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Management consultancy is one of the most lucrative fields of business. People with exceptional analytical skills, creativity and incomparable skills to solve problems can thrive well in this specific field. There are many ways to become a good management consultant.

Some Simple Tips:

Educational Background: People with an undergraduate degree in business administration can easily attain success in this field. Most of the consulting firms hire two types of consultants which include the associates and the business analysts. The business associates are basically the undergraduate candidates and the business analysts are candidates with advanced degrees. Today there are various business schools which offer various courses such as business strategy and marketing, employee relations, financial classes and accounting, statistics and business law.

Advanced Degrees: Apart from the degrees earned in colleges, it is wise to attend advanced business schools to procure higher degrees in business management and enhance the abilities to evaluate a company. To become a good and reputed career consultant, it is essential gain more knowledge in the field.

Work as a Manager For a Few Years: Real world experience is quite essential to gain the required exposure and knowledge. It is essential to implement theory based lessons in the real field and track the progress while working in a firm.

Powerful Resume: Before applying to consultancy firms, it is quite essential to prepare a powerful resume which showcases key skills and expertise. This will increase the opportunity to get interviewed by reputable companies. It is also essential to be reliable, driven and motivated while attending interviews.

Institute of Management Consultants: By joining the institute of management consultants, it is possible to broaden individual abilities and gain networking contacts easily.

Certified Management Consultant: An authentic certificate as an accredited management consultant creates a huge difference as it increases the chances of procuring a lucrative opportunity. Potential employers comprehend the skills and expertise of the consultant with this certificate.

Hone Communication Skills: A good consultant should possess excellent communication skills to express and communicate thoughts and ideas in a clear and concise manner. This will further increase the prospects of becoming an excellent career consultant. There are various communication classes which offer lessons on business etiquette, social relation and so forth.

Computer Knowledge: Today majority of the businesses are conducted through online portals using computers and technology. It is essential to use modern technological devices and computers to communicate effectively with other business prospects. Computer expertise will increase the efficiency of business operations.

Creative Thinking: One of the most important qualities possessed by consultants includes the ability to think creatively.

Leadership Qualities: Management consultants should possess specific set of skills such as decisiveness, confidence and inspiration. It is also essential to possess skills such as intelligence, courage, honesty and competence.

Management consultants must have the ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines. Businesses include large number of projects with different deadlines. It is therefore quite essential to have the ability and expertise to work and thrive under stress to become an invaluable asset to the clients.

I have a great idea for an invention. I have done research and there is a big consumer market for it. I would like to bring it to the marketplace.
CAN YOU ADVISE ME?

I have an invention that everyone in my family loves. I know that it can make a lot of money.
CAN YOU TELL ME HOW?

I made a prototype by hand and it functions beautifully. I really want to get this product to retail.
CAN YOU GUIDE ME?

I have a patent pending and professional drawings on an invention. I would like to get it licensed.
CAN YOU HELP ME?  
 
These are typical snapshot situations with which the inventions service provider is solicited.
If you guide these people, it means that you are a consultant. Perhaps a ‘reluctant’, unpaid consultant;
but a consultant, nonetheless. By trade, you may be a prototyper, an engineer, a patent attorney, a manufacturer, or like me, an inventions marketer and licensing agent.
But you are a consultant as well.
 
Now that you are a consultant, in addition to whatever regular services you provide, you’ll need to
set up standards by which you are willing to consult. I offer you some possible considerations. 
Create conditions that suit your particular needs. Inventors take note; the more fully you prepare
for the consultation, the more benefit available to you from the consultant.
 
GOAL: To create the greatest amount of value to the inventor, in the most concise period of time.
 
EVALUATION & CRITERIA: Pre-qualify your prospective consultees. Establish what the person expects to get out of the consultation. Determine whether the individual is logical and has realistic expectations. Is he/she serious about moving forward through all the steps to bring the invention to fruition? Sign a Non-Disclosure agreement so that you can preview the invention to determine if you are interested in consulting on it; and, moreover, that you can deliver value to the inventor by doing so. 

MATERIALS: What materials must the inventor make available in order for you to service him/her?
Determine if it is a CAD drawing, working prototype, list of features and benefits, patent search results, patent pending or issued, demographic info., market research, costs of molds and production; or whatever it is that you need from the inventor, in order for you to provide the best advice.

CONSULTING BY FACE OR PHONE, FAX & FEDEX: Determine the best method of communication for both of you. It may be a combination of all of these methods.
 
LENGTH & FREQUENCY OF CONSULTATIONS: Determine the length of time of your initial consultations, (mine are one hour,) and whether you are willing to provide limited or ongoing follow-up sessions; specifying how many, and length of each. Keep in mind how much of your time this takes away from your ‘core’ business service.

FEES: Evaluate the least amount you can afford to charge, based on time spent away from your core business. (When I figure this fee, I throw in a generosity or ‘X’ factor.) Consulting is an opportunity for you to give back to the community. Considering the mistreatment that many inventors suffer from ‘Scam’ companies that take tens of thousands of dollars from them, by making promises on which they do not deliver; you want to provide them with more value than they are paying for.     

DISCLAIMERS: Acknowledge that you are not always right and that the advice you provide is based purely on your personal experience and opinion, and not on hard and fast rules.
 
AUTHENTICITY: Be real for your client. No consultant is an island. If there is an area where your client would be better served by other experts more experienced in that niche, freely refer the inventor to experts whom you respect. Everyone will benefit.

I became a consultant with no intention of becoming one. However, what I was doing by freely sharing my knowledge and experience with inventors, was consulting. You are a consultant when you realize that this activity is taking X % of your time from your core business, and you declare that you are one.
 
Now that you are a consultant, delete ‘Reluctant’, and enjoy what consulting provides to both the inventor, who gains instant access to your years of experience, and to yourself, for the gift of contributing to people.

Expenses surrounding R&D, production, regulatory compliance, marketing, and product distribution continue to increase. The cost of medication and various kinds of specialized health services continues to rise. In addition, the number of blockbuster drugs is dwindling, safety concerns are growing, and greater government intervention looms. All of this means that the value of and the ROI for pharmaceutical consulting services are also increasing.

Staying competitive and profitable is getting tougher for pharmaceutical companies, especially smaller firms, and for health care organizations. John R. Kimberly, Management Professor at Wharton University of Pennsylvania, warns that the “old model is dead, and big pharma is struggling to come to terms with what new model is going to work.” The trick then is figuring out exactly which of the manifold potential solutions will enable companies to remain competitive and thus stay in the market. And added to that is the difficult task of determining exactly which pharmaceutical consulting firm will be the best fit and can provide the best solutions for a particular company.

Pharmaceutical consultancy is a relatively new species of consultancy. While most firms offer a fairly standard range of consulting services, there is some specialization within the field. PAREXEL Consulting, for example, leans toward the management pole, offering the following services: brand management, business development, clinical development, managed markets, medical affairs, sales, and trade and distribution. Maxim Group, on the other hand, has more of an IT slant, with these IT solutions services: IT strategic roadmap, IT utilization/value assessment, software package selection, software package implementation, and system integration.

And then there are those pharmaceutical consulting firms, like Smart Consulting Group, that fall somewhere in the middle, with their own niche areas of specialization owing to specific training and industry experience. Smart Consulting offers a broad range of services in several areas-vaccines, lean manufacturing, quality and compliance, drug/device combination products, FDA regulations, and FTC concerns-with special expertise and interest in quality compliance, quality audits, laboratory strategies, and manufacturing solutions.

Now, many of these same consulting services can be found in many other consulting firms. Two things, though, set Smart Consulting apart from the others: 1) their personnel/team and 2) their ability to view companies and problems from multiple perspectives and thus to discover multiple possible solutions.
Nigel and Denise Smart, founders and managers of Smart Consulting Group, have over 45 years of combined experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. They also possess complementary skill sets, which is illustrative of their entire team. Nigel has a chemistry, microbial/fermentation technology, and biochemical engineering background, and Denise a business and law background. Smart Consulting has for its team a network of other seasoned professionals with 118 years of combined industry experience and wide-ranging expertise:

Analytical QC
QA functions
Regulatory/Legal
Process development
Manufacturing
Project management
Facilities
Validation
Clinical trial management

With the ability to take a comprehensive view of particular pharmaceutical companies and their peculiar problems, viewing them from various angles and multiple perspectives, the pharmaceutical consultants with Smart Consulting are thus able to discover, develop, and propose numerous possible solution options. They analyze and test ideas before defining a solution and make adjustments as necessary in these early stages. Then they create multiple potential solutions and test to determine which one will be the best fit for the problem at hand. But they don’t leave it there. They also build expandable solutions that can evolve and remain valid as the business grows.

Many people become a consultant after working in a certain profession for several years. Professional expertise is necessary to be a good consultant, but it is not the only attribute that consultants need to succeed. Many consultants attend consulting skills training to acquire the range of skills that prepares them for success, and these skills are listed below.

Technical knowledge

Whether you conduct group facilitation, or meet one on one with company decision makers, you need current technical knowledge to address the concerns of clients. If your technical knowledge is up to date, you may still need advice on how to leverage it to serve your clients. Knowledge is the essence of consulting, and learning how to apply your knowledge will help separate you from your competition.

Problem solving techniques

A single technique for various types of problems may be efficient, but it may also fail to address the finer points of the problems. Rather than pursuing a quick solution, the focus should be on finding the solution that works best, and then finding a way to implement it as efficiently as possible. Learning the best techniques for solving different types of problems is the best solution.

Communication techniques

Group facilitation requires a variety of communication techniques, because a consultant rarely interacts with just one member of the team. Consulting skills training focuses on developing proactive communication techniques. These techniques help consultants understand the team’s needs as quickly as possible. The same communication techniques also help the team come to its own conclusions, because the consultant continually re-summarizes the dialogue and asks pivotal questions.

Logical reasoning

When team members are deadlocked on an issue, their reasoning may be clouded by the desire to have their views accepted. Instead of working toward an agreement, they become entrenched in their position, as the discussion grows vitriolic. In this situation, the consultant must be the voice of reason that brings the two sides together; by helping them reach a conclusion for how to proceed. Improving their logical reasoning ability helps consultants guide teams toward logical solutions.

Leadership

Consultants do not have a classic leader identity, but leadership is an essential part of their profession. A person who impartially proposes solutions is not using his or her knowledge to guide the client to a solution. After all, the client probably already knows about many of the potential solutions; it needs help choosing the right one. That being said, a fair amount of persuasion may be necessary to help the client accept the right solution. This is where leadership knowledge is truly helpful.

Conclusion

Being an effective consultant requires more than professional expertise. This person also needs to possess technical knowledge, problem solving techniques, communication techniques, logical reasoning, and leadership abilities. To acquire these things, many professionals attend consulting skills training. For information about the skills that are needed for group facilitation and other types of consulting opportunities, contact a provider of facilitation courses today.

In my business I speak to a lot of consultants – some new and some that have been around more than a few years. One of the questions we get asked a lot though is how much should my consultancy fees be and how should I charge? There are a number of ways to look at this and here are a few pointers, ideally you need to understand:

· Your Billable Minimum
· The Type Of Consultancy Engagement
· The 5 Different Methods For Calculating Fees

YOUR BILLABLE MINIMUM

Step 1. What are your costs?

Your consultancy fees have to cover your operating costs (in this instance I’m talking about the general business expenses excluding your salary) plus an income for you. All Consultancy businesses should know how much and what types of costs are likely to be incurred within a year. For a consultant, office and non expense related travel costs are usually the highest and can easily be 10-30% of income.

Step 2. What revenue do you need to generate?

This cost together with your earning expectations make up your forecast revenue. Say for example this is £120,000, £20,000 costs and £100,000 income.

Step 3. How much time do you have spare after admin?

It may be that you are spending 16 hours a week on non-billable or administrative work. This will give you 3-4 days per week to earn depending on how many hours you work. This translates to 144 to 192 billable days per annum (assuming 48 weeks worked a year). If we assume 192 days this means that on average you need to earn £625 per day to hit your target. If you only work 144 days then this rises to £833 per day on average to hit your revenue and earning target. Having an understanding of this figure will help you determine what fee structure you need. In this example you need to earn a minimum of £625 a day.

THE TYPE OF ENGAGEMENT

Peter Block has one of the best definitions of the three different types of consultancy engagements (see below). What we have found though is that the different types of engagements often drive different types of consultancy fees.

The “Expert” Consultant

· The Consultant is more autonomous and control sits firmly with the consultant. In effect the client has handed over control of the project to the consultant.

· There is a problem and the consultant provides the solution. My suggestion is that payment here should be on a fixed fee plus performance based basis however often this defaults back to day rate due to competition. The more specialised the area and the higher the value added, the more you can charge.

· A good example of an expert consultant is a Specialised Trainer or Specialist IT Consultant.

The “Pair of Hands” Consultant

· Where control sits firmly with the client. The client understands what needs to be done and wants the consultant (or expert) to do it.

· Consultancy Fees here are almost always day rate or even charged per hour but can include performance bonuses. These consultants often supplement the client’s staffing requirements as required.

· Many generic IT Consultants and Interim Management Roles (where there is more competition) sit in this bracket.

The “Collaborative” Consultant

· Where there is an interdependent relationship and control of the project is shared. Management works closely with the consultant.

· Because the success of the project is deeply linked to the client’s ability to contribute and influence the project, risks and benefits should also be shared. This means that a lower day rate may be more appropriate with higher performance based element to the consultancy fees.

5 DIFFERENT METHODS FOR CALCULATING FEES

There are 5 different methods for calculating Consultancy Fees.

1. Time based
2. Fixed fee & Success based
3. Contingency or Performance based
4. Demand based
5. Mix of the above

1. Time based

· This puts the risk squarely on the client, great for the consultant not so great for the client, in fact the worse you do the more you get paid!

· Most suitable for a “Pair of Hands” consultancy projects

2.Fixed Fees & Success Based

· Fixed fees are generally used where the value added is high but equally the risk to both parties may be high

· A fixed fee will often be negotiated as part of a tender

· Success based fixed fee – as above but is only paid out if agreed metrics are met, high risk for the consultant and so needs a higher fee to compensate for this.

3. Contingency or Performance Based

· Two decades ago it was mainly tariff analysts that used these types of fees. After some years of certain consultants not meeting targets, more and more often fees are expected to be charged in direct proportion to the benefits achieved.

4. Demand Based

· Demand based fees are the easiest to calculate – they are either based on a multiplier of what it would cost the client to pay a salary (anywhere from 150-300%).

· Or they are based on what the competition are charging.

5.A Mix Of All Of The Above

· The reality is a mix of any two of the above approaches will often work well to balance the risk to both the client and you the consultant.

Remember businesses and people often don’t buy on price alone, low fees give the impression of a junior consultant, if a potential client says that your fees are too high what they are really saying is:

· I don’t see the benefits
· I don’t see the value
· The risk is too high

Address this and you will go a long way to improving both your fees and your profitability as a consultant.