10 Essential Tools For A Consultant

If you’re just starting a consulting practice or if you feel that your office isn’t quite up to par, you may be wondering what it takes to have a complete set of office tools.  Although you won’t need as much as a brick and mortar business, you do need the software and equipment required to fulfill your consulting and marketing efforts. Here are the essentials for the entrepreneur and small businesses that offers consulting services.

Software

Quickbooks Easystart: Using QuickBooks EasyStart is as its name suggests; easy. It takes just a few minutes to get started and soon you will be creating invoices, tracking payments and managing expenses. There is a free edition if you have less than 20 customers, making it affordable for consultants just starting off.
Microsoft Office 2007: A popular office productivity suite among businesses. You can write letters, generate financial spreadsheets and create presentations.
Contact Management: As a consultant you will have many contacts and organization will be key. Microsoft Office’s Outlook has contact management that integrates well with Quickbook Easystart. If you are going to be in a fairly heavy sales type role you might want to look into tools with additional features.

Office Equipment

All In One Printer: As much as we prefer not to print things, it is still necessary for presentations and providing written documents that need to be shared. There are a variety of good products made by Hewlett-Packard and Brother. Features often include: scanner/photocopier, fax, network connection and automatic document feeder (ADF) for photocopying multi-page documents.
Shredder: Documents no longer needed often contain sensitive information and should not be viewed again. A cross cutting shredder is perfect for protecting the privacy of your business and your clients.

Mobility

Mobile phone: Everyone has a mobile phone, but as a business tool I recommend a smart phone. Research in Motion’s BlackBerry is the most popular smart phone in business, though I prefer the Apple iPhone myself. Many smart phones offer the ability to synchronize to Outlook.
Laptop: Consultants often work away from the office as much as or more than being in the office. A laptop gives you the freedom to work out of the office and the portability you need when making a presentation to an audience of any size.

Marketing

Business Cards: One of the most important tools for word of mouth advertising, business cards allow your clients to recommend you to their friends.
Web site: Provides your clients and potential clients with 24/7 access to the information they need about you and your business. Include reference to previous work done, contact information and be sure to tell them how you can help them.
Social Media: There are many social media sites out there, but many business people find LinkedIn very important in making contacts. Other social media sites include Facebook and Twitter. YouTube is another popular site where you could demonstrate some of your knowledge for free. You can upload short 1-3 minute videos of yourself providing advice in your area of expertise.