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Starting a Consulting Service- Building Credibility

Angela Manning Business , , , ,
Starting a Consulting Service- Building Credibility

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In a previous article, we talked about several business ideas you can test over a weekend. There are plenty of opportunities to explore, especially in today’s growing market. Aside from developing your own mobile app and starting a service company based on market demand, you can also offer consulting services.

Aside from skills and experience, there is one crucial equity you need to jumpstart your consulting firm: credibility. Developing credibility is not something that can be done overnight, but the tips we are about to discuss in this article will help you get started right away.

Credentials

One of the first things you need to do to start developing your credibility as a consultant is gathering credentials to support your skills and expertise. You may already have certificates and degrees that back your expertise in a specific field; these are great starting points to build on.

Of course, you can also choose to pursue a higher degree in the specific field of your choice to earn more credibility. If you want to open a public relations consulting firm, for example, pursuing an online public relations degree is a good investment to make.

I said an online degree because online degrees are easier to access, more affordable, and equally valuable compared to offline degrees. Reputable universities such as George Washington University are making their online SPR program – and programs in other fields – widely accessible.

These are accredited programs, so you can rest assured knowing that your master’s degree will be just as valuable as an offline degree. In fact, online courses are usually more in line with market demands, so you will also pick up relevant new skills along the way.

Online Presence

The next important ingredient to add is an online presence. You can’t expect to reach success in today’s market without having and maintaining a strong online presence. Establishing a strong social media presence and setting up a representative website to tie everything together is something you should do as soon as possible.

We are used to searching for products and services – and other information – we need online. Potential clients will also search for your past work and other details online. With a strong and positive online presence in place, converting potential clients into paying customers will be a lot easier to do.

Happy Clients

The most important ingredient of them all, however, is a reference. Happy clients are your best marketers. They will tell others about your exceptional work, boosting your credibility to new heights while attracting more potential clients in the process.

Don’t hesitate to go the extra mile to ensure maximum client satisfaction when working on projects. The happier your clients are, the bigger the investment you make to your credibility and future success. It won’t be long before you start getting calls from friends of past clients, asking if you can help them with their projects.

Credibility is everything in the service industry, especially if you are offering consulting services. These are some of the elements you need to develop a strong credibility and achieve the success you are aiming for from the beginning.

How to Stop the Common Innovation Mistakes from Occurring

Angela Manning Business , , , ,
How to Stop the Common Innovation Mistakes from Occurring

Implementing innovation is necessary across all organizations. Getting it right, however, is a lot more difficult. There are some very common mistakes made with innovation management software SaaS tools, but these are mistakes that can be avoided. By building your awareness of them, you may be able to not fall into their traps either.

Two Key Mistakes

There are two key mistakes that almost everybody makes when it comes to innovation:

  1. They think they know what problems their customers have that need to be solved.
  2. They immediately try to solve the problem.

If you think that there is a problem that your customers have, you need to find out whether you are right about that. Do not, ever, make any assumptions. Speak to your customers, listen to them, and conduct proper research. You may be surprised to find that what you believed was a problem is not a problem at all. Or, at the opposite of the spectrum, that the problem you had identified is just the tip of the iceberg. Either way, it is likely that once you truly know what the problems your customers are facing are, you will have to move in a completely different direction in terms of idea generation.

The second mistake is that we are all far too solution-driven. Naturally, the ultimate goal is to solve problems, but because of our drive, we take the wrong approach to this. Most notably, when one of us believes that we have found a solution, we think it is the only thing that will work. We love our own solutions. We forget that the goal was not for us to take the glory with a solution, the goal was to solve a problem. It is hard to make that distinction, but it essentially means that you let go of your solution and allow others to tinker with it, until it actually becomes something that works – and that is not necessarily attributed to you.

How to Avoid Mistakes

Keys to avoiding these types of mistake from happening are:

  1. Make sure that everything you do is customer-centric. You don’t need to force the newest craze or coolest technology onto your customer if they are not interested in it. Rather, you must identify their problems and frustrations, and resolve those, together.
  2. Never, ever, assume anything. You must head out onto the streets, speak to your actual customers, listen to what they have to say, and don’t go into defensive mode. You are there to find out what it is that they need, so that you can find a way to offer them exactly that.
  3. Do not go into solutions mode. Come up with possible solutions and then open source them. Crowdsourcing software can help with that, whereby everybody collectively takes ownership of an idea.
  4. Don’t implement a possible solution until you have gone back to your customer and spoke to them. In fact, involve them in your overall innovation process.