business plan for consulting and e learning

SUCCESS CONSULTING(CONSULTING & TRAINING - IMAGINARY COMPANY)

GATEWAY TO SUCCESS

INDEX

• Basics of Success Consulting

• What

• How

• Thumb Rules

• Strategy

• Niche consulting

• e-Professional learning and development services

• How to enter the Niche market & ePLD

• Finances

• Capital investment

• Monthly finances

• Breakeven plan

INDEX

• Sales and Marketing

• General - Generation “Y” Marketing

• Social - Generation “X” Marketing

• Sales Targets

• Partnership – Associations

• Niche Consulting

• e-Professional learning and development services

• Checklist

• Legal registrations

• Office setup

BASICS OF Success Consulting

What is Success Consulting

How is Success Consulting works

Thumb rules

WHAT IS SUCCESS CONSULTING

Niche Consulting

e-Professional Learning &

Development services

Success Consulting

HOW SUCCESS CONSULTING WORKS

Phase 1-Creation

Phase 2-Expansion

Phase 3-Consolidation

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

HOW SUCCESS CONSULTING WORKS

Year 1 – Creation


• 70% (Business share)

• e-Professional learning & Development


• Revenue: 500,000 $

• Profit 150,000 $

Year 2 – Expansion





• Revenue: 1,000,000 $

• Profit 300,000 $

Year 3 – Consolidation





• Revenue: 3,000,000 $

• Profit 1,000,000 $

THUMB RULES

• Infrastructure Costs: if more than 50% of your capital business tends to fail

• Opportunity Costs: If business don’t earn even the bank interest on the investment is a loss

• If training & consulting business don’t break even in first 9 months tends to fail

• If business don’t meet sales plan consecutively for 2 months review sales strategy

• If business exceed sales plan consecutively for 2 months sales targets are substandard

STRATEGY

Niche Consulting

e-Professional learning and development services

NICHE CONSULTING

What is Niche Consulting

Why Niche Consulting

Pros and Cons of Niche Consulting

How to enter the market

Unique Selling Points

NICHE CONSULTING

What is Niche Consulting

• Concentrating on identified potentially high growth markets where the presence or penetration of competition is less

or sure of getting business with references.

• Education, Healthcare, etc.,

Why:

• Focus on the targeted high growth segments helps quicker ROI and long-term sustainability

• Small dedicated teams and in control budgets & expenditure

NICHE CONSULTING

What are Pros & Cons

Pros Cons

Less investment Market identification

Less risk Short term

Networking relations workRisk of losing business when key

man moves

Only Quality Matters Limited market possibilities

Can be worked on low volumes Geographical limitations

NICHE CONSULTING

How to enter the Market:

1. Conducting a free institutional survey on

• Internal Stakeholders Employee Satisfaction Survey

• External Stakeholders Customer Satisfaction Survey

• Competitor Benchmark / Industrial Benchmark

2. Identify the gap in the institution and send the proposal

3. Offering the consulting solutions (including Learning & Development) using aggressive pricing strategy

NICHE CONSULTING

What are USPs (Unique Selling Points) of Success Consulting

1. Free survey for the Institution

2. Benchmark against industry standards / competitors

3. Experts advice

4. Enhanced Internal / External satisfaction

5. Improved Bottom-line

e-PROFESSIONAL LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT (EPLD)

What is EPLD

Why EPLD

Pros and Cons of EPLD

How to enter the market

Unique Selling Points

E-PROFESSIONAL LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT (EPLD)

What is EPLD Services

• End to End online based professional development services including registration, training, evaluation and certification.

• Serves from fresh graduates to senior working professionals across Middle East.

Why

• Provides professionals and college freshers happy learning and development hours (anytime study)

• Say a college student can learn basic English, Word, Excel and power point training anytime after the college on his smartphone or tablet. Certification is done only after an examination and telephonic interview.

• Or a professional can get trained PMP, Six Sigma or ITIL anytime after office on his smartphone or tablet. Certification is done only after an examination and telephonic interview.


What are Pros & Cons

Pros Cons

Market identification Moderate investment

Long term High risk

No risk of losing business when key man moves

Networking relations don’t work

One time investment & can be reused theoretically unlimited times

Works on High volume only

Anytime, anywhere access to clients

No geographical limitations


How to enter the Market:

1. After conducting and identifying the gaps in the free institutional survey as discussed in Niche Consulting, offer few courses (with not more than 10 hour) to the decisions makers of the institution to get the understanding.

2. The courses are to be sold in bulk (at least 50 in lot)

3. This is ideal way to approach, as the hospital staff and students do not have much time to attend the training outside the campus.

4. Get associated with some big institutions like Al Obeikan, Al Marai, King Fahad Medical City, for getting the approval for our courses. i.e., they consider our certificate is valid.


What are USPs (Unique Selling Points) of Success Consulting

1. Customized e-learning in Arabic

2. Anytime learning (24x7 learning)

3. Certification is Valid across the industries

4. Low cost for individuals (No leaves, travel, Stay, etc.,)

5. Low cost for corporates and Institutions (No productivity

impact, trainer & printing costs, etc.,)

FINANCES

Capital investment

Monthly finances

Breakeven plan

Partnership models

CAPITAL INVESTMENT

Year Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

Niche Consulting 50,000 $ 100,000 $ 100,000 $

e-Professionaldevelopment

50,000 $ 100,000 $ 150,000 $

Niche Consulting: for translation of content from English to Arabic. (presentations, survey forms etc.,)

e-Professional development: for videos in Arabic

MONTHLY FINANCES

The expenses are directly proportional to employees. So, only few permanent employees.

All other employees are hired based on requirement / project basis

No office required

Expenses - 2013 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

No of employees 2 3 4

Salaries 12000 18000 24000

Telephone & Internet 2000 3000 4000

Office Supplies 500 750 1000

Misc. (maintenance, costs) 200 300 400

Visa, Iqama, insurance etc., 1000 1500 2000

Rent Accommodation 2000 3000 4000

Marketing 5000 5000 5000

Website Maintaince 300 301 302

Total 17700 26550 35400

BREAKEVEN

$0

$100,000

$200,000

$300,000

$400,000

$500,000

$600,000

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10

11

12

REV

ENU

E

MONTHS

Breakeven

REVENUE FIXED COSTS TOTAL COSTS

If Fixed costs and Initial Investment costs are kept low the company can break even in 8-9 months

BREAKEVEN

If Fixed costs and Initial Investment costs are kept low the company can break even in 8-9 months

$0

$100,000

$200,000

$300,000

$400,000

$500,000

$600,000Income Chart

Sales Revenue 100.0%

Cost of Sales 32.0%

Gross Profit68.0%

Fixed Expenses 42.5%

Income Before Tax25.5%

Income Taxes0.0%

Net Income (Loss)25.5%

SALES & MARKETING

General - Generation “Y” Marketing

Social - Generation “X” Marketing

Sales Targets

SOCIAL –GENERATION “Y” MARKETING

Social

Twitter

Facebook

LinkedIn

Google+

Youtube

Google Ads

WHY TWITTER

Source: peerreach.com

• Saudi Arabia is no.1 country in Twitter usage

• 3 million active users

WHY FACEBOOK

0 200,000,000 400,000,000 600,000,000 800,000,000

Australia

United States

United Kingdom

Saudi Arabia

Egypt

Russia

Population Vs FB Users

Population (End of 2012) Internet Users (End of 2012)

Facebook Users (End of 2012) % Internet Users

% Facebook Users % Facebook Users of Internet Users

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook_statistics

• Saudi Arabia has 5 million FB users

• ranked 34th out of 184 most FB active countries

• Expected to grow by 30% by 2015

WHY LINKEDIN

Source: http://www.slideshare.net/amover/linkedin-demographics-statistics-jan-2012

• 1 million users in Saudi Arabia

• 71% of 1million users are between 18 – 34 years

http://www.slideshare.net/amover/linkedin-demographics-statistics-jan-2012

WHY GOOGLE +

Source: emarketer.com

• 4.1 million users in Saudi Arabia

• Expected to grow by 32% by 2015

GENERAL –GENERATION “X” MARKETING

Conventional

Search Engine

Optimization

Google Ad Words

Eye Riyadh

Bayt.com

email marketing campaign

Referral coupons / discounts

WHY SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

1. 90% of all online traffic is achieved through the various

search engines

2. SEO costs 60% less than advertising and campaigning

3. SEO Will Help People Find Your Website

4. It’s a long term strategy, 12 – 18 months

Source: http://searchengineland.com/the-ultimate-list-of-reasons-why-you-need-search-engine-optimization-121215

WHY GOOGLE AD WORDS

Source: http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2012/12/03/why-use-adwords

WHY REFERRAL DISCOUNTS

1. Referrals can increase revenues from 20 – 40%

2. Referral discounts are the best and trusted way for business

3. Provide 5% discount per referral to a maximum of 50% (i.e.,

one can refer up to 10 participants per Programme)

4. It’s a long term strategy, 24 – 36 months

WHY BAYT / EYE OF RIYADH

1. Bayt and Eye of Riyadh can help us reach more professionals

in very less time.

2. They may not bring us business in bulk, but will surely take

the brand to the targeted professionals

3. It is short term activity

4. Ads to be given only for first 4-5 months

PARTNERSHIPs & ASSOCIATIONS

Niche Consulting

e-Professional learning and development services

PARTNERS / ASSOCIATIONS NICHE CONSULTING & WHY

Incorporated in USA, by William E. Perry in 1980, QAI is recognized today, as a leading global consulting and workforce development organization addressing ''Operational Excellence'' in knowledge intensive service organizations.

• Engaged 50+ ministries, departments and governments globally• Served 40+ countries globally• Trained 160000+ professionals

QAI is interested to get associated with us as partner in Saudi Arabia. Recently their associate contacted me regarding the same.

Consulting Partner

PARTNERS / ASSOCIATIONS NICHE CONSULTING & WHY

• 15+ Million Customers• Trusted by 99% of the Fortune 500• Surveys in Arabic in English • Unlimited surveys for < 500 USD per year

Survey Partner

PARTNERS / ASSOCIATIONS EPLD & WHY

Company is the leading provider of customizable training materials, enabling customers to deliver high quality and engaging content to their staff or students using proven materials that can be edited and localized to suit any training situation or audience.

• 150 countries worldwide choose company as vendor of choice for customizable courseware, eLearning, mLearning

• Clients: Microsoft, NASA, Pfizer, United Nations, Dell, Revlon, Kraft, Michelin, Princeton University, FedEx, General Motors and more.

• 300 subjects and thousands of modules

eLearning Partner

CHECKLIST

Legal registrations

Office setup

CHECKLIST – LEGAL REGISTRATIONS

No. ProcedureTime to

CompleteAssociated Costs

1

Reserve a company name

Less than one day (online procedure)

no charge

An entrepreneur uses the online option to check whether a company name is available: if a name is not reserved, the website will hold it for the entrepreneur who needs (i) to print a confirmation and (ii) take it to the Unified Center (UC) to officially reserve the name. The name reservation can also be done online through the website of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

2

Submit the required documents to the Unified Center (UC)

1 day no charge

The required documents must be submitted to the Unified Center:

• Articles of Association (AOA), in line with a standard template provided by the UC

• The AOA must also be submitted in a soft copy on a CD (in practice)

• Confirmation of the reservation of the company name

The following documents may also be requested:

• Identification card• Application form• Cover letter

3Pay the registration fee at the Bank window within the same building of the Unified Center (The registration fee can be paid at the bank that is set up at the UC.)

1 day

SAR 1,200 registration fee +

SAR 650 publication of summary AOA

CHECKLIST – LEGAL REGISTRATIONS

No. ProcedureTime to

CompleteAssociated Costs

4 Notarize the Articles of Association with a Notary public 1 week no charge

5 Open bank account 4 days no charge

6Submit the approved documentation, certificate of deposit and AoA at the

Unified Center, as well as 2 applications and one undertaking2 days no charge

7 Pay the Chamber of Commerce membership fee at the Unified Center 1 daySAR 2,100

Chamber of Commerce fee

8

Register with the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI)

3 days, simultaneous with previous

procedure

no charge

To register for social security insurance, the employer must open a file with the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI). This action will register the

employer and the employee with the organization’s two branches: the Pension Fund and the Industrial and illness Fund (Occupational Hazards Fund). Employers

must contribute 11% of employee salary (Saudi employees), whereas the employees must contribute 9%.

9

Register with the Department of Zakat 3 days, simultaneous with previous

procedure

no chargeZakat, a religious wealth tax, is assessed based on taxable income and certain assets.

CHECKLIST – OFFICE SETUP

Computer Hardware and Accessories Qty General Office Supplies Qty

Printer Business cards

Modem Envelopes

Laptops - Notebook computer Stationery

CD writer Imprinted advertising specialties

PowerPoint projector Pencils and pens

Digital camera Printer paper

Surge protector Cleaning supplies

Computer locks Notepads

Scanner File folders

Printer cartridges Stapler

CD and floppy disks Scissors

Computer Software Office Furniture and Equipment

Microsoft office software Worktable(s)

Virus protection software chair (s)

Accounting software File cabinets

Contact management software Paper shredder

Website building and maintenance software Client seating

Payment processing software Fireproof safe

Inventory management software Desktop calculators

Communications Bookcases

Telephone line Postage meter

Internet connection whiteboard and markers

Desk telephone Alarm system

Fax machine Fire extinguisher

Answering machine/service First-aid kit

Speakerphone Wastebasket

NOTE FROM AUTHOR

• This is a reference document based on my experience, this may work or may not. Risk is yours.

• This is copy righted material so please do not copy

• This is developed for Mideast Markets – precisely, Saudi Arabia.. Some slides may not be very relevant to other countries / geographies

• Write to me @ [email protected] for any clarifications

mailto:[email protected]

ABOUT AUTHOR

• Upendra Kartik, is a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt from Motorola Uniersity, USA

• Mentored 100+ improvement projects in US, India and Middle East, delivered 50M$ Business Impact

• Presently working as Associate Vice-President for Process Excellence in an International Business Process Solutions company

• Created Business Excellence Framework to help solve complex business problems with simple methodologies

business plan for consulting and e learning

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