So I have to write a paper and this is the topic: I have written about marketing

Question

So I have to write a paper and this is the topic:

I have written about marketing and partnership but I'm having a hard time selecting a business to write about since I have no experience in the field and I'm having a hard time getting a hold of the professor. If anyone could shoot me some ideas and expertise that would be awesome! Thanks in advanced

Assignment #2

A chance meeting and exciting news…..

Two friends from your days from collegepropose you form a partnership to offer consulting services. They currently has a contract in hand that would provide approximately 12 months of engineering consulting work for the three of you at about $75,000 a month that you will share equally plus per diem expenses and travel (paid by client). To do this partnership, you must resign from your day job at Engulf and Devour where you are currently Director of Engineering Services at a salary of $225,000 per year plus various benefits including health care and retirement worth about another $75,000 per year. Things are looking bleak at E&D and a new job might be attractive. As a dedicated follower of this class, you recognize a number of issues that you must address before forming this relationship. Of special interest is your concern about the future for the new partnership. You have a maximum of eight (8) double-spaced pages to formulate your plan for developing this firm.

Warnings:

1. Kindly remember that answers such as “No, this is a bad idea.” Or “Way cool, I’ll do it.” are not college-level work and will be graded accordingly.

2. Assume this assignment is a legitimate business and is not fraudulent or criminal, etc. I recognize that my set-up can be misinterpreted.

This assignment is due by 5pm Professor Standard Time on Monday, October 19, 2015.

Explanation / Answer

You can research and write about the paper I will just pour in some ideas.

First of all leaving a fixed salary day job for a consulting career is always a dicey decision to take. In this case, I have a day job with a good position and great pay and also retirement and other benefits. The future of the consulting firm is fixed for a year or so for $25000 per month but after that the development totally depends on the three partners of the firm. The success of this contract in hand will give way to future contracts. There is an option that I can be a sleeping partner in the firm sharing my ideas and consulting views on the projects, without leaving my current job, which in fact will be a double bonus for me. Although my share in the profits would decline, but I will earn more than I could by doing only one thing at a time.

Factors contributing to the success of the consulting firm

Short-Term, Operational Success Factors

Maintaining workflow and backlog helps firms avoid the spikes of work overload or unbillable employees by scheduling their future hiring and engagement activities.

Staffing and recruiting to meet engagement demands are critical for firms to execute projects and grow.

Engagement controls (e.g., work plan, scheduling tools, and financial reports) enable the engagement or account manager to manage the engagement more carefully to meet the expected schedule, budget, and quality of deliverables.

Key financial drivers (e.g., staff utilization, multipliers, revenue factor, cash flow and overhead costs) are tracked, managed and benchmarked for the whole organization, as well as for individual units, engagements and staff.

Long-Term, Strategic Success Factors

Client satisfaction is achieved through meeting or exceeding client expectations for budgets, schedules, and quality of deliverables, as well as through service and understanding of client needs.

Personal relationship-based marketing and sales still account for much of an organization’s business development. Organizations are often hired largely on the basis of personal relationships with clients, particularly in the private sector.

Brand differentiation helps successful businesses position themselves consistently and become known as the low risk expert in their market sector.

Market-based organization structures enable project-based firms to understand and respond to their clients’ sector-specific needs.

Retaining key employees lowers the costs associated with recruiting and training new employees.

Retaining knowledge and institutionalizing best practices is a significant differentiator of the most successful firms, which capture new ways of working and make them an integral part of the organization’s operations.

Most professional services industries are undergoing rapid change in today’s economy and fast-paced project environment. Following are some of the current internal and external dynamics:

Stagnant market environment challenging firms to reduce costs

Due to the current economic climate, firms are challenged more than ever to keep tight control on costs, maintain/increase revenues and show profits in order to stay competitive. Many professional services firms, from management consulting organizations to architectural and engineering firms are struggling to attain and maintain clients while their revenues are declining. Forward thinking firms that adopt Resource Optimization and Planning are realizing a significant advantage over their competitors. Through PSA, they are using this opportunity to focus on their business structure, relationships with clients, and processes of winning, producing and delivering work.

Hope and fear surrounding the impact of the internet and e-commerce

Just as professional services firms were early adopters of the fax machine for sharing drawings and correspondence, so they enjoyed many benefits from the arrival of public networks, e-mail, and the web. Now, however, with the advent of project portals, public collaboration zones, and rudimentary e-commerce, the Internet has begun to change the very fabric of many professional services industries. Organizations watch the changing landscape with high hopes for improved productivity and opportunity, mingled with fears for how the traditional relationships in their projects may change and perhaps marginalize their own role.

Chronic understaffing, shortage of key professionals, and turnover

Staffing and recruiting can be both a short and long-term limitation on an organization’s ability to execute projects and grow. Effective, organized recruiting is critical if a firm is to maintain or increase its capacity to take on work. Retaining the knowledge accumulated by key personnel and using it to train new employees are of the utmost importance in a high-turnover environment.

Overloaded management and staff

Support functions often crumble under the weight of increased workload, especially in a down economy where people have to do more with less. When these groups struggle — e.g., failing to create and distribute timely and informative reports or letting marketing efforts slide — a “ripple effect” occurs throughout the organization. Projects suffer, client relationships are damaged, cash flow problems arise, and so on.

Reduction or elimination of administrative support staff

In an effort to drive down overhead costs, many organizations have greatly reduced their levels of administrative support. Senior and billable staff are taking more responsibility for their own word processing and communication tools. Easy-to-learn automated processes and self-service opportunities for all employees, particularly in accounting and HR, reduce the workload and increase support staff productivity

Industry consolidation and spin-offs

At the same time, through mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures, many professional services industries are becoming more segregated between large, consolidated organizations and small, niche firms. Organizations that merge with or acquire another organization wrestle with how to integrate technical and business processes, as well as how to pool all employees’ collective knowledge. Increasingly sophisticated and/or demanding clients. Accurate or not, many clients believe that IT advances increase their opportunity for low-effort awareness of, and participation in, their projects. Clients of professional services firms generally perceive superior communication and responsiveness as a critical quality in their consultants. Some clients demand project Websites. Overall, clients have reduced their tolerance for inefficiency.

Sole-sourcing and/or reduction in the number of suppliers

Clients are also developing closer relationships with fewer consultants. It is increasingly difficult for firms to survive simply by responding to public requests for proposal. Instead, intimate client relationships and aggressive positioning are how project-based businesses get on their clients’ most-favored-consultants list.

The race to keep pace in technology with competitors

The issue of technology has entered the boardroom. Top executives are increasingly aware of technology as a basic requirement for doing business, as well as a market differentiator and competitive advantage. They worry about the costs of falling behind the curve.

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