New business startup

[yellowlawn]

So I’m looking to start a consultancy business which I believe would require investment. The field I’m looking at is AI which I have quite a lot of experience in. I won’t be developing AI platforms. But the business side of things especially a consultancy business I have no experience with. I also don’t have experience getting seed capital funding on a large scale. So I guess I’m looking for a mentor with experience in this. Can anyone point me in the right direction at least?

 

[fisicx]

Why does a consultant need investment?

 

[yellowlawn]

Why does a consultant need investment?

I figured that to do this properly and have a few staff along with offices to appeal to larger businesses I would need investment for this

 

[Shopclicks]

I figured that to do this properly and have a few staff along with offices to appeal to larger businesses I would need investment for this

You won't get larger businesses without a proven track record. You don't need funding for experience.

 

[fisicx]

I figured that to do this properly and have a few staff along with offices to appeal to larger businesses I would need investment for this

Larger business want experience not offices. Do some consulting, gain a reputation and then look for investment.

 

[WaveJumper]

Use some AI and write a proper business plan then perhaps you could show your worth as a ‘specialist’ in the field

 

[Mark T Jones]

There is only one question that really matters

Why would an investor be excited about investing in you? (Rather than employing someone to set upa consultancy)

 

[fisicx]

What exactly does your consultation offer?

Consider that businesses don’t want AI. What they want is more profit, lower costs, better leads and so on. They don’t have a board meeting and decide they need to have AI. What they look for is the best way to achieve a business aim.

If your pitch is AI consultation you won’t get through the door.

And everyone is jumping on the AI bandwagon. Almost everything that gets pitched to me is junk.

And lastly, your primary skill needs to be marketing not consulting.

 

[yellowlawn]

What exactly does your consultation offer?

Consider that businesses don’t want AI. What they want is more profit, lower costs, better leads and so on. They don’t have a board meeting and decide they need to have AI. What they look for is the best way to achieve a business aim.

If your pitch is AI consultation you won’t get through the door.

And everyone is jumping on the AI bandwagon. Almost everything that gets pitched to me is junk.

And lastly, your primary skill needs to be marketing not consulting.

The way I planned to approach it is offering a business needs analysis. You the client give me an overview of your business. You tell me what you are looking to get out of AI or I advise you of what’s out there that could help with X, Y or Z in your business. And then we take things from there.

 

[fisicx]

You tell me what you are looking to get out of AI or I advise you of what’s out there that could help with X, Y or Z in your business.

I doubt you will get much out of this approach.

If I ask for your help I will want specific solutions to a problem.

For example, if I’m getting a high number of returns on a particular product I want to know how to fix the problem. I want you to tell me why we are getting the returns and offer a number of solutions. You may use AI to solve the problem, but I don’t care. It’s the results I want not the method used.

 

[Mark T Jones]

The way I planned to approach it is offering a business needs analysis. You the client give me an overview of your business. You tell me what you are looking to get out of AI or I advise you of what’s out there that could help with X, Y or Z in your business. And then we take things from there.

If you have a good knowledge of AI, get yourself a job, or potentially a consultancy in the field

Take the opportunity to look around, see what the opportunities are and where the real Money is being made - then you might be ready to create an investable business.

 

[Socio South West]

I see where you are coming from @yellowlawn

My take would be that there will be a readier market for this sort of consultancy work in smaller businesses that are maybe less tech savvy and more reliant on third party contractors for IT/AI inputs

With that in mind, start small, get a marketing plan together and get going as a sole trader/ sole director. If it looks like it will grow to the scale you are currently envisaging, then that is the time to think about getting investment to scale up - assuming the profits don't render the investment unnecessary.

 

[Nick@Daydot]

The way I planned to approach it is offering a business needs analysis. You the client give me an overview of your business. You tell me what you are looking to get out of AI or I advise you of what’s out there that could help with X, Y or Z in your business. And then we take things from there.

There will often be someone in a large corporate with something like 'innovation' in their job title, either a one-person band or a small team, who might possibly be interested in some AI consultancy, usually from someone with a track record or a large agency. If they identify opportunities they are likely to take on the implementation themselves.

A smaller company might be interested in 'what can AI do for me' as it's so much talked about, and might want help with implementation. As has been mentioned, this has to be linked to clear business objectives, and you will have to be outstanding at understanding different businesses, business models, business strategy etc.

@Mark T Jones suggested getting a job in the field which I think is a good approach. Find a consultancy role working for an agency of some sort so that when you go solo you understand the market and how to sell your services.