Small Business Services
What do small business consultants do?
It’s a good question and one we have been asked at parties many times. Lots of consultants use industry jargon and high rates to try and dazzle clients when asked this question, but simply put, we act as an extra set of expert hands to help businesses with their specific issues.
We’ve broken out our expertise into 3 main areas, but within those areas we’ll work with you to understand what help you need and design specific solutions for your small business. Learn more about what consultants really do here.
Small Business Solutions
About Operations Consulting
‘Business operations’ is a wide ranging term, but simply put, these are the important day-to-day processes that make your business run efficiently. Many times in small businesses these processes are very manual and can automated or streamlined with software platforms to drastically improve efficiency.
About Marketing Consulting
Effective marketing is more than simply creating a Facebook page and posting once a week. Different types of small businesses attract customers through different channels and specific messaging, so finding the right marketing mix for your business is crucial.
About Search Engine Optimization Consulting
Getting your small business to rank top of the results in search engines (mainly Google) is complicated and takes time, content, and strategically designed websites. Taking the time to set your business up to be easily found on searches can be crucial to getting new clients and customers.
Operations Consulting Services
Mapping of current ‘mission critical processes’
Reengineering of ‘mission critical processes’ for efficiency
Automation of processes with cost effective software
Software implementation and optimization, such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms
Creation of Key Performance Indicators and other business metrics for reporting and decision making
Staff recruiting and hiring assistance
Creation of Human Resources processes and benefits plans
Meeting restructuring
Marketing Consulting Services
Creation of digital marketing channels, including:
YouTube
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
Google Business Profile
TikTok
Pinterest
X
Creation of content creation strategy for all channels
Creation of initial content for channels
Gathering client/customer reviews
Adding companies to online business directories and reputation management sites
Optimizing of current webpages for user experience
Search Engine Optimization Consulting Services
Keyword research for search engines
Webpage copy rewriting with keywords
Webpage SEO titles, descriptions, and alt image text creation
Website size and speed optimization
Blog creation and rewriting with keywords
Backlinking strategy creation
Multilingual website creation with hreflang tags
Clean up of broken links, missing pages, missing canonical tags, duplicate content and titles
Reindexing of websites with Google
Setup of Google Analytics 4 (GA4)
Not ready for a full project but still want help?
No worries, we understand and we’re giving the secret sauce away for free in our small business advice blogs.
How does a project work?
Step 1: Initial Small Business Consulting Meeting
In the very first step, we’ll setup an hour long call to discuss your small business needs. We’ll ask questions about your company’s operations and structure, revenue streams, clients, current marketing efforts, etc. We’ll also explore your current pain points and the areas where you feel there are opportunity for improvement. Finally, we’ll provide a brief look at your current online presence compared some potential competitors.
Step 2: Develop a Project Scope
After the initial meeting, we’ll put together a project scope document outlining potential project tasks, an estimated project length, and an estimated cost. We’ll work together to tweak this project scope to ensure we are getting to the items which are most important to your business.
Step 3: Setup Project Logistics
Bigger companies with bigger budgets tend to have consultants onsite at their office location(s), but that’s not usually feasible for small businesses so we do our work virtually. If it’s in your budget, we can do a week or two onsite to kick things off though. Some of the logistics that need to happen for the project get rolling are:
Establish a client counterpart who will be the point person to help answer questions, give access to platforms, and provide information
Setup access to email, file storage, websites, existing social media platforms, etc.
Create a brand guide with logo requirements, font types, company colors, and overall marketing/branding styles
Step 4: Start the Project
Once all the steps are complete to get the project set up, we’ll get to work. Along the way we’ll have project check-ins to discuss progress and adjust the scope as needed.