How To Become A Business Consultant in Nigeria

 

Business consultants are involved in improving the structure and productivity of businesses. If you have acquired some level and years of experience in business, you can easily turn this expertise and experience into a career as a business consultant.

A business consultant basically provides business owners with resources, advice and planning designed to improve a business’s performance and efficiency. They are contracted professionals that help businesses identify problems, implement solutions, and reach goals. They provide the skills and expertise that business owners need but lack. They deliver answer to questions that business owners can’t figure out on their own.

If you’re an individual with expertise in business, you can actually create a lucrative career for yourself in business consulting. Follow the steps below to set up a career as a business consultant in Nigeria.

 

#1. Identify the problems you can solve:  As you begin to establish your consulting business, start by looking at what value you can provide to your clients, of course this has to do with your area of expertise. Make a list of the problems you can comfortably help your clients solve. Then come up with services that will provide solutions to the problems.

 

#2. Decide how you will work: There are a variety of ways you can approach your work and decide on the best way to deliver your services. You can decide to:

• Will your services involve teaching small business owners how to do something on their own?
• Guidance and counselling. You can develop your services to guide and coach small business owners in establishing and running their businesses
• Services-based. Will your services involve you actually doing the work for your clients. Services like; business incorporation, creating business plans, writing business concept notes etc.

 

#3. Acquire training and certifications: Due to the type of services you will be providing your clients, you might need to undertake some professional training and acquire special certifications. For instance, you can get trained in project management, There are so many professional bodies you can easily get affiliated with in Nigeria. Others include; Institute of Management Consultants Nigeria, Institute of Chartered Entrepreneurs Consultants of Nigeria and others like these. This will give you some level of proficiency in services you offer and will also enable the public have faith in your services.

Being a member of the Institute of Management Consultants in Nigeria bestows on you certain privileges. And this includes an increased recognition and competence level accepted by both public and private establishments looking for professional advice.

 

#4. Defining your target clientele: Once you know what problems you can solve, the services you’ll offer and how much you will charging for your services. It will be easier for you to determine the target audience who will be most likely to hire you. So, start by outlining the characteristics, qualities, habits ( spending habits and tendencies) and demographics of the person who will represent your ideal target customer.

 

#5. Put up a business plan: A resource like the dayoadetiloyebusinesshub.com will help you take a more strategic approach to starting as a small business consultant. You’ll need to consider factors such as funding, goals, and competitors if you’re going to do it right.

If you’re ready to get started, you can check out our business plan summary on on consulting services, or simply contact 08105636015

#6. Register your company: Even if you are a business of one, you should set up a legal entity for your business so you are not personally liable for your business. Many small business consultants choose to create an LLC ( Limited Liability Company) business structure. And this is easily achieved by registering with the Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria ( CAC). To do this, visit the CAC official website www.cac.gov.ng or contact 08105636015.

 

#7. Develop the right skills: As a business consultant, you’ll be called in to work on problems, which means that you need to be able to find creative solutions to problems. To be effective, you need to use critical thinking and problem solving regularly to solve problems.

Work on developing the following skills to effectively run your consultancy;

• Problem-solving and analytical skills
• Develop communication skills. Good communication skills are essential in almost every field, but they are especially important in a field where you are selling yourself all the time to businesses. One of the best ways you can improve your communication skills is to take classes that can help develop your communication skills. It’s also important to actively listen in any given communication. If you’re listening, you can respond to what the person is actually saying, which makes the person feel important; a quality you need when you’re trying to sell yourself.
• Leadership skills.
• Organizational skills
• Be able to meet targets and deadlines. To cater to your clients needs, you may sometimes need to work on a very tight schedule to meet tight deadlines. Therefore, you must be able to work under stress and to deliver jobs at the time you said you would.

 

#8. Open a business account: Get your finances in order from the start and set up a banking account just for your consulting income and expenses. Just move to any commercial bank and open a corporate account for this purpose.

#9. Promote your business: Once the groundwork is laid, you can then plan on how to start marketing your business to attract clients. First, draw up a marketing plan and then come up with a marketing strategy to implement your plan. Follow these tips to promote your business;

• Create a website. Create a website that lists your services, experience, testimonials, case studies, and contact information
• Create a professional email. Set up an email address that you can use to connect with your clients and prospective clients
• Logo. Create a simple logo that represents your brand
• Use social media. First, create a Facebook business page. Open Twitter and LinkedIn accounts. An Instagram account is not necessary for your kind of business. Be sure to always update your accounts and maintain an engaging front on all your handles.

Hope this helped?