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Three years ago, small businessmen in the region who couldn‘t afford the advice of professional busiâ€" ness consultants had to rely on their own market knowledge and judgment. Today, they can use a uniâ€" que consulting service tailâ€" ored to their needs and their pocket book. This service is provided every summer for a modest fee of $5 a day per consulâ€" tant by third and fourth year business students from Wilfrid _ Laurier Univerâ€" sity (WLU) in Waterloo? The consulting company, known as Small Business Consulting Service, is sponâ€" sored by WLU‘s School of Business and the Ontario Department of Industry and Tourism. s Because the service is subsidized by the Ontario government, the students can offer professional busiâ€" ness advice at a price every businessman can afford. **Most of our clients get away with a pretty good price. It would cost more to call in Office Overload for a week than it would us.""* said the coordinator of the service, Gary Belâ€" anger. _ €_ ‘‘*Nowdays, it costs $500 just for a phone call to a business consultant ... We charge $ a day per conâ€" sultant. Usually there are two consultants ‘per case. On top of that, we charge direct expenses that are related to the case such as mileage and telephone calls, he said. Business Clientele Grows The Small Business Conâ€" sulting Service began at WLU in 1973 when the proâ€" vincial government set up a provinceâ€"wide program at 12 <‘Ontario universities with business schools. The first summer of operation, two business students handlâ€" ed a clientele of eight comâ€" panies. This year. eight students are serving 40 cliâ€" ents located in Cambridge. Waterloo. Elmira, Kitchenâ€" er. Guelph. Stratford and New Hamburg. ‘It‘s the type of thing that builds each year as soon as people recognize the name. We get quite a bit of return business from clients we had last year. We haveâ€" n‘t had to advertise directly in the media. we just spread our business cards around." said Mr. Belanger. a fourth vear honours business stuâ€" dent at WLU Early in May. the stuâ€" dents mailed out fliers desâ€" cribing the service to 2.000 small companies in the reâ€" Students offer advice to small businessmen 578 Coronation Bivd. across from Babcox & Wilcox Cambridge By Appointment Only Mrs. Anne Astrology Reader & Advisor Story and Photo Bv Maryv Johnston Call 623â€"4810 CARD READINGS gion. The provincial govâ€" ernment also promoted the service by mailing inforâ€" mation â€" to _ manufacturers throughout the province in the winter. ‘"In â€" Southern _ Ontario they can mail them almost anywhere and the businessâ€" men are in reach of a School of Business that offers this service,"" said Mr. Belanger. He estimated close to 50 per cent of WLU‘s clients are obtained through reâ€" sponses to mailed inforâ€" All Clients have Problems | A typical client is a famiâ€" lyâ€"owned company _ with fewer than 30 employees and sales of less than $1 million. All types of manuâ€" facturing, _ retailing â€" and distributing companies have made use of the service in the last three years. Inforâ€" mation given to the conâ€" sultants and the identity of the company are held in strictest confidence. No information â€" is _ released publicly without the consent of the owner. mation Every company that seeks professional advice from the Small Business Conâ€" sulting Service has a probâ€" lem, but the cause of the difficulty is rarely what the owner thinks it is. ""The majority have deâ€" finite problems, although what they think their probâ€" lem is originally may not be what it turns out to be. They are not good analyâ€" sists," said Mr. Belanger. Problems are as varied as the companies themâ€" selves. The most common ailments deal with cash flow, budget. general levels of sales. marketing and bookkeeping. One of the most typical situations is a company that doesn‘t know whether it is making a profit on its product or not. **What we do in that case is devise a cost analysis of the product and advise the owner on future proâ€" cedures to control product costs."" said Mr. Belanger. To solve production probâ€" lems and bookkeeping difâ€" ficulties, _ the â€" consultants often spend time inside the company talking to emâ€" ployees and watching the general operation of _ the plant ‘‘You have to be careful when you go into a business at the request of an owner." said Mr. Belanger. "Everyâ€" one knows why you are there and occasionally yvou have to be careful not to step on anyone‘s toes. You have to use tact. Youth Bias is Overcome The young business conâ€" sultants who are all in their Regional news and views Alan Marsh and Ralph Peterson, two consultants with Small Business Consulting Service, review a case study made for a Waterloo Region manufacturing company. The two men are part of a team of eight business students from Wilfrid Laurier University who offer consulting services to small businessmen at modest fees. early 20‘s often have to called in on the cases we explode _ the _ traditional â€" are because the small busiâ€" 0 myth of what a business nessman couldn‘t afford wm consultant should look like them. We fill a void in the before gaining the confiâ€" market." RL mmc. dence of their client. Service is a Success â€" on c â€" "The traditional image of a business consultant as someone who has been in business for 20 years is no longer valid," said Mr. Belanger. "In the business world you get a good mixture of all kinds of people, but most owners don‘t realize this. They‘re a little surprised when they see us doing this." The consultants also unâ€" dertake market surveys for clients launching new proâ€" ducts to determine the genâ€" eral market conditions and competition. ‘‘From this information. we provide them with an estimate as to the size of the market, what penetraâ€" tion the} could expect and set down guidelines for marâ€" keting. We also recomâ€" mend whether they should enter the field or not and what type of returm they could expect.‘ he said. Mr. Belanger says the Small Business Consulting Service does not provide unfair competition for proâ€" fessional â€" business consulâ€" tants COMING UP... Watch this space for future announcements of auctions ‘They would never be Rummelhart Auction Sales Co. 578â€"0 744â€"9679 060 KEN GARVEY Licensed Auctioneer called in on the cases we are because the small busiâ€" nessman â€" couldn‘t â€" afford them. We fill a void in the market."‘ Service is a Success The service is popular with both the clients and the students who act as consultants. This year, 40 business students applied for the eight available jobs. The consultants were selecâ€" ted by faculty advisor, Glenn Carroll of WLU‘s School of Business. Mr. Carroll also keeps close tabs on the stuâ€" dents. to make sure the service is run as profesâ€" sionally as possible. The â€" student consulting concept is popular in both Canada and the United States. "It is recognized by both countries as a good thing because businesses get a fresh outlook at a reaâ€" sonable price by qualified people and it provides a realistic look at the outâ€" side world for the students,"‘ said Mr. Belanger. Because the consulting service at WLU has to be reâ€" newed each summer by the department of industry and tourism. the future conâ€" tinuation of the program is always in doubt ‘‘People in the business community have to speak up about the program to keep it going (.oing (.oing PRECAST CONCRETE STEPS _ SAVE MESS, FUSS & TIME Waterioo Chronicie, Wednesday, August 13, 1975 â€" Page 17 | CrYrcolZE® LIMITED REINHRARE ># 33 Kent (Corner of Charles) Kitchener 7&-7& Add to the beauty, safety and value of your home Reinforced _ concrete â€" Unitâ€" Steps can be â€" installed quickly â€" without piles of sand and cement on paths and lawns The oneâ€"piece construction â€" avoids "frost heave" _ damage _ Buitâ€"in safety treads protect your family 108 sizes in stock AUTHORIZED SALES & SERVICE YAMAHA Y ZEFP Enterprises [td . 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