The Clever Guide to Operating an Online Consultancy Business
Operating an online consultancy business can be great.
You have the freedom and flexibility to work with the clients you like, helping them solve their problems with your unique set of skills — be that in professional services, business consultancy or allied health. But, as I’m sure you know by now, there is a lot more to running a successful business than simply spending your time doing what you’re good at.
There’s also all the technical aspects of running a business to take into consideration. Without finding a way to manage those, most businesses struggle to scale and grow.
When built the clever way, your digital setup should maximise your word-of-mouth referrals, attract and convert new leads, save you time by leveraging technology to automate tasks, and create an ongoing return on investment that not only pays for itself, but sets your business up for an easier path to future growth.
So how can you operate your online consulting business the clever way?
By getting website help, by being strategic, setting smart goals, and keeping track of what’s working (and what isn’t) so you can make regular course corrections.
5 Considerations for a successful online consultancy business
Let’s look at the 5 steps you need to take to operate a successful online consultancy business.
1. Be Clear On Your Goals
If you want your business to be more than a replacement for the income you received from your past employer then this should be a key element of your business goals. You are building a tangible asset that will one day be worth something if you decide to move on to the next thing.
Financial and other business goals should be baked into your digital operations so that you can create real value in the business and develop scalability in your service offerings.
Scalability does not mean you always need to be hustling your way to the next ‘win’. It means that you can build steady, organic, comfortable scale into your business to maximise its value over time.
2. Get Strategic
You may have started with a website and gradually added different technology elements as your business has progressed. If you are serious about making your business a success, it’s time to get strategic and think about creating value so your business can build to grow.
How your business is set up online should be strategically aligned with your business goals. That includes the capabilities and assets at your disposal like staff, experience, skills, systems and technical know-how.
Websites are often considered in isolation, almost as an afterthought as a business gets off the ground. But that’s exactly where so many websites fail to deliver on their true potential and add real value as the front door of your business. The most successful businesses build to grow. To that end, your website strategy should directly reflect your business strategy. Consider what your goals are in your business and what action a potential customer would need to make to support them.
Work backwards to translate that business strategy across to your website—the front door of your online business. Make it easy for your users to follow the path you want them to follow. For instance, make it a simple and logical step for them to book a free discovery call or a paid consultation. Get some website help so that you can remove any barriers that might be stopping people from taking those desired actions on your website.
3. Leverage Technology To Automate Your Systems
Your systems are the hub of your business. They can help you streamline your processes as well as fill gaps in staffing and time. And you can leverage your website to do all of this. By automating your systems through your website, you can make it easier to run your business while also creating a better experience for your clients.
If built in the right way, your website can help you grow your business. With the right website help, you can automate tasks that might otherwise need another staff member – or you on evenings and weekends!
Automation can include booking systems that link to your diary, online payment options, digital contracts/agreements, along with automated email sequences or email templates for repetitive tasks like status updates or welcome sequences for new and existing clients.
4. Accept That Progress Might Be Slow
One of the biggest struggles small businesses face as they start to grow is the limited availability of resources to build the kind of business they want. Yep, there is not usually oodles of money sitting around to invest into growth.
Some businesses choose to jump down the rabbit hole of seed funding to grow and scale. But I’ve read The Hard Thing About Hard Things and have landed firmly in the “no thanks” camp when it comes to being answerable to investors about how I run my business (and my life).
If you’re in the same boat, then you have no choice but to build on your foundations gradually to meet your long-term goals. But that’s not a bad thing. If you’re dedicated to consolidated growth, gradual progress will get you there and keep you heading in the right direction.
Scaling the slow way gives you flexibility to learn as you grow — about your clients, your business and what you want out of it. You can make decisions that suit your life as much as your bottom line, and build a business that you can be proud of without the pressure of rapid hustle to hit the big time.
5. Schedule An Annual Audit
Now’s a good time to remember that as your business grows and progresses, ideas change, focus shifts, and that’s okay! By committing to an annual audit you’re giving yourself the grace to make course corrections frequently, without losing sight of the big picture.
These are the three key areas you should focus your annual audit on:
Your website
It’s important to check in on your most significant marketing asset to make sure it’s telling the story you want to tell. Yes, I’m talking about your website. Your website is more than just a marketing tool. It’s the most public-facing asset your business owns.
Regularly looking at (and update if needed) key areas of your website is essential to keeping your business moving forward. The initial investment you made in your website has built a foundation to work from. However, just like a house, you need to maintain your website to make sure it retains its value.
Your tech stack
The technology you use to support and facilitate your digital operations is known as your ‘Tech Stack’. It can be as simple or as sophisticated as you like, but you should be regularly looking at your systems to check they are doing what you need them to do. This exercise is also a great way to identify opportunities for automation and efficiency within your processes.
Marketing systems
Most businesses will have other systems they are using for their marketing, from social media accounts, to email marketing software, and then the systems that run between them to connect and automate your workflow.
Business systems
Are you business systems connecting the dots and measuring your data to the level you want them to? Are there opportunities to save time/money or reduce stress/friction in your business workflows?
Audit your tech stack regularly
Take the time to examine each piece of your technology puzzle so that you can ensure the systems you have are serving your business as they should. If they aren’t, consider if there is a better option out there.
You also want to check that the different elements of your tech stack are “talking” to each other as they should be. If there are problems, then your developer should be able to give you some website help and recommend a better solution.
Your workflow and processes
There are more systems in your business than the technology solutions you use.
Mapping your workflows from scratch on an annual basis is a great way to identify opportunities—i.e. automation—and eliminate bloat—maybe a part of the process that none of your clients understand.
There are also your internal processes to support those workflows. Commonly referred to as Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), these are all of the processes that you do regularly in the daily operation of your business.
Auditing these regularly will ensure that you are constantly creating value in your business and doing everything as efficiently as you can while simultaneously providing the best possible experience for your clients so they will keep coming back for more and refer you to everyone they know. You may find things that you can automate or streamline during this process, or you might find gaps in your process that need to be filled. Our vCMO clients have ongoing access to our growing SOP library, so they can fill their process gaps on the fly.
Are you operating your consultancy business at maximum clever?
It’s easy to get lost in the shuffle from client to client and forget to take the time to focus on the practice of running your business (I’ve been there!). If you are serious about taking your consultancy business to the next level, sometimes you have to call in some experts. In the same way that I know hands down that I can’t scale my business without the help of a bookkeeper and financial advisor, website help is a core business function for any business operating remotely — after all, when your customers are everywhere, your website is your front door.
So, if you’re ready to make the most of your website investment and run your online consultancy the clever way, get in touch to find out more about how Studio Clvr can assist with professional web design, website help, or ongoing strategic support as your virtual Chief Marketing Officer.
