Many professionals want to be able to help others in business to reach their full potential. Consultants and Coaches are two professions that are able to do this. The Consultant/ Coach use their expertise to help the business owner/ manager solve their problem.

What is the difference between a coach and a consultant? The coach looks at the big picture and often they deal with issues that are of a personal nature. Being involved in coaching will lead to getting their clients to be self-understanding and lead to productive thinking. The coach is looking to develop the potential of the person or the business.

Consultants will teach skills and specific plans of action to improve the business. The consultant will sometimes do the work for you. The goal of the consultant is to focus on the getting the project done.

There is also a hybrid mode of a coach / consultant. They take on the roles of the two professions. This may double their business opportunities, but will lessen the amount earned per client. Specialists make more in coaching or consulting than generalists.

Picking to become a coach or a consultant depends more on your qualities and how you want to help others. Getting clients and running your business is the same whether you are a coach or a consultant.

The key to becoming a successful coach or consultant is more about relationships than knowledge. The client wants your knowledge, but if they don’t feel comfortable with you, they will not do business with you.

About 1/3 to 1/2 of the coach or consultant’s time needs to be spent on marketing their business. Many coaches and consultants don’t like this part. However, for the long-term survival of the business, it must be done regularly.

There are many ways for the consultant or coach to market and we will mention a few of the more effective ones. Cold Calling is the worst possible way and a waste of time. The best way is by getting referrals and or testimonials. If you are a beginner, you may have to do something free or get a testimonial for articles or books that you have written.

Networking can be good with the right people. It normally will take months to see results though. Writing a book will give the most credibility and with self-publishing someone can have a book done in 30 days or less. One good place to have your book published is LULU.

Writing articles will show your expertise. This is a great way to create a mailing list to keep in touch with. Most people don’t buy the first time; they are exposed to a product or service.

Getting publicity through the press is one of the best ways. Generally, it is low cost or even free to send a press release. The key is to make it newsworthy and not an ad. If done correctly, you could get plenty of free publicity, but having the right hook to capture the press attention is the hard part.

Being a coach or consultant is a great way to earn a living. You can make great money while helping others. It is hard to get started, but if you can build a business, it will be worth all the effort.

Jerry Robertson
http://www.articlesbase.com/careers-articles/how-to-become-a-coach-or-consultant-136734.html

SAP B1 initial data migration and conversion is typically done through Data Transfer Workbench, where you basically use CSV Excel templates, fill them in with required fields, leave everything optional blank, build integration on the fly and run it with series of tests and rollbacks until you are satisfied with the data massage and migration quality. It is also good idea to copy your production company database into the test company and probe the data import there first. Let’s try to break through MS Excel restrictions and see how you could place into production something more complex, ongoing integration, for example. In this publication we will just mention, that real time integration could be programmed in SAP Business One SDK, however this is outside of the scope

1. ODBC integration. At this time ODBC source integration could not be scheduled for automatic run via batch command, as SAP doesn’t support this and it doesn’t work. The way you do advanced ODBC integration – you create SQL view which has exactly the same column names as you see in CSV template for the intended objects. And you will have to provide enumerated column in your view for RecordKey

2. Scheduled Run. The work around to schedule ongoing integration is to create Data Transformation Package, which will import text file (try this nice construction: Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0, instead of creating linked server), then it will transform the data via SQL stored procedure (feel free to create temporary staged tables, SQL cursors, etc.). Then it will export your data from SQL to CSV file, ready for integration. You can build and save DTW integration, and schedule it in the batch file, assuming that it will work off the CSV templates

3. DTW limitations. Current SB1 version 2007A doesn’t have all the SAP Business One objects covered, or at least we found some objects, which we had to move into SAP BO through SDK small add-ons. Open Inventory, Item Management, Alternative Items – there are no template for Alternatives and you have to push them into SBO through SDK to avoid problems with Early Watch Alert

Andrew Karasev

SAP B1 ERP and MRP is rising star in American and Canadian accounting software market, especially since the release of SAP BO 2007A for US in May of 2008.  SAP Business One has complete set of modules to serve small to mid-size firm: Financials, Manufacturing, MRP, CRM, Services, Purchasing, Picking and Packing, Sales, and others.  Plus consider modern interface with intuitive export to Excel, drag-and-relate, users self study and self discovery possibilities.  In this small publication we would like to give you SB1 case studies and typical implementation scenarios paragraphs:

1.       Discrete manufacturing or light assembly.  If your company is small and doesn’t need full-scale production software, typically expensive in both software licensing and implementation services, SBO is excellent candidate to consider.  If you are making to order, then SB1 has disassembly Production Order, where you can disassemble cancelled order and place all the parts back on the shelves or their bins

2.       Service Warranty Contracts.  Warranties are typical business scenario for small manufacturing, dealership and distribution companies and it is probably true statement, that this reasonable market niche is underserved.  In SAP Business One you can associate serialized item (with serial number) with Service Contract, and then you can repair the item on as needed base under warranty with free technician support, spare parts, or decide to bill for portion of warranty services.  You can also associate technical support knowledge base with your items and contracts

3.       Warehouse Management.  Picking and Packing functionality allows you to automate paperwork associated with assembly, finished goods and parts storage and release to be shipped to your customers or returned back to your suppliers.  There are also barcode add-ons to automate barcoding scanners in real time or batch mode with barcode servers

4.       SAP Business One Reporting.  Please, consider such industry standard reports design tool as Crystal Reports to be deployed.

Andrew Karasev
http://www.articlesbase.com/software-articles/sap-business-one-consultant-newsflash-nationwide-support-698386.html

Advanced techniques in SAP BO Data Transfer Workbench integration scenarios.  This method allows you to establish ongoing integration from such systems as Microsoft CRM, Oracle custom database, Lotus Notes Domino, etc.

If you are SB1 consultant, you probably know how to import data by filling Excel templates for such objects as Item, Price, Warehouse QTY.  This is very popular method, however try to do more complex integration logic: you need to discontinue old items and replace them with new items, where you need to take the price from old item and associate it with the new replacement.  Something like this is definitely possible in Excel, if you are able to program Excel Database connection and query.  Well, try something more complex – when you have variable item classes and for each class price update has unique formulae.  In this small publication we do not agitate you to purchase additional third party tools, such as iBolt or do SAP Business One SDK integration programming – we will be explaining how to do complex data import in SAP Business One Workbench

1.       ODBC source.  ODBC is a way more flexible, comparing to Excel template based CSV files.  If you choose ODBC connection – you can create SQL View as the base and this SQL view in turn could be of heterogeneous nature (pulling data from Microsoft SQL Server 2000, Oracle, Pervasive SQL, Ctree, Microsoft Access database, tab delimited text file to give you the idea)

2.       SQL DTS Package method.  Assuming that we are taking ODBC route – you can decide to mark records, already integrated by update script, which could be part of MS SQL Server DTS package

3.       SB1 2007A Data Transfer Workbench limitations.  Please, note that currently SAP doesn’t support batch file and data integration scheduling, however if you are using CSV files – batch file should work fine

4.       Items and Pricelist.  We recommend you to try the following approach – create SQL View, which returns data in the same format as Excel template for oItem object.  Please, pay special attention to field names – they should coincide with the names in Excel template (however you do not have to provide all the field names – only required and important in your SAP B1 inventory module).  Item Price is dependant object to the Item in Item import cluster

Andrew Karasev
http://www.articlesbase.com/software-articles/sap-business-one-data-import-items-and-prices-overview-for-consultant-736389.html

I want to share an interesting ad I saw in the paper the other day: Wealthy fast food addict in search of an Austin business consultant to guide him in the purchase of a fast food franchise so he can save money on burgers and fries.

Okay!

I didn’t really see that ad, but I know Texas business strategists and business coaches all around your area that could help that person, or you, find and purchase a franchise by guiding you through the process if that’s what you want to do.

It just so happens that, even though I’m awful with an opening joke, I know a few things about buying a franchise myself that I learned from Austin business consultants. This time I’ll be serious, so please keep reading.

As with anything, common questions arise that you want answered before you begin to even consider buying a franchise. Before you consult with a Texas business consultant or business strategist, you must read the answers to those questions and save yourself some time and maybe money.

How does a franchisor make his money?

They consult a Texas business coach like you will! Then, they charge a hefty fee for a franchise. After that, they collect a percentage of the sales and also sell supplies and services to the franchise.

Consult an Austin business consultant to find out the standard fees and percentages for the industry in which you want to buy a franchise.

What’s more important? The initial fee or the charges down the road from sales, etc? Assuming you’re buying into a successful franchise, definitely concern yourself more with the charges you’ll incur down the road.

Those charges come directly from a percentage of your sales, not profits. Too high of a percentage can deflate your profits.

Beware of any hefty fees required up front. Make sure the franchise is successful. Most importantly, consult with a Texas business consultant or seek the help of a Texas business coach before signing any contracts.

Well, is it worth it to pay a percentage of my sales?

I can’t decide that for you. Austin business consultants say that if you possess industry experience then, yes, it could be worth it for you. However, if you’re new to the industry you want to buy into and just want to try your hand, you might be best to work for someone else first.

Texas business strategists point out that you pay a percentage of sales. That means what you pay doesn’t take into account operating expenses and the like. If you don’t know the industry, you can’t plan ahead so that you can pay those fees and still make the profit you need.

What other costs can exist?

You might have to pay a percentage of advertising costs and not just for your area. This might include local, regional, or even national costs. Again, consult with an Austin business consultant.

Take advantage of the help that Texas business coaches can give to you to help you make the smart choice.

What else should I watch out for?

Talk to other franchise owners and a Texas business consultant before proceeding with buying any franchise. I can’t say that enough! However, you should know if you could sell the franchise easily, if the franchise fees can be increased for any reason, and how your industry skills stack up against others who bought into that franchise.

Again, talk to a Texas business strategist and other franchise owners. The time you take to do your research will pay off in gains instead of losses.

Ben Jordan
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/get-free-fast-food-using-an-austin-business-consultant-124597.html