John and hope it helps. If you have other questions get in touch.

Very interesting and insightful piece of work. Greatly appreciated. By any chance you have also the comparison for consultancy rates between countries : e.g. US , India, Europe, China, Asia, Australia ?? Does the argument of going to LCC for a more cost effective rates still hold giving that Consulting firms are increasing their rates through various approaches and justification, even though there are clear differences in cost of living and GDP for each country?

Harrison, fees can certainly be different based on where you live. However, that doesn’t need to be a limiting factor. There are consultants living in countries considered less developed who are still able to charge and earn significant rates – especially if your clientele is global. We don’t have a country by country breakdown here.

I have appreciated your presentation of consultancy fees. This will help me to undertake a consultancy am about to begin

I sell equipment. It’s often to start-ups or people adding a brand new service to their business. I’m interested in encouraging some of my customers to be consultants for others. I think my new customers would benefit from more thorough help, and it would allow me to draw a line between what I offer and do not offer (i.e. I’m not a business consultant – but here are some options).

In a value-based model, how do you keep clients from sucking you dry? How do you put constraints along with the list of services? My customers tend to ask questions for a lingering 5 years and call and text all hours of the night and on weekends. Does being a consultant in the first place naturally discourage this? Do you charge hourly after the standard deliverables, or maybe include a specified number of support hours as a line item? Thanks! Great information here.

Hi Sam, great questions. Start by defining very clear responsibilities of what each part is required to do and what the expectations are. And when a client asks additional questions or for help that is outside the scope of the engagement offer to provide them with another proposal to help them with that separate work.

Michael, Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge! This has been an invaluable article because I am starting my own consulting company and had no idea how I was going to determine what I should charge for services. Thank you for giving me options and the information I need to succeed. Bless you, Tammy

Glad it helps Tammy!

I find it interesting when you said that consultants are earning a lot per month wherein they have increased some percentage from 2018 to 2019. And they might be named more now because it’s already 2023, so it must be helpful to do your research and compare rates from various companies and professionals to find those that you can afford if you are starting out in your business. For example, it might also be different when you hire experts in professional technology consulting for businesses compared to those helping entrepreneurs in other fields.

How did you arrive at these numbers? 500 per client = 1500/mo *12=18k per year revenue

You know that each client is worth $500 per month to your prospect. And they want to win 3 clients per month. Now, you can calculate the tangible value. The tangible value is the quantifiable value your offer provides. For example, if you help Acme Financial Services win 3 new clients per month, you’ll help them generate: $18K in monthly recurring revenue. $117K in total revenue after a year.

The $117K is the total sum of the revenue generated from months 1 through 12:

1500 3000 4500 6000 7500 9000 10500 12000 13500 15000 16500 18000 – 117000

I like that you talked about consulting companies that will charge by the hour, because it is a simple method that is perfect for those that are new to the industry. In my opinion, IT consulting services that do or offer those kinds of options will be perfect for the people who are also starting with their business. They would need their help int technological aspects, but they would need to stick to their budget to prevent them from overspending their capital on one area.

I’ve always felt the challenge with value-based fees is it assume the prospect has nowhere else to go or turn to. Sure, if you’re the only game in town you can estimate the value of the project and set your rate accordingly. But if you’re in a competitive environment it doesn’t work as well. People will be comparing what you offer against others – and while you can differentiate yourself to a certain amount – you can’t go multiples higher of what anyone else is charging. Pricing is ultimately a story and above a certain level you get into RFP territory. I think early on people need to decide which tier their playing in and find the right pricing to match.

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Biden and oil companies like this climate tech. Many Americans do not.

Carbon dioxide pipelines and underground injection can cut greenhouse gas, but community opposition is fierce.

The remote stretch of public grazing land in southeastern Montana has hardly changed since homesteading days, but underneath this wind-swept expanse lies a hidden asset in high demand: thousands of acres of porous rock where oil company executives say greenhouse gas could be piped in from afar and stored forever.

ExxonMobil and the Biden administration see in the grassy 100,000 acres a launchpad for one of the world’s most audacious climate experiments, a plan to take emissions spewing from power plants and factories and trap them underground where they cannot contribute to global warming. The scheme is inching forward despite criticism it will permit polluters to keep polluting while slowing the transition to solar and wind energy. And now sponsors face the additional hurdle of intense local opposition.

In the ranching community of Carter County, Mont., the prospect of shipping in all that carbon pollution and injecting it underneath an area called Snowy River is about as popular as an outbreak of hoof-and-mouth disease.

“The question I keep hearing is, ‘Why are they making us the dumping ground for the rest of the country?’” said Rod Tauck, chairman of the Carter County Board of Commissioners and a descendant of homesteaders who more than a century ago settled his family ranch. “Not a single constituent I know wants this.”

Such tensions are emerging nationwide, throwing an industrial-size wrench into the quest by the White House and major energy companies to advance a vast network of “carbon capture” infrastructure across the country. It would involve tens of thousands of miles of new pipelines , and scores of remote storage sites on the scale of Snowy River, targeted because the porous rock underneath them can act like a carbon sponge.

This vision for using technology to reverse climate change was once viewed widely as far-fetched.

Now, proposals to divert carbon dioxide from smokestacks to vast subterranean wells are regarded by the White House , the United Nations and the International Energy Agency as crucial to preserving any hope of meeting the world’s climate goals. The Biden administration’s plan to zero out emissions from the power grid by 2035 increasingly hinges on the success of colossal carbon capture deployment. The government has made billions of dollars of incentives available to motivate companies like ExxonMobil and Chevron to rapidly develop it.

The urgency is only increasing as a surge in forecasted energy use — driven by the insatiable electricity appetite of artificial-intelligence developers and a national boom in manufacturing — is delaying retirement of old fossil-fuel power plants and pushing utilities to build new ones.

New clean energy like wind and solar is not coming online quickly enough to meet all the projected demand, prompting government to lean on plans to stow away carbon pollution.

“We have to stop fossil fuels from causing global warming before the world stops using fossil fuels,” Myles Allen, a climate scientist at the University of Oxford in England who has served on the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said recently at CERAWeek, an energy conference sponsored by S&P Global. “This is the way to stop fossil fuels from causing global warming.”

But early carbon capture projects are floundering.

Hostile community reception is undermining plans from the Gulf Coast of Louisiana to the prairies of South Dakota. Energy companies racing ahead are facing tough questions around safety, environmental impact and technological viability.

In Montana, the federal Bureau of Land Management in 2022 identified the Snowy River site as one of the first stretches of public land that may be suitable for carbon sequestration. ExxonMobil wants to inject 450 million cubic feet of carbon dioxide per day into the ground. The company is not identifying where that gas would come from, but one likely source is a carbon dioxide pipeline currently used to support oil and gas extraction projects (the pressurized gas is used to force fossil fuels to the surface).

That pipeline is connected to a large ExxonMobil natural gas plant 500 miles away in Wyoming. ExxonMobil says Snowy River’s storage capacity is equal to a year’s worth of polluting greenhouse gas from 1.6 million cars.

Legacy energy companies like ExxonMobil are eager to deploy technologies that could extend the life of fossil fuels by mitigating their role in global warming. Plus, federal incentives are potentially lucrative. The single Montana project could generate as much as $12.7 billion in federal tax subsidies. ExxonMobil took it over when it acquired carbon capture and pipeline developer Denbury for $4.9 billion in November.

Company officials say they have not yet made a final decision to build in Montana. But assessing the project’s viability, they say, requires they get the BLM permit to store the carbon now, so they can do testing on-site. Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte supports the company’s plan.

“We are fully committed to working with the community,” said Kathleen Ash, CEO of Denbury, now a fully owned ExxonMobil subsidiary. “This is a safe and proven technology.”

Many in the local community see something else: big corporations looking for a payday partnering with an administration turning a blind eye to a flawed technology. They point to problems that carbon capture projects are encountering around the world, such as Chevron’s sprawling Gorgon operation at a massive natural gas field in Australia. It is not trapping even half the carbon dioxide planned, amid persistent technological troubles.

BLM officials counter that carbon dioxide has been safely injected underground as part of the oil production process for decades. They call the projects an “important tool” for fighting climate change and advancing the administration’s agenda to erase emissions.

“They are presenting this as a climate solution and I don’t know that it is,” said Liz Barbour, who manages Cinch Buckle Ranch, an operation bordering Snowy River that uses low-impact, conservation-focused agricultural practices. “The only thing I do know is that it is part of their plan to continue producing oil and gas.” Barbour is among several ranchers working with a grass-roots group called the Northern Plains Resource Council to fight the project.

Local landowners with sharply contrasting politics and views on climate change are finding common cause in the battle. The council’s argument that carbon capture is “an unproven, government hand-out to large out of state corporations” was echoed repeatedly in interviews in this county of 1,415 people defined by wide-open spaces and dirt roads, where visiting a neighbor can involve an hour-long journey. Carter County cast 89 percent of its ballots for Donald Trump in 2020.

“Many of us are willing to accept the premise that this is a dangerous compound that needs to be gotten rid of,” said Jack Owen, a 72-year-old who ranches on land his ancestors homesteaded. “The question is, ‘Why here?’”

ExxonMobil’s assurances that the project would be almost entirely underground, with little noticeable impact on the landscape are met skeptically. Local landowners counter that upgrading the roads, drilling wells, and installing new pipelines would take a heavy toll on the landscape.

The scale of carbon that must be effectively stored nationwide to make a dent in global warming is enormous. Claude Letourneau, the CEO of Svante, one of North America’s leading carbon capture technology firms, said containing the emissions created by manufacturing processes like cement- and steel-making could require 10,000 plants to trap the gas, compress it and then pipe or truck it to places like Snowy River.

An ambitious proposal in the Midwest recently collapsed. The proposed 1,200-mile Heartland Greenway pipeline was supposed to span five states, bringing 15 million tons of carbon dioxide captured at ethanol plants each year to storage sites where it would be buried.

The project, proposed by Navigator CO2, appeared to have early advantages. Ethanol plants emit uncontaminated carbon dioxide that is less complicated to capture and compress than the gas from other industries. And many landowners along the proposed route already hosted oil and gas pipelines.

But community opposition was intense. Landowners and local regulators worried about safety and environmental fallout. The CEO of Williams, one of the biggest natural gas pipeline companies in the world, said in an interview that even his board chairman, who owns farmland in Iowa, wants nothing to do with the carbon dioxide pipelines.

“He said, ‘I don’t want it damaging this very valuable cropland,” Williams CEO Alan Armstrong said.

Navigator CO2 canceled the Heartland Greenway project in October. It blamed “the unpredictable nature of the regulatory and government processes involved.”

Armstrong is one of many energy executives who said the project faltered because the developers spent too little time educating communities about the technology and talking through concerns. Companies more practiced in securing permits for pipelines, it was argued, would win local buy-in.

But it is not turning out that way for ExxonMobil in Montana.

Assurances from ExxonMobil that disruption would be minimal are met with worries that the project will disrupt the ecosystem, leave water tables vulnerable to the leaching of carbon dioxide, and create a safety hazard.

A rupture in the existing pipeline several years ago left one Carter County ranch looking as if a meteor had hit it. Pictures from 2018 show a deep, truck-size crater in the ground covered with what looks like dry ice residue, caused by the compressed carbon dioxide’s combustion.

Since that time, another major pipeline accident had dire consequences for the town of Satartia, Miss. The pipeline was also owned by Denbury, now an ExxonMobil subsidiary.

The 2020 rupture filled the air above a section of the pipeline with dangerous amounts of carbon dioxide, resulting in a medical emergency that sent 45 people to the hospital with respiratory and other problems, according to a U.S. Department of Transportation investigation.

The gas caused three men driving through the area to pass out in their car and the engine to stop running. Fire department officials had to break the windows to pull them out, according to local 911 call tapes and public records obtained by the nonprofit Climate Investigations Center. Residents desperately called 911 for help — in one case, a mother reported that her child couldn’t breathe, and in another, a caller said her friend was on the ground shaking and drooling, as if suffering a seizure.

Denbury paid a $2.8 million fine as part of a settlement with the federal government in which it did “not admit to any of the alleged violations or risks identified.” Some of the residents injured in the incident — and their doctors — say they are still suffering serious ailments because of it.

ExxonMobil officials said new training protocols for emergency responders have been initiated since the incident. They say that there has never been a fatality associated with piping carbon dioxide and that accidents involving such pipelines are rare. The company said it also supports stepped-up federal safety regulations amid the planned expansion of carbon dioxide pipelines.

Energy companies say they are undeterred.

Among the projects inching forward is one on a 140,000-acre coastal stretch between Houston and the petrochemical facilities of Port Arthur, Tex., called Bayou Bend, where Chevron plans to store as much as 1 billion tons of carbon dioxide. The company is hoping the proximity to factories will make the project more palatable to regulators and landowners.

Chevron is also aiming to bury carbon in wells off the coast of Bayou Bend, a plan that alarms marine biologists but could prove less vulnerable to community protest.

A visit to Bayou Bend punctuates the immensity of it all. The site stretches for miles, with the flat, grassy landscape interrupted only by the occasional cow chomping on weeds or alligator sunning itself in a marsh.

Developers promoting the projects are adamant that most of the work will happen out of sight, with the carbon buried as deep as 10,000 feet and hardly any industrial activity above ground.

“This has to happen,” said Chris Powers, Chevron’s vice president for carbon capture, utilization and storage, pointing to the forecasting models showing that carbon capture is crucial to curbing global warming. “To make this grow at scale, it is going to take hundreds of projects.”

Back in Montana, rancher Mike Hansen says if it is all so harmless, project boosters in the nation’s capital should just start burying carbon pollution there.

“We asked them, ‘Why don’t you do this under Washington, D.C.?’” he said. “They told us, ‘We can’t do that. There are too many people there.’”

“That is not saying much for us.”