Becoming a consultant for recreation and leisure services.

There are a host of reasons to become a consultant for recreation and leisure services. Personal career revitalization, additional income, greater professional freedom, and unfettered opportunity for personal and professional growth are just some of the reasons individuals enter the recreation and leisure services consulting business. More specifically, recent economic realities have eroded the foundation of career growth for many in both the public and private sectors of recreation. Hard work, loyalty to the organization, and job commitment no longer guarantee a predictable or stable career track for many employees. Budget reductions, mergers, reorganizations, and the elimination of human-service programs in many businesses and communities have made the "survivors" tense, stressed, insecure, and angry. These changes, euphemistically referred to as downsizing, have produced legions of burned-out, overworked, dissatisfied, and unemployed professionals in many fields.

In The Futurist, Edward Cornish suggests that work is changing: "The rapid pace of change [of work] will mean that workers must increasingly reinvent themselves for the workplace. Permanent jobs may largely disappear. Temporary jobs, short-term projects, and consultancies will become increasingly common." Human-service work is part of this changing workplace environment. Lines between public and private services are blurring. Increasingly, human services are being privatized; specialized assignments are usually farmed out to consultants and specialists. All this change and downsizing, coupled with the loss of permanent employment opportunities, makes consulting an attractive career choice for many. Professionals with experience and an entrepreneur's eye for uncovering client needs will discover many opportunities for consulting work in recreation and leisure services.

Defining the role

A consultant is a person who works under an expressed contract with an individual or an organization. The consultant is contracted to perform a task, or a set of tasks, usually in a specified time frame, at a mutually agreed upon price. Under current tax law, a true consultant relation exists under the rubric of "independent contractor."

Some organizations, in an attempt to save employee payroll costs, have chosen to classify some employees as consultants or independent contractors. This surreptitious arrangement can have serious tax consequences for the organization and the consultant. The tax code has strict guidelines on the definition of an independent contractor for tax purposes. In part, the tax code states that an independent contractor (consultant) directs his or her own work schedule, sets fees, and establishes the working conditions -- in other words, is not an employee.

Likely Beginnings

There are more than 50,000 consultants in the country today, with many consultants entering the field by doing the same kind of work they are currently employed to do. A consulting business can begin part time while continuing present employment; or one could save a funding nest egg of at least one year's living expenses, then launch a full-time practice. Whatever the course one follows to get into consulting, there are many organizations, books, workshops, newsletters, and sources of on-line help to turn to for advice (see references at the end of this article). The aspiring consultant should take ample time to prepare to enter the field.

Why the growth in consultants? Beside the idea of being one's own boss and setting one's own schedule, time is the primary investment. Set-up costs can be as little as a few hundred dollars (for brochures, additional phone lines, fax machine, computer, office supplies), and most new consultants begin by working from home.

Not For Everyone

Consulting work is not for everyone, however; it frequently is a solo effort, especially early on. Consulting often requires an aggressive and consistent marketing effort to get assignments, can have a rather long, slow growth curve to profitability, requires living with economic uncertainty, demands long hours during start-up, and early assignments frequently prove unprofitable. Consultants need extraordinary human-relations skills. Even if the consultant doesn't like people in general, he or she must be able to work well with all types of individuals and groups. In summary, consulting work requires self-starters, good communicators, a clearly defined knowledge base, and strong marketing talents.

Conversely, consulting can be an excellent way to stay in the recreation and leisure services field after downsizing. With fewer employees, organizations in all sectors of recreation are finding that they must turn to consultants for short-term assistance with specific tasks, including board of directors development, executive searches, conducting needs assessment, designing facilities, assessing and implementing maintenance practices, conducting employee-training workshops, doing market surveys, making security analyses, evaluating programs, and raising money.

Consulting opportunities are growing as a result of privatization of public services. Concessioners are taking over many outdoor recreation operations formally handled by the federal land managing agencies. Campground concessions are one example of concessioner opportunities. Concessioner opportunities offer the same benefits to the individual as would other consulting assignments: control of one's career, independence, personal growth, and profitability.

Why Clients Use Consultants

In a survey conducted by Howard Shenson, the following were identified as organizations' general uses for a consultant:

1) The need for temporary technical assistance

2) Unique requirements for a specific skill

3) The need for an objective, outside, unbiased opinion

4) Internal political or organizational problems

5) Finding resources and networking

6) Compliance with regulatory legislation

Consulting has emerged as a distinct domain of commercial recreation services. The following are examples of service environments open to the consultant who seeks to practice for the purpose of making a profit.

Opportunities In The Recreation & Leisure Services Field

Consultants advise and cooperate on projects in travel and tourism, retail shops catering to sport enthusiasts and their equipment, private camps and other services offered in the natural environment, public and private parks, nonprofit organizations, and public agencies seeking cost-containment strategies. Therapeutic recreation (TR) service is an established area for consulting. Hospitals, nursing homes, senior residential-care facilities, and rehabilitation centers have traditionally sought ways to reduce overhead and still offer necessary services for accreditation; consultants have met this need. TR consultants have a definitive body of knowledge that is practiced in specific environments and are hired as temporary professionals, often on a regular service basis. Anger management, stress management, and wheelchair exercises are just some programs offered by TR consultants to non-medical organizations such as senior centers, police departments, and employee service departments of corporations.

There is a growing need for consultants within the public and nonprofit sectors of recreation as well as other public-service agencies. Many of these agencies are seeking ways to expand their revenue base through solid, aggressive marketing programs.

How The Consultant Works

The consultant usually initiates the business relationship with the client, establishes the parameters for the work contract, provides necessary reports, collects the fees, and handles the day-to-day servicing of the contract.

In the start-up days of a new consulting practice, all phases of the operation are usually handled by the consultant. There are exceptions, of course -- working for a large management consulting company is one -- but this is not the type of consulting relationship under discussion here (although this is an excellent way to learn the consulting business).

One-shot assignments, such as helping an organization set up a ropes course at a camp, running a special event, and membership on an advisory board, are not true consulting relationships. These volunteer activities are done as favors or personal service to the community. While not consulting services within the definition presented above, volunteer service activities can ignite the independent entrepreneurial spirit within the potential consultant and inspire a new consulting operation.

Table 2 lists the requisite talents for most successful consulting operations. Competitors are always looking for new clients, even while they are working on an assignment. When an assignment ends, the consultant is out of work unless a new assignment has been secured.

TABLE 2. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CONSULTANT

Competitor

Strategist

Scholar

Teacher

Listener

Communicator

Motivator

As a strategist, the consultant must establish a sound plan to accomplish the goals set by the client. This is often a rather complex task, given the consultant is usually working with strangers who have little incentive to cooperate.

The scholar must analyze facts, study the literature, create questionnaires, and be willing to learn from mistakes. The scholar must also be a teacher. As a teacher, the consultant must be able to train, explain, and persuade. A good teacher is also a good listener. Listening to what the client really wants, not just needs, is frequently the key to building a successful relationship with the client.

Being able to write clear and unambiguous proposals is critical. The final report is usually the most tangible outcome of a consulting service and should be well-written. While the consultant will most likely be working alone, he or she will need the cooperation of clients, resource people, and employees; this last aspect requires the consultant to be a good politician and motivator.

Launching a Consulting Service

Starting a consulting practice usually requires little up-front financing; but the ease of starting a consulting practice should not circumvent the necessity of writing a business plan. The business plan will help identify the steps necessary for success. Working on the business plan will also test the aspiring consultant's resolve to enter the field. Following are some preliminary steps in designing a personalized consulting practice.

Just the Facts, Please

-- Mission statement: What do you want your business to do for you? For the client? For the community? For the recreation profession?

-- Define your service: What is it you have expertise in that others need and might be willing to pay for? Be clear, precise and able to state your service in one or two sentences.

-- Describe your potential client: This will take some reflection and research. Information on consulting opportunities is available at libraries, government agencies, and on the Internet.

-- Develop a marketing plan: Will you use direct mail, phone solicitation, run ads in journals, give workshops, produce a newsletter, teach a class on your specialty at the local college, hire a mail-order company, or develop a web page? Marketing is a total plan that includes your service, pricing, promotional scheme, and the geographic area in which you plan to work.

-- Pricing: Pricing is the most bothersome aspect of the new consultant's operation. Pricing must begin with a personal statement of how much income you expect in your first year. If you are starting your practice part time while keeping your present job, you will have less pressure to meet short-range revenue goals. If you are plunging into the practice full time, then you'll need a target dollar amount that includes an initial, up-front fund sufficient to cover at least one year's living expenses. Next, you will need to establish a market-data comparison chart on what consultants are paid in your area of expertise. You may want to call colleagues who do consulting work. Ask them what they charge. Most recreation professionals are willing to help others.

Pricing policy structure should cover hourly, daily, weekly, and by-assignment guidelines. Consultants with advanced degrees in their area of expertise, or with special certification, can charge between $25 and $100 per hour, depending on whether the organization hiring the consultant is public, nonprofit, or commercial. Consultants with years of experience and a solid reputation in a particular area -- fundraising, finance, board development, environmental assessment -- can usually price their services toward the upper range of the market spread. The consultant may want to assess what his or her time is worth per hour as an employee and charge accordingly, or keep one's current employment, if that is an option. Of course, the price of delivering the service must be the foundation of any pricing policy.

Other aspects to consider include whether or not to charge for administrative costs such as typing/computer hours, phone calls, document preparation, and over-night expenses. Generally, it is better to quote an all-inclusive charge and explain what the charge covers in the contracting meeting.

The Contracting Meeting

Most consulting arrangements begin with a contracting meeting with the client. At this meeting, the client and the consultant exchange needs and expectations. For example, some employees express dissatisfaction with management. If the client requests a report from the consultant on employee comments, should the consultant provide this information? What if the client asks for feedback on each individual employee's attitude during an interviewing process? Here's a recommendation: Individual employee responses should always remain confidential. This is a potentially explosive issue and must be settled in the contracting meeting (if it is relevant).

What about confidentiality of the report the consultant prepares? Should the consultant be able to use the final report as a showcase for future assignments? The client owns the report; therefore, permission to show the report to anyone other than the client must be obtained from the client.

Consulting charges are an important topic of discussion and should be covered as soon as possible in the contracting phase of the process. Other questions to deal with in the contracting meeting include the following:

Should a deposit be required before work begins? Yes, the client should have an investment in the consultant process.

When are future payments to be made? A regular payment schedule should be established throughout the agreed upon time frame. Payment to the consultant is one way to ascertain client satisfaction with work done to date.

Should measurable results be part of the contract? No, not if it can be avoided. As desirable as a "result" contract is for the client, it will almost always lead to problems for the consultant. Forces beyond the consultant's control usually arise that will affect the measured result. Quality can be measured with periodic review meetings with the client.

What happens when interim results are not satisfactory to the client? Hold a face-to-face meeting and clear up any issues that are ambiguous. This is why measurable results can kill a contracting relationship.

Should the contact have a mid-stream termination clause? If so, by whom, and with how much notice? Either party should be able to terminate the contract after disclosure of reason(s) to the other party, and at any time.

What should the consultant do if an agreed-upon payment is not made? Meet face-to-face; halt work until issue is resolved or sufficient reason exists for the consultant to continue on good faith.

How should the consultant respond to a request to lower fees? Never lower fees, only cut back on services to be performed. This is one reason to calculate fee schedule before the first client is ever secured.

The contracting portion of the negotiations ends with a signed contract. Sample contracts can be found in several of the sources listed at the end of this article. Like all contracts, the consulting contract must be clear and unambiguous. It must contain a clear understanding of the task to be done, as well as fees, payment periods, parties to the contract, and start date and ending date of service.

The contracting portion of the consulting arrangement can take place over a span of several meetings. It should not be minimized or avoided. The contracting meeting sets the tone for the entire consulting process. The answers to questions raised above, and other significant issues that emerge during the negotiations phase of the contacting portion of the work relations, must be resolved before the assignment is secured. Modifications to the consultant's operation policy may occur as a result of negotiations, but the consultant must stand firm on those points that reflect personal integrity if a successful consultant/client relationship is to be maintained over the course of the contract.

Conclusion

Before anyone starts a consulting practice, he or she should take the time to plan a successful operation by addressing the issues raised above. Even before the first prospect is contacted, the consultant should have a plan of operations, including a clear and concise picture of what his or her service is. Consulting is easy to get into, but success comes with much difficulty. With a plan, consulting is possible for most experienced recreation professionals.

TABLE 1. CONSULTING OPPORTUNITIES IN PROGRAMMING

Evaluating camp operations

Staff-recruitment services

Staff training, workshops, team building

Special events & festivals

Recruiting and training of volunteers

Agency program review, assessment, marketing

Specialized program development:
   1. Music, drama, dance
   2. Exercise
   3. Arts & crafts
   4. Elder hostel programs
   5. Aquatic services
   6. At-risk youth programs: (drug
counseling, AIDS awareness)
   7. After-school educational services
   8. Daycare services

TABLE 3. CREATING A CONSULTING PRACTICE

Personal assessment

Mission statement

Financial goals

Description of service

Pricing policy

List of potential clients

Organizations

Promotional strategy

Contact persons

Marketing plan

Strategy for sales effort
 Contracting Meeting
 Conditions of Contract
 Commence Work
 Reports
 Referrals

References

Blankenship, A.B. & Breen, George. (1990) 3rd Edition. Do It Yourself Marketing Research 3rd Edition. Mcgraw-Hill Publishing Company, New York

Cornish, Edward. "Anticipation." The Futurist - March-April 1997. World Future Society, Bethesda, Maryland.

Ellsworth, J.H. and Ellsworth, M.V. (1994). The Internet Business Book, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York

Kelley, Robert E. (1991). Consulting--The Complete Guide To A Profitable Career. Charles Scribner & Son, New York.

McKenzie, Bill. "Concessionaires" Resort & Commercial Recreation. July-August 1996. Journalistic, Inc., Durham, NC.

Schor, Juliet B. (1991). The Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure. Basic Books. Harper Collins.

Shenson, Howard L. (1985). How To Build and Maintain Your Own Part-time/Full-Time Consulting Practice. Howard L. Shenson, 20750 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 206, Woodland Hills California.

Weinberg, G.M. (1985). The Secrets of Consulting: A Guide to Giving and Getting Advice Successfully. Dorset House, New York.

Holtz, Herman. (1990). How To Succeed As An Independent Consultant. Wiley and Sons, New York.

Sources of Government and Private Consulting Information

Assistant Secretary For Trade Development, Dept. Of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Ave, NW, Room 1104, Washington, D.C. 20230. [phone].

Commerce Business Daily. A government procurement newsletter. See address above.

Capitol Services Incorporated, 415 Second St, NE, Suite 200, Washington, D.C. 20002. [phone]. Answers inquires, provide abstracting, indexing, and on-line retrieval services. Contact for information on government RFPs for at-risk youth, recreation, human services.

U.S. Department of Agriculture; Agriculture Clearance Officer, OIRM, AG Box 7630, Washington, D.C. 20250. Information on concessionaire proposal requirements.

International Consultants Foundation, 11612 Georgetown Crt, Potomac, MD 20854. [phone]. Consultant assistance for specific assignments by country, language, and areas of expertise.

National Institute of Government Purchasing, 115 Hillwood Ave, Falls Church, VA 22046. [phone]. For information of specifications for bids on government contracts.