Becoming an independent business plan consultant is necessary. Discover the workings of this document and the procedure to follow to draw it up.
Summary :
- The executive summary of the business plan to become a consultant
- Do a market study
- Set up a business strategy
- Choose your legal status
- Establish a financial forecast in your business plan consulting.
To become an independent consultant, making a business plan is crucial. The business plan is a document that allows you to evaluate all the possible options to ensure the relevance and profitability of the project.
To develop it correctly, a market study is necessary. This step helps better identify the market’s needs to adjust its offers and make prudent choices regarding its legal mode of operation.
To become an independent consultant, it is necessary to know the essentials of the correct way to write a business plan.
Why make a business plan?
Depending on all these specificities, the consultant’s activity may vary, hence the importance of writing your business plan
THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE BUSINESS PLAN TO BECOME A CONSULTANT
The executive summary can be defined as the back cover of your business plan.
- Be sure to introduce each team member and their skills.
- Proof that you have studied your market well: a summary of your market study, future customers, competition, the need you will meet…
- Some financial forecasts: if the executive summary should not be cluttered with too many figures, giving some information on this subject is essential to prove to readers that your project is viable and profitable.
- Detail of your need: If you present your business plan to obtain financing, be sure to detail your need and expectations vis-à-vis investors.
DO A MARKET STUDY
Market research is the first step in becoming a freelance business plan consultant
This study aims to ensure that the offer to be proposed meets market expectations. Becoming an independent consultant means setting up in a very competitive sector.
The market
Several elements must be revealed as part of your market research to become a consultant. Next, what is the field in which you will exercise your activity as a consultant?
Requirement
If there is no need, there is no point in having an offer. The study can be qualitative. What are the types of requests and the real needs of the target market?
The offer
The offer corresponds to the competition, the proposition already existing on the market you intend to place yourself.
Studying the pre-existing offer will allow you to adjust and refine your proposal according to your results and plan how to adapt your request to the market and reach your targets.
Answering these questions allows you to learn more about the relevance of your offers and adjust them to become an independent consultant in a highly competitive market.
SET UP A BUSINESS STRATEGY
Thanks to the conclusions resulting from the market study, it is easy to define a strategy to become an independent consultant. This step allows you to establish a commercial action plan to find your customers and meet their expectations.
To set up a commercial strategy to become an independent consultant, some avenues consist of:
- Determine its positioning vis-à-vis the target population;
- Establish a price grid consistent with this positioning;
- Follow training courses to fill its gaps;
- Design a communication plan including the various visual aids and tools to be used;
- Establish a list of potential partners likely to help publicize its activity;
CHOOSE YOUR LEGAL STATUS
Choosing your legal status is an essential step to becoming an independent consultant.
The exercise is one’s name
To become an independent consultant and practice in your name, the most common legal statuses are:
- The Sole Proprietorship (EI);
- The One-Person Limited Liability Company (EURL).
Becoming an independent consultant according to the legal status of the EURL limits the consultant’s responsibility to his contributions.
The exercise in society
The Simplified Unipersonal Joint Stock Company (SASU) is the most common option to become an independent consultant and practice in society.
ESTABLISH A FINANCIAL FORECAST IN YOUR CONSULTING BUSINESS PLAN
Establishing a financial forecast is essential to becoming an independent business plan consultant. This tool makes it possible to carry out turnover simulations and implement corrective measures throughout the activity.
The procedure to follow to produce a financial forecast is as follows:
- Define an exercise period;
- Estimate a turnover from the available data and spread it over several months;
- List and quantify the various general expenses related to the exercise of the activity;
- Establish a cash flow statement that considers the seasonal nature of the activity.
To become an independent consultant, it is essential to establish financial tables. These include the forecast income statement, the forecast balance sheet, and a cash flow statement.
The conclusions drawn from these forecasts make it possible to adjust the business model envisaged to have optimal results.
Becoming an independent consultant requires writing a business plan. The importance of this document makes it necessary to adopt a meticulous methodology for its drafting.
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