Management Consulting for Small Businesses

Num. of articles: 2
Words per article: 1500
Industry: Business
Topic: Small business management
Tone: Formal/Professional
Outline & Structure: *Essay I. Best practices for benchmarking*
-Trial and error vs benchmarking.
-% of small businesses who use benchmarking (include benefits of using it).
-Benchmarking your benchmarking (best practices for benchmarking).
-What are some ways to find info about what competitors are doing?
-How to plan with that information?
-How to implement? (importance of prioritization – not all solutions at the same time)

*Essay II. Prioritization*
-Small business owners can approach their operations differently (e.g. growth, stable monthly profit).
-Each approach has pros and cons.
-What are the advantages of each plan? (e.g. growth means less profit, stability yields less or no debt)
-A healthy plan does not take one approach; instead it uses a hybrid mix.
-How does one go about choosing a plan?
Extensive research needed: yes
Extra notes: This piece is a work for hire, for a blog section in a management consulting firm website. It should be directed to small business owners, include cited sources, and focus on quantitative over qualitative predictions. It should be done with the consulting firm in mind (readers should be reminded of the value of expertise), and leave cliffhangers that can be solved by purchasing consulting services. We don't want any inclusion of the consulting services themselves in the articles, as any such additions will be handled by our firm. More details will be given to whoever gets awarded the job.