Starting a Consulting Boutique from Scratch

This course aims to teach you how to create and run a consulting boutique, how to build a technical and financial proposal for consulting opportunities, and how to read terms of reference for consulting opportunities.

What is a Consulting Boutique?

A boutique is a term used to define a small store or company. It is a combination of the business’s size, the scope of activities, location, and, most significantly, how the firm perceives and presents itself.

However, in certain instances, the word is associated with consulting businesses. Boutique consulting businesses, as opposed to large consulting firms, focus on a certain niche and do not provide general consultation to their clients.

Boutique consulting businesses are often smaller in size, with tight ties to local clients or a specialized area of practice.

Some Consulting Terminologies You Need to Know

1. Action Plan: It is a detailed, step-by-step strategy for carrying out a specified action, objective, or task.
2. AOB: It is an abbreviation for “any other business.” This abbreviation is commonly found on meeting agendas.
3. Beach: This term refers to a consultant who is not currently engaging in any assignments. This indicates that the consultant is currently not working any paid hours.
4. Buckets: Another way to express “categories” or “groups” when discussing a project.
5. Chargeable: These are the hours that you may bill a client for.
6. CAGR: It is an abbreviation for “compound annual growth rate.” The CAGR is similar to the internal rate of return, which is commonly employed in finance.
7. Deliverables: These are items that consultants provide to their clients at the conclusion of a project or assignment. They might be research papers, PowerPoint presentations, or spreadsheets.
8. Drill-down: This is a phrase that is used after a consultant has summarized a project and someone wants the consultant to get into the details.
9. Elevator pitch: This term refers to a quick remark or paragraph that summarizes a whole concept or initiative.
10. EOD: This is an abbreviation for “end of day.”
11. Facetime: Means being physically available for coworkers and superiors to exhibit efficiency.
12. Greenfield: This term refers to a new and exciting prospect for a business.
13. Hard Stop: Consultants use the term “hard stop” to describe when a meeting must be concluded.
14. Leverage: It is the concept of using one thing to get another.
15. MECE: An abbreviation for “Mutually Exclusive and Collectively Exhaustive,” which indicates that your solutions and data should be completely exclusive and without loopholes or overlaps.
16. Pipeline: This term refers to forthcoming projects for consultants or businesses.
17. Smell test: It relates to the notion of double-checking something before trusting it.
18. White space: This term refers to an untapped region of a business that could produce additional business or money.

Now that you know have an idea of what to expect by enrolling in this course, start now.