srehofea.info

Grant writing is attracting a lot of attention these days. More and more people are investigating how to supplement their income, or replace their day job altogether, by writing grants. I am often asked the question, how can I start my own grant writing consulting business? I would urge you to consider the matter very carefully. Making the transition is not as easy as it seems.

There are two major prerequisites one should have before marketing his or herself as an accomplished grant writer. These are having:

1) a track record of successful grant proposals; and
2) nonprofit knowledge and experience.

There are numerous people out there touting themselves as professional grant writers. Meanwhile, they have little to no field or nonprofit grant writing experience. They think because they are confident in their writing ability, or have a background in technical writing, that they would easily make the transition. Grant writing and technical writing are very different.

Grant writing is similar to technical writing in that you’re gathering information about various subject matters. As a grant writing consultant, you may have one client or multiple clients with varying missions and programs. Having a technical writing background will allow you to write about numerous subject matters with ease.

Grant writing is dissimilar to technical writing in that it is an emotional appeal. One has to be able to merge the technical side of the argument with the emotional side. People who give away money do so because they have an emotional or personal connection to a cause. It is the grant writer’s job to convince the grant or donor that their charity deserves the grant more than the dozens, hundreds, or thousands of other asking charities.

Anyone can print a business card and say they are capable of delivering such a product. However, I would dare to say, as a CEO or Executive Director of a nonprofit looking to outsource my grant writing the chances of me hiring someone with no track record, knowledge, or field experience would be close to zero. I have heard far too many horror stories about the unethical practices of people claiming to be professional grant writers. This behavior makes nonprofit leaders distrustful and resistant to the idea of outsourcing their grant writing.

If you are an experienced grant writer and you have the documentation to prove it, you can start your own home-based grant writing consulting business with very little start up costs. When I started 2 1/2 years ago, I developed a presentation folder that included:

1) a portfolio of foundations that had approved my proposals;
2) my bio with professional related experience;
3) a brochure listing the types of projects I had worked on; and
4) a postcard that highlighted the benefits of working with my company ($ secured to date, affordability, and free grants research).

I made a short presentation to a few people I knew who managed nonprofits. Then I used local grantee lists to start a database in order to send out advertisements. Each month I would mail a postcard to the nonprofits on my list and follow up with a phone call. I got my first few clients using this marketing strategy. Soon after, those clients began to refer their colleagues and the rest is history.

Looking for a San Diego environmental consulting company can be a challenging endeavor when you consider how many there are to choose from. Just how do you tell one from another? Let’s talk about finding the best San Diego environmental consulting firm for your money. Here are a few pointers for how to choose the best environmental consulting firm.

Do Thorough Research

Hit the search engines to find the right San Diego environmental consulting firm. Though it will probably be overwhelming, this should give you a good idea of the selection available at least. Aim for those that come at the top of the results, as they will usually be the best.

Ask for Recommendations

Colleagues and business associates may have the best suggestions on which San Diego environmental consulting firm to go with. They’ve had experience, and hopefully they’ve learned from their mistakes. Ask about their experiences to get a solid idea of the quality of service that is offered by each company.

Hit Up Your Top 5 Picks

Send an email to your top companies. Ask about their services, their rates and any special offers. The reputable companies will contact you in 24 hours, sometimes even by phone if you prefer. Take your time and ask plenty of questions. It’s your time and money on the line, so be a picky consumer.

See if They Have Free Trials

Most companies will offer a trial period on the house so you can get comfortable with their services. Take advantage of this by asking your top 5 for a free trial. Bring an objective third party along to the consulting sessions to help you in your decision. Go with the company that best meets your needs. Make sure they are willing to listen and can cooperatively meet your demands. See if they specialize in customized San Diego environmental consulting services, not just something that’s out of the can.

Go with Gut Instinct

Human interactions usually respond from the gut. Trust your instinct. If you get a bad feeling, it’s probably not just the pasta salad. Do you trust these people to do your San Diego environmental consulting? Do they seem capable? Will they put the needs of your company first and foremost?

Do you want to get better at environmental consulting? Here’s what you need to do:

1. Attend relevant seminars and trainings. From time to time, several groups of individuals are organizing seminars and trainings about topics that are closely relevant to the environment. As an environmental consultant, it’s a must that you take advantage of these so you can obtain fresh information about your chosen industry. The more knowledgeable you are about relevant issues, the better you’ll become in giving your clients with the most appropriate recommendations in regards to their company’s environmental issues.

2. Specialize. You can’t really be jack-of-all trades when in comes to environmental consulting. It’s important that you focus your time and energy on one specific field so you can easily become the master of it. Depending on your skills and preferences, you can focus on ecological surveying, legal environmental consulting, environment conservation, and waste water management.

3. Work with experts. You can’t really be too knowledgeable when it comes to environmental consulting. You can increase your knowledge and discover new issues by simply working closely with your fellow consultants. Join relevant community sites where these consultants share their experiences and their discoveries to improve your knowledge.

4. Check on your competitors. Environmental consulting is fast becoming one of the most competitive fields these days. If you want to boost your sign up rate or if you want more companies to hire you, you will need to know how to outplay your competitors. Check what they are doing and create an action plan on how you can outdo them.

Successful implementation of management systems and compliance with ISO standards require the appointment of competent individuals to become environmental managers, quality managers, and occupational health and safety managers. Nevertheless, there are instances when an organisation requires the aid of independent business management consultants to better understand what the organisation needs to do to improve its performance. Insights from external sources are extremely valuable because there are issues that members within the organisation fail to recognise or prioritise but are in fact of critical importance to achieving success.

Regardless of the type of business management systems you are trying to set up and implement, you definitely need people to oversee those systems. You may appoint yourself, appoint one or several of your employees, or specifically hire business consultants. Business consultants provide specialist help and advice on ISO standards compliance and certification. They are experienced and skilled engineers, occupational health professionals, and business managers with relevant qualifications required for developing, implementing and enhancing management systems.

As with all cases of developing and implementing management systems, compliance is better than certification. Quite often, ISO certification isn’t really worth the cost, time, and paperwork. This is especially true to small and medium size businesses. However, you can’t deny the fact that a substantial number of customers demand ISO certification, pushing you to go through all the trouble of obtaining one. Thankfully, business consultants provide cost-effective and innovative, not to mention fast approaches in complying with ISO standards and obtaining ISO certification.

The standards have stringent requirements, making it extremely difficult for small businesses to even design and implement management systems on their own, worse try to apply for certification. The bureaucracy alone is already taxing enough for an enterprise with limited resources. Furthermore, continued compliance is necessary to keep the certification. Once certified, the work just doesn’t stop. You do need long – term assistance and advice on ISO standards compliance because your organisation needs to consistently implement and upgrade your management systems.

At the start, you may have no one to designate as management systems representative, so you opt to hire business consultants. To guarantee your continued compliance with the standards, it may be more practical to create an in-house management systems team after you’ve achieved certification. Thus, those consultants must effectively pass on the knowledge to your in-house team for consistency and continuity. This helps to provide your business with a short-cut towards gaining valuable knowledge and skills in ISO standards and other relevant information that is otherwise in-existent in your organisation. Moreover, the transferred knowledge brings you competitive advantage that’s lasting and effective.

When setting out to franchise a business, the smart owner leaves nothing to chance. In the world of franchising there are pitfalls and obstacles in plenty, just in the regular course of transitioning a successful business into a successful franchising organization. Therefore, it is of vital importance to establish a well thought out strategic approach. For most, a franchising consultant is a key ingredient in creating a viable plan for making franchising a reality.

Why Use a Consultant?

Franchising a business may sound like a rather straightforward process. However, many business owners make the mistake of assuming that just because they created a successful business from the ground up that they have the business savvy to turn it into a successful franchise, as well. Though the business sense of the successful owner is unquestionable, it is important to understand that the world of franchising is much different from the world that the owner is coming from.

The reality is that transitioning from being an owner of a business to being the owner of a franchise is very much moving oneself into an entirely different line of business. Much of what an owner may think he or she understands about business as it applies to their established brand may not apply to the business of actually franchising their brand. A franchising consultant adds the needed and invaluable asset of experience in the world of franchising to the pre-existing framework of the owners drive and know-how.

What Does a Consultant Do?

Franchising consultants bring more to the table than just practical experience in the arena of franchising businesses. A good franchising consultant will conduct a level of in-depth analysis that will allow you to get a broad perspective as to the feasibility of franchising your business and what you might expect if you decide to move forward. A reputable and ethical consultant should be willing to tell you if your business is not really marketable as a franchise, even at the cost of losing consulting fees.

Most importantly, a consultant provides the practical knowledge to augment your vision and turn it into a reality. Think of it this way: you know your business and how to make it a runaway success. Your franchising consultant knows franchising the same way. Just as someone looking to make a start in your industry would benefit in using your system and business model, you can benefit from using the guidance of a consultant in franchising your business.

Can I Go it Alone?

Is it possible to franchise your business on your own? Sure it is. After all, you started your business from scratch, you have the drive, determination and, most importantly, good business sense to succeed. It isn’t at all implausible that with enough research and time you could come to understand the business of franchising as well as you understand your own business. However, by going it alone you assume a greater risk of failure and commit yourself to spending a great deal of time learning what a good franchising consultant already knows. Ultimately, you have to decide what is best for you, your business and your vision for your business’s future.