Define a business idea, preferably one that you create, that might work as a start-up firm in the United States. Your proposed firm should provide a particular product or service mainly to customers located outside the United States.

Then, using your knowledge from each of the previous modules, explain how your firm could succeed in foreign markets by applying any of the described global strategies. Select a country or countries (or a region) to focus on and explain why that market would be best for your firm. (Remember to discuss institutions.) Provide a detailed assessment of the product or service and of the country or region that will be your selected market.

Finally, describe the specific steps that your firm would take to enter that foreign market. Consider resources, logistics, and competition in this part of your discussion. This is the heart of your paper and should clearly explain the business strategy you plan to use.

Your paper should and include at last seven research articles from peer reviewed journals, in addition to books and other credible sources. You should use professional and academic references only. You may use electronic references, but they must be reputable and verifiable sources.Do not use unverifiable sources such as articles without any responsible author or institution.

Your paper should be 12-15 pages in length, well-written, and properly referenced.

The structure of your paper should be as follows:

• Introduction and Background on the business idea (1-2 pages)
• Description of the product or service that will be provided and why it would be in demand in the given market you’ve chosen (2-3 pages)
• Explanation of the target market—why did you select it, what is the legal, political, and economic environment in that market (2-3 pages)
• Strategic Analysis – walk the reader through your business strategy. What model will you use, why did you choose it, and what will make it successful in this market with this product or service (5-8 pages)

Use Saudi Electronic University academic writing standards and APA style guidelines, citing references as appropriate.

Solution

A business idea is a concept which can be used for commercial purposes. It typically centers on acommodity or service that can be sold for money, according to a unique model.

The product that our firm will provide is for consultancy.The dictionary defines a consultant as “an expert in a particular field who works as an advisory either to a company or to another individual.” Sounds pretty vague, doesn’t it? But unless you’ve been in a coma for the past decade, you probably have a good idea what a consultant is.Businesses certainly understand what consultants are. In 1997 U.S. businesses spent just over $12 billion on consulting. According to Anna Flowers, spokesperson for the Association of Professional Consultants in Irvine, California, the association has recently noticed an increase in calls for information from people who want to get into the business.

A consultant’s job is to consult. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s that simple. There’s no magic formula or secret that makes one consultant more successful than another one.But what separates a good consultant from a bad consultant is a passion and drive for excellence. And–oh yes–a good consultant should be knowledgeable about the subject he or she is consulting in. That does make a difference

Why an Organization Wants to Hire a Consultant

According to a recent survey, here are the top 10 reasons organizations hire consultants:

1. A consultant may be hired because of his or her expertise.This is where it pays to not only be really good in the field you have chosen to consult in, but to have some type of track record that speaks for itself. For example, when I mentioned earlier that I had become an expert as a fund-raising consultant, I knew that every client who hired me was doing so partly on the basis of my track record alone. After all, if you are a nonprofit organization that needs to raise $1 million, it makes sense to hire someone who has already raised millions for other organizations.
2. A consultant may be hired to identify problems.Sometimes employees are too close to a problem inside an organization to identify it. That’s when a consultant rides in on his or her white horse to save the day.
3. A consultant may be hired to supplement the staff.Sometimes a business discovers that it can save thousands of dollars a week by hiring consultants when they are needed, rather than hiring full-time employees. Businesses realize they save additional money by not having to pay benefits for consultants they hire. Even though a consultant’s fees are generally higher than an employee’s salary, over the long haul, it simply makes good economic sense to hire a consultant.
4. A consultant may be hired to act as a catalyst.Let’s face it. No one likes change, especially corporate America. But sometimes change is needed, and a consultant may be brought in to “get the ball rolling.” In other words, the consultant can do things without worrying about the corporate culture, employee morale or other issues that get in the way when an organization is trying to institute change.
5. A consultant may be hired to provide much-needed objectivity.Who else is more qualified to identify a problem than a consultant? A good consultant provides an objective, fresh viewpoint–without worrying about what people in the organization might think about the results and how they were achieved.
6. A consultant may be hired to teach.These days if you are a computer consultant who can show employees how to master a new program, then your telephone probably hasn’t stopped ringing for a while. A consultant may be asked to teach employees any number of different skills. However, a consultant must be willing to keep up with new discoveries in their field of expertise–and be ready to teach new clients what they need to stay competitive.
7. A consultant may be hired to do the “dirty work.”Let’s face it: No one wants to be the person who has to make cuts in the staff or to eliminate an entire division.
8. A consultant may be hired to bring new life to an organization.If you are good at coming up with new ideas that work, then you won’t have any trouble finding clients. At one time or another, most businesses need someone to administer “first aid” to get things rolling again.
9. A consultant may be hired to create a new business.There are consultants who have become experts in this field. Not everyone, though, has the ability to conceive an idea and develop a game plan.
10. A consultant may be hired to influence other people.Do you like to hang out with the rich and famous in your town? If so, you may be hired to do a consulting job simply based on who you know. Although most consultants in this field are working as lobbyists, there has been an increase in the number of people entering the entertainment consulting business.

Location and Employees

Your consulting business will probably not require a large capital investment at first. In fact, if you are able to, you should consider operating out of your home. (Certain deed restrictions and local laws may prohibit you from doing this; check with an attorney before you proceed.)

There are many advantages to having a home office. Among them are:

1. Low overhead expenses.You don’t have to worry about paying rent or utilities for an office; you will appreciate this feature until you establish a regular client base.
2. Flexibility.There is little doubt that operating as a consultant at home gives you a great deal of flexibility. You can set your own hours and take time off as you need it.

III. No rush-hour nightmares.For anyone who has had to commute to and from a job during rush hour, this will be a welcome change of pace.

1. Your home office space will most likely be tax-deductible.The IRS has relaxed the rules for people who work at home, but check with your account or income tax prepares to see if you qualify for this deduction.

Employees

When you first open the doors to your consulting practice, you may be able to handle all the operations by yourself. But as your consulting business begins to grow, you may need help handling administrative details or help completing the actual consulting assignments.

You need to make some important decisions. For example, do you have the time it will take to make labels and insert your brochure into 1,000 envelopes? Can you afford to spend time doing administrative tasks when you could be using that time effectively marketing your services–and signing up new clients?

There are many options when it comes time to decide if you need help with your paperwork. For example, a quick look through the Yellow Pages will reveal a number of small secretarial support firms. The rates will depend on a variety of factors, including how large or small an organization it is and what types of services it provides.

While it will pay you to shop around for these types of services, don’t select a secretarial service just because it happens to have the lowest prices in town. Instead, ask for references, preferably from other consultants who have used their services, or from small-business owners. A good, reliable support service is worth the price in the long run.

There will come a time, however, when you may find it more cost-effective to hire someone to work in the office with you. Hiring a good administrative support person can sometimes mean the difference between success and failure–between obtaining more clients or constantly losing clients. There are some benefits to having someone in the office with you. Among them are:

1. A) You save time and money.By having someone concentrate on the more routine tasks (opening the mail, filing, answering phones, etc.) you can focus all your efforts on recruiting new clients. Think about this: Would you want to lose a $500-a-day client because you were too cheap to hire someone to stuff your brochures into envelopes?
2. B) You don’t worry about being out of the office.If you are a one-person operation, it’s hard to be out on the road marketing your services if you’re worried about clients calling–and only getting your answering machine.
3. C) You have someone to offer another perspective.Sometimes it can be pretty lonely trying to do everything yourself. Having someone around the office during the day who can offer another perspective can be worthwhile.

Income and Billing

Now that you have made the decision to open your consulting business, you need to get serious about how much money you will charge your clients. If you charge too little, you won’t succeed in business. If you charge too much, you won’t get any clients. So how do you find that middle ground that seems fair to everyone involved? One way to help you decide how much to charge is to find out what the competition’s rates are. A simple telephone call, asking for their brochure and rates, should do the trick. Then set your rates so that you are competitive with everyone else in the community.

Before setting your fees, make sure you have listed all of your expenses. There is nothing worse than setting your rates, having your client pay you on time and then finding out you failed to include several expenses that materialized. This brings up an important point to remember ineveryjob you take from a client: Include a “miscellaneous” line item in your fee proposal. But don’t pad the miscellaneous figure to make additional income.

Most clients will understand that in every project, there will no doubt be additional expenses. Just be sure everyone knows upfront an approximate figure for those expenses.

Before you set your rates, find out what other consultants in your community are charging for their services. Sometimes a simple telephone call to another consultant’s office asking what their fees are will give you the answers you need. Or you may have to have a friend call and ask for their brochure, or any additional information they can collect regarding fees and pricing. If you live in a small town and there are no other consultants in your field, then rejoice and be glad, but set your fees at a reasonable level!

When setting your rates, you have several options, including hourly rates, project fees and working on a retainer basis. Let’s examine each one closely.

Hourly Fees

You need to tread carefully when setting hourly fees, because two things could happen: A) Your hourly rate is so high that no one could ever afford you (therefore no client will ever knock on your door). B) Your hourly rate is so low that no one will take you seriously.

Keep one important rule in mind when establishing your fee, no matter which structure you decide on: The more money people pay for a product or service, the more they expect to get for their money. In other words, if a client agrees to your hourly rate of $400, then you had better give $400 worth of service to that client every hour you work for them.

Some clients prefer to be billed on an hourly basis, while others hate the idea of paying someone what they perceive to be too much per hour. Those clients usually prefer to pay per project.

Project Rates

When working on a project rate basis, a consultant normally gets a fixed amount of money for a predetermined period of time. A few of my fund-raising clients actually preferred to be charged this way, so it wasn’t unusual for me to charge $36,000 for a one-year project in which I consulted them on how they could raise money. Because of the amount of money involved, most agencies preferred to be billed on a monthly basis. This worked out fine until I realized that many agencies were late paying their monthly bills.

Because of this, I decided that all future clients who wished to be billed on a monthly basis would pay the first-month fee and the last-month fee at the signing of the contract, which meant that if the agreed-upon amount of the project was $36,000, to be paid on a monthly basis, I received a check in the amount of $6,000 before I began any work ($3,000 for the first month’s fee and $3,000 for the last month’s fee).

Retainer Basis

Working on a retainer basis gives you a set monthly fee in which you agree to be available for work for an agreed-upon number of hours for your client. While in the ideal world you would have a dozen or so clients who hire you and pay you a hefty sum each month (and never actually call you except for a few hours here and there), don’t get your hopes up. Most companies that hire a consultant on a retainer basis have a clause in their contract that prohibits you from working for their competitors.

Working and getting paid in this method certainly has its advantages. You are guaranteed income each month, and when you are starting out in your consulting business, cash flow can be a problem. Some consultants actually offer a percentage reduction in their fees if a client will agree to pay a monthly retainer fee. The average income when a consultant is paid on a retainer basis is $3,500 per month.

Marketing

If your consulting business has no clients, then you have no consulting business. But you must remember that selling your consulting services is not the same as selling a car or a house. In the case of the car or the house, the customer is probably already in the market for one or both of those products. Your job, then, becomes harder, because you are marketing your services to people who may not even be aware that they need those services.

There are a variety of methods you need to become both familiar and comfortable with in order to begin attracting and keeping clients. Let’s look at some of the more conventional ones that are being used by many consultants today.

Brochure Basics

There are fourissues your brochure should address. They are:

1.It should clearly convey what your services are.

2.It should tell customers why you are the best.

3.It should give a few reasons why you should be hired.

4.It should include some brief biographical information.

That’s it. Keep it simple, but do it right. Remember, your brochure represents you in the marketplace, so make sure you polish it before you send it into action. Your entire consulting career depends on it!

Cold Calling

You must do whatever it takes to make cold-calling work and make it easier for yourself. There are a few tricks you can use to make cold-calling a little easier for you:

1. i) Prepare a script ahead of time. Spell out word for word what you expect to say when you get someone on the telephone. Remember, though, that your goal is to get a face-to-face interview and, eventually, a new client. So before you end up stumbling over your sales presentation (either in person or over the telephone), write your script and practice it again and again.
2. ii) Be creative in your efforts to reach the decision maker. Most times you will encounter a secretary or administrative assistant who has years of experience turning away cold callers like yourself. But don’t give up! Don’t let any obstacle stand in your way! To avoid being screened by the secretary, try calling before she is on the job. Yes, you may have to call before 8 a.m. or after 5 p.m., but at these times, chances are the decision maker you are trying to reach will answer their own telephone.

iii) Limit your cold calls to just several days each month. And look forward to those days, making sure you put your best effort into the process. That way, not only will it become easier to make those cold calls, but you will find yourself actually looking forward to making them!

Advertising

The limits you place on advertising your consulting services will be directly tied to your advertising budget. If you are lucky enough to have a very healthy advertising budget, remember that you don’t have to spend the money on ads just because you have it to spend. Advertising can be very expensive. Jeffery B., a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, consultant, advertises in his association’s publication. “They publish what is called the Green Book, which is a directory of research and marketing consulting businesses around the country. It has helped me generate new business,” he says.

Other consultants, such as Merrily S. in Newark, Delaware, depend on word-of-mouth. “The best form of advertising [for my business] has been word-of-mouth and recommendations from other people,” she says.

Depending upon the type of services you offer, it may be necessary to advertise in specialized trade journals or magazines. For example, as a fund-raising consultant, I have placed ads in such publications asThe Chronicle of Philanthropy, Non-Profit TimesandFund Raising Weekly.

Before you spend any money, start looking through professional journals and newspapers relative to the fields you specialize in. Take some time and examine ads that have been placed by other consultants, and then carefully determine how effective you think their ads may be. Then design one that suits you best.

Newsletters

Whatever your consulting field is you should have more than enough information to produce a newsletter as a means of attracting potential clients. If you don’t have the time, or don’t feel comfortable self-publishing your own newsletter, hire a local freelance writer and graphic designer to do the job for you. Again, you don’t have to make it an expensive, four-color, glossy publication. The simpler you keep it, the better. A good newsletter will sell itself based on the content rather than the splashy design.

Start collecting newsletters that are being published in your consulting field. If you think there are none being published, or if you think there are only a few in your field, guess again. A quick visit to the library will reveal several newsletter directories–Oxbridge Directory of Newsletters(Oxbridge Communications) andHudson’s Newsletter Directory(The Newsletter ClearingHouse)–which list, by subject, newsletters that are published not only in the United States, but in other countries. Take some time and write for sample copies before you design and write the first issue of your own newsletter. You’ll be surprised at the quality of the newsletters that are being produced today.

Newsletters are an effective means of communication and, in my opinion, represent the best advertising media for a consultant to sell his or her services. Think about it the next time you receive a newsletter in the mail. Did you put it aside to read it later? And why did you do that? Probably because you wanted to make sure you weren’t missing any important news or information.

But what about that brochure you received in the mail the same day? Did you put it aside to read later? Or did it go directly into the trashcan? Think about this before you spend big bucks on a glitzy brochure that may not even be read.

Public Speaking

Public speaking is another excellent way to recruit new clients and to earn a reputation for excellence in your community. Unless you live in a town so small it doesn’t have a chamber of commerce or a Lion’s Club, Rotary Club or other similar service organization, you can begin offering your services as a speaker for luncheons, dinners or any other special occasion.

In addition to using the telephone directory, see if anyone has published a directory of service organizations in your community. You can visit the library and ask at the reference desk. Go through and make a list of organizations that hold monthly meetings and therefore may use guest speakers. Contact each group and offer your public speaking services.

Ask for Referrals

This often-overlooked method of finding new clients is such an easy marketing tool (which is why it’s usually not thought of), you’ll kick yourself for not thinking of it yourself. When you have finished your consulting assignment and your client is in seventh heaven (and is no doubt singing your praises), that is an excellent time toask for a referral!

Simply send a note or a short letter asking for the names of any colleagues, friends or business associates they feel might be good prospects for your consulting services. Ask their permission to mention their name when you write to the people whose names they pass on to you. Sometimes all it takes is having a mutual friend or respected business associate to get the potential client’s attention.

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