Pro Tips on How to Add Operational Structure and Systems to Your Consulting Business

Some consultants jumpstarted their businesses after they decided to offer up their expertise for a price, land one or two clients, and then figure it out as they go with the first set of deliverables.

Others were fortunate enough to land a former employer as their first and perhaps only client and they may land a few others over time.

However, if you want to grow your business, steadily increase revenue, streamline your service delivery, diversify your client base, build, and protect your company’s reputation, and eventually scale, adding structure and systems is a must, not a choice.

Operational Structure Makes It Clear

According to the Society for Human Resource Management, organizational structure is the method by which work flows through an organization that allows groups to work together within their individual functions to manage tasks. Operational structure, however, is the roadmap that outlines how things get done. It’s your operations manual or your written procedures. 

Taking it a little further, it’s your operations manual and consistent use of specific tools to operationalize the business.

For example, it describes how you onboard a client, what tools are used, and who does it.

Do you see how having that written description can help you each time you sign a new client or when a new employee or contractor comes on board?

Pro Tip #1: On a day when you have a light load, verbally describe your processes, and have it transcribed using Otter AI or a similar application. I used this approach and then asked my assistant to create written processes. Ops manual done!

Systems Streamline and Can Increase Revenue

Your operational structure has been defined and documented. Now, it’s time to add systems that will streamline your work, add efficiency, save time, and increase revenue.

A system defines what processes, tools, people, and strategies are used to complete business activities.

For example, to have a successful complimentary consultation with a prospective client, what processes do you implement, what tools do you use to complete each process, what people are involved, and what strategies do you use to ensure you have a successful complimentary consultation that leads to a potential sale.

Adding systems can increase business revenue because they remove the guesswork and help make your service delivery consistent. Systems can lower your costs because applications can automate repetitive tasks. There are many more benefits to having systems in your business and I provide several, specific, easy-to-implement examples in the Ready Set Go Consult Accelerator.

Pro Tip #2: To prepare for complimentary consultations, use applications that can automate several steps in the process and develop a sales call script.

Get Started With The Ultimate Consultants and Freelancers Starter Kit

If you’re ready to take the first step toward adding structure and systems to your consulting business, get started with The Ultimate Consultants and Freelancers Starter Kit. The kit has several email templates, legal templates, over 30 business tools you can use to build your consulting business, and more.

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