This
series of articles will address these issues, beginning
with this article on selecting the types of services you
want to provide and the types of clients you want to serve.
Determining Services
My first glimpse into market research for my consulting
practice was empirical evidence. An associate of mine
and I had been accepted to present a three hour workshop
on Starting a Development Program, on the last day of
the AFP conference in Atlanta in 1993. Based on past experience
at these workshops, we anticipated having about 20 people
in attendance. When we ended up having 137 people in the
session and Standing Room Only, it dawned on me that there
were a lot of organizations that needed development programs
but didn’t know how to get started. Having been
in a position of starting a brand new development office,
I decided this was a good market niche for me. However
I soon discovered that while there a lot of organizations
that needed to get started in development, few of them
had money to pay a consultant.
So, your first foray into research is to determine what
services are needed by the clients with whom you hope
to work. And, what are they willing to pay for them. Your
research needs to include an honest evaluation of your
own capabilities as a consultant. What areas are you experienced
with and how can you use your skills and talents to help
organizations. And make money!
As I realized that a lot of organizations that needed
help could not afford my fees, I began focusing on small
capital campaigns, since organizations are usually willing
to pay for a campaign consultant. However capital campaigns
are a tough place to start unless you have many years
experience working in large institutions and have run
capital campaigns yourself. Even though I had limited
experience with campaigns, my unique niche was working
with organizations that did not have a development staff.
Most organizations will not hire a consultant without
a solid track record, but I felt this focus would enable
to serve a market that rally needed consulting expertise.
I did some research to find out how many capital campaigns
were being conducted in the geographic areas I felt were
my prime market. Over time, the smaller campaigns became
bigger and bigger and now about sixty percent of our work
is in capital campaigns, and the size of the campaigns
grew from hundreds of thousands to millions and tens of
millions.
How to Get Started in Market
Research
There are several ways you can do market research. You
can hire someone to do (or do yourself) a telephone or
mail survey of nonprofit organizations in your community
(or the geographic area you want to serve) in order to
determine: |
A less formal
form of research is to attend meetings such as your local
AFP chapter and talk to people about their experience
with consultants and what they see as their greatest needs.
Your local community foundation, United Way or Chamber
of Commerce also prove helpful in determining the needs
of the nonprofits in your area.
Ongoing
Research
Your Business Plan needs to be updated on an annual basis.
One reason for this is that your target services may change
with time. You may find that you start out being a grant
writer and then, after working with organizations to guide
them through the process of developing program grants,
that you have a knack for strategic planning. But, is
there a market for that service and can it be profitable?
Or, you may feel that your special skill is in organizing
and managing special events, but as developing sponsorship
opportunities for events becomes more of a focus, you
may find yourself developing annual corporate campaigns
for your clients.
After about six years I business I discovered that I really
loved doing workshops and training people so I teamed
up with another consultant to form my current company,
originally thinking that we would actually make money
doing workshops! We soon discovered that it is very difficulty
to actually make money on workshops, but they proved to
be a great marketing tool.
Determining
Client Focus
The other side of this research is—to whom will
you provide services? Many consultants specialize in a
certain field—education, environmental organizations,
health care, human services, arts and culture. Some are
even narrower in their focus, i.e. private schools, mental
health, or a certain denomination of churches. Your first
research again should start with you—what do you
know best? What has your past experience been and which
organizations do you like working with? If you have an
artistic flare, you may chose to work with arts groups
as your primary focus. Or perhaps human services are the
area for which you feel your experience best suits you.
Your research should also include talking to others who
work in that field who would not be in competition for
you. For instance, if there is an architect in your community
who is known for designing libraries, you might want to
talk to her about what unique situations and personalities
exist in the library community. Be aware that some fields
will again only be interested in hiring someone with extensive
experience in their field. I find that often churches
want to hire a consultant who has done numerous church
campaigns within their denomination. If you decide to
focus on a particular area, be aware that you will need
to engross yourself in their unique language and culture.
For example, agencies dealing with disabilities are very
sensitive to person-first language and an unknowing consultant
can start off on the wrong foot if they re not familiar
with this concept. Also, just as institutions of higher
education usually tend to only hire staff with experience
in higher education, the same is true of their acceptance
of consultant, and they will usually not hire a consultant
that does not have a higher ed background.
Another
Option
The other option is to be generalist, either in types
of services provided and/or types of agencies served.
I personally prefer being a generalist because I love
working with a variety of clients that have included international
causes, animal rescue organizations and museums, among
many others. And I enjoy interacting with the various
personality types in different organizations. However
I have many consultant friends who say they will never
work with another arts group, university, church, (fill
in the blank).
Being a generalist is wise if your geographic focus is
limited, it will open up a lot more prospective clients
to you. However, those consultants who gain a reputation
as being a specialist in certain areas, often have unlimited
opportunities to travel to clients all over the work.
(More about this in a future issue of determine your geographic
focus). |
