Brian Poncelet | How to Be a Small Business Consultant

Becoming an independent consultant cannot be improvised! Given the work that this requires, you do not see where to start? In this article, Brian Poncelet gives you the essentials to start your business as a consultant. From marketing to legal status to set up a coworking space, find out how to start off on the right foot!

Formalize your marketing positioning

Before you get started and become an independent consultant, you need to clearly define who you want to be in the eyes of your prospects and what you want to sell. This goes through an essential first step: achieve a benchmark! Go to the web, look at what’s happening in your field. Analyze the different positioning that can be done: consultant for large groups, for SMEs, for very small businesses, for freelancers… And choose what you want to do and who you want to talk to. This will allow you to go to the second step which is essential: fix the price of your services.

Your price will reflect your service. A word of advice, do not sell off thinking that it will be easier to start and attract your customers. Because when you want to adjust your prices, your customers will not want to pay the difference. Worse, they could go and see if the grass is greener elsewhere. In order to find the right prices, here too, analyze the prices of your competitors. And write everything down on a sheet or file. You will then know the range in which you are located.

Choose your status

To become an independent consultant, you must choose the status that is right for you. Are you going to get started as an auto-entrepreneur, in wage portage?

The auto-entrepreneur status is excellent for testing the viability of your project and it is acquired without administrative burden.

According to Brian Poncelet, if you want to become an independent consultant while you are an employee, you can opt for salary portage. Your wage portage company then takes care of everything: administration, accounting, for 10% of your turnover. You can then focus on the heart of your consulting business without having to worry about paperwork.

Communicate without delay

Once you have chosen your positioning, you must communicate when you get started! To do this, take the time to carry out your communication strategy and plan.

Ask yourself the following questions:

• Who is your target?
• Your objective?
• In what tone do you want to communicate? This will be done according to your positioning and your target.
• What values do you want to convey?
• What are the arguments in favor of your service or product?

Then remember to choose the communication channels for your communication. For example, you can choose campaigns on social networks, or flyers to send in mailboxes, goodies … Formalize each of your supports, note them in an Excel table and note the date and period of dissemination. Also, consider making another excel table with the budget for each of your supports. Do not wait to be launched to think about your communication.

Discover coworking

No more independent who starts alone at home by being isolated. Today, coworking spaces allow you to be socialized. So you can spot the workspaces and test them to see which works best for you. For example, in the coworking space where Brian Poncelet a business counselor works, you can be offered a day of “test” while working there. More than a bond of socialization, coworking spaces give you the opportunity to find working partners. And best of all, you can also see coworkers calling on your services!