Tips For Going It Alone - Safety Consultancy

[Safety Man]

Hi All,

New on this site, having found it while searching the net for tips/guidance/help.

I am thinking of starting up my own consultancy like probably a lot of other people have already done so or have a similar idea. I know away from the HSE side of things the success like with any type of business will depend on how much time, effort and money you put into it!

Having started my career as a graduate trainnee within the O&G industry I am now looking at taking the plunge into consultancy away from the O&G industry!!

If anyone can offer any advice and guidance that can help me, in regard to ways of gaining a client base (new business) in terms of what works and what doesnt, any autitor/inspection apps that would help me to get started as well as also give me any other Information/advice to help me make a more decisive decision as to whether I take the plunge!

Thanks in advance.

[Alexis]

Hi Safety Man.

A very warm welcome to HSfB from me. Good to have you join us.

I am going to let our members who have gone down this route come in with their experiences when they have a moment. They will know the pitfalls and the pluses.

Good luck with your new venture.

[Messy]

After 32 years in the fire service, I dived into the world of self employed

I loved the freedom
I loved making the website and stationary
I spent a while making an office at home
I already had 3 NHS Trusts as customers
I worked long hours to gain the trust of new customers and to seek recommendations
With others, I won a massive fire risk assessment contract for hundreds of buildings (& serious money)

But:

I missed the teamwork, as self employment can be isolating
I become obsessed with chasing the work. I said yes to everything and then tried to fit it in causing stress
I even swapped business cards at a dear friend's funeral which I am not proud about
Mrs Messy was getting a little bit unreasonable, making a fuss about my 16 hour (once 2 x 20hr) days and 7 day weeks!!!

So:

I took a routine job which was a part time temp filling in a vacancy for a major employer with a fascinating risk profile
I was struggling to service all the work coming in, and a couple of people I had got in to help let me down
The major employer customer asked me to help find a full time replacement for them
After a chat with Mrs Messy (who screamed YES!!), I gave up my business and went back on PAYE for them
Lower salary I will admit, but holiday pay, sick pay, pension, and a great team

I dont regret any of it - not for a second

The reason for this post is to recommend you really think long and hard about taking the plunge. It is NOT for everyone and it's no failing if you have a go and decide to swim back to shore!!

Good luck!!

[AdamJ]

I quit a senior H&S job back in 2005 and went self employed. Some initial thoughts:

I took a mortgage extension so I could then plan on working for one year with no income which lifted the immediate pressure. There wasn't enough to chuck loads of money into the new business but I didn't have to worry about bills for around a year which helped a lot.

In the beginning, decide what you are going to offer and then sell sell sell. There is no born sales person, just people who don't mind being told no and don't let it get to them. I learned that the long hard way and people saying no used to crush my confidence initially.

Don't aim at small businesses initially (fewer than say 10-20 employees), aim at the medium-sized ones initially (say 20 to 200). The small ones want everything for nothing, budgets are tight and every penny has to lead to an immediate measurable impact on the bottom line for them. The medium sized ones have more scope for longer term value, employee moral, employee general well-being and have a bit of a budget for it. Yes, employees in small businesses need protecting as well but you aren't starting a charity and have to pay your bills. Big companies can work but can be a pain initially as they often want to see a track record, but once you've got a few medium ones onboard then don't be put off by the idea of approaching a big one.

If someone phones up and says, and it really happens, 'I'm not that interested in this but I want my ar$e covering', hang up.

Don't discount. Value what you provide and price it accordingly. If you go cheap then raising prices again is hard.

Also on money, don't be afraid to stand your ground on payment terms. My terms were for payment 30 days after the report and invoice were sent after the job. For repeat clients that often got extended to 60 days which was normal. Then you get the big boys who offer work and then say their terms are 90 or even 120 days 'from the end of the month on which they accept the invoice onto their system.' You send them an invoice on the 15th and they don't 'accept it onto their system' until the 1st of the next month, so they don't even start counting the 90 or 120 days until the 30th or 31st of that second month - you are already waiting for 45 days! Don't be afraid to say no and stick to your terms on a take it or leave it basis, it works more often than you may think.

Cast your net wide in terms of what you can offer. I started out doing anything and everything I was experienced in, from risk assessment and training to PAT, audiometry, fire safety, noise assessments, and on and on. I threw everything at the wall and then had a look at what stuck. In the end 75% of my business ended up being noise and audiometry which i didn't expect, then fire and H&S making up the other 25%.

Quote quickly. We got so many jobs because when we were asked for a quote we got a written quote to them that same day, or if it was after about 4pm they got the quote first thing in the morning. Our competitors were delaying quoting for days and even weeks. Sometimes clients got fed up waiting and went with us, but a lot of the time they said our fast response made us look the most professional and helpful. Strike while they are thinking about it, don't wait.

Get a good website - it's a client's window into you.

And on the bad, be careful with expansion. I got over-confident in 2008 when we landed some big clients so took on, in the space of three months, three new employees. From me and one employee to five. That meant three more salaries, three more cars (I had to provide them for the towing element of the audiometry work), three new sets of equipment (that and the car came in at about £30,000 per person!), and a LOT of new fixed costs. And I moved from the house into a dedicated office on a six year lease. A LOT of new fixed costs at once. Then not four months later Lehman Brothers went bust and the bottom fell out of the market. We went from doing around 60 quotes a month to, in Feb 2009, three. That nearly broke us. It didn't and we recovered and got back into profit and ongoing expansion up to 11 employees before I sold it, but it was hard and I would now rather say no to work than expand so fast again.

Edit: Personally, I'd steer well clear of apps and stuff. No client wants to see a consultant using a generic app that will never meet the requirements of all the sites and companies you'd go into. Apps are, in my humble opinion, are lazy, too generic and no good. Develop your own systems and ways of working rather than pre-set apps or templates or checklists. For me, and I mean it as encouragement to do your own thing rather than criticism, that's a sign of people who should be in consulting and who shouldn't.