UNBC Small And Medium Sized Business Consulting Center:
A Market Demand Study

Raymond J. Noonan
B.Sc, University of Northern British Columbia, 1998

Project Submitted In Partial Fulfillment Of
The Requirements For The Degree Of
Master Of Business Administration

The University Of Northern British Columbia
April2006
©Raymond J . Noonan, 2006
UNIVERS ~
u
1HERN
BRITISH COLUMBIA
LIBRARY

Prince George, B.C.

11

Abstract

UNBC Small and Medium Sized Business Consulting Centre; Market Demand

This paper evaluates the hypotheses that sufficient demand exists to support a
self-sustaining small business consulting seNice operated by university students
and faculty, and that the operation of this centre would benefit students,
businesses, the community and the university.
The research proceeds by reviewing literature on the Canadian management
consulting industry and student consulting programs in Canada and the United
States.
Primary data was gathered from two sources; inteNiews with accountants ,
bankers, lawyers and business consultants and through direct suNeying of
business owners in the community. The individual inteNiews provided
information into what seNices small business owners currently had access to
and what gaps may exist. The electronic suNey was used to determine how
much interest there would be in student consulting seNices and what seNices,
features and cost levels would be attractive to these businesses.
The paper concludes that there is significant demand in the Prince George
marketplace for the proposed seNices of a University Business Consulting
Centre. Through the comments received during individual inteNiews with
community members, there is also evidence that these seNices would be of

111

benefit to all stakeholders involved as long as the proposed services were
structured to not overlap with existing government sponsored programs and the
direct competition with for-profit consultants was minimized.
To complete a full feasibility review for the development of this consulting
program , the paper suggests further research into the costing and delivery
models of the proposed service.

IV

Abstract .... .................................................................................. .......................... ii
Table of Figures ... ....... ................ ... .......... ... ..... ........ ........ ............... .. .... ................ .......... v
Chapter 1 .............................................................................................................. 1
Introduction ..... ... .................. ........................ ......... ........... .... .................. ...... ................... 1
Consulting Centre Goals: ... ......... .... .... ..... ........ .... ........ ....... ......... ...... ........ .... ........ .. ... 1
Importance of SME's to the Canadian Economy ............. ..................... ....... ...... ........ 1
Importance of Consulting Services to SME owners ..... ....... ... ... .. ....... ........ ................ 1
Importance of Consulting Centre to the UNBC bu siness students .. .......... .... ........ ..... 2
Importance of Consulting Centre to downtown Prince George .................................. 2
Aim/Objectives of the Study ........ ........... ................... .... .................................... ............. 3
Hypotheses ....... ............. .......... ...... ........ ......... .......... .......... ....... ...... ...... ...... .... ................ 3
Methodology ............. .................... ........ ... ............... ........ ...... ............. ....... ........ ........ ...... 3
Literature Review .... ... .... ........ .................. ............... ........ ......... ......... ................ .............. 4
Chapter 2 .............................................................................................................. 5
Literature Review .............................................. ....... ........ ..... ..... ................ ....... ........ ...... 5
Introduction ..................................... ........... .............. .......... ....... .................. .................... 5
Canadian Consulting Industry ......... ........ ............. ...... ...... ......... ......... ................ ............. 7
Student Consulting .......... .... .... ........ ......................................... ....... ...... .... ...... ....... ........ . 9
Conclusion ....... ....... ....... ........................ ....... .......... ... ... ............... ........ ................... ...... 12
Chapter 3 .......................... ......... ......................................................................... 14
Methodology .. ..... .... ......... ................................................ .... ......... ...... ............ ....... ...... . 14
Fieldwork .......... ...... ..... .... ........ .................... ..... ............. .... ......... ................ ...... ... ......... 14
Definitions .............................................................. .... ............. ........ .. ... ......... ................ 15
Small and Medium Enterprise ........... .................. .. ............. ......................... .... ... ...... 15
Consulting ... .. ....... ...... ... ........ ....... ... .. .... .. ....... ..... ...... .......... ..... ........ ........ ......... ........ 16
Self Sustaining ................................. ... ...... ......... .... ...... ......... .................. ........... ....... 16
Survey format: .......... ....... ............... .... ... ............. ................. ................. ............ ...... ...... 17
The Sample ...... .. ........... .............. ......... ...... .............................................. .............. ....... 17
Chapter 4 .......................................................... .................................................. 20
Results .................................................................. ................... .. ....... ................ .... ..... .... 20
Survey Responses ...... ... .. ........................... .. ...... ...... .... ... ........ ............ ... .............. ... ...... 20
Interviews .......... ........... ....... ...... .... ........... ......................................... ..... ... ..... .... .......... . 27
Chapter 5 ............................................................................................................ 29
Conclusion ..... ...... .......... ...... ... .......... .... .... ........ .. ... ........... ......... ................ .... .... ........... 29
Chapter 6 ............................................................................................................ 31
Bibliography ...... ...... ....... ...... ..................... .... ......... ........ ... ... .. ........... ....... .................... 31
Managerial Consulting: ..... ............ .... ... ... ... ........ ......... ...... ... ..... .... ....... ........ ........ ..... 31
Student Consulting: .. .............. ... ......... ....... ... ....... ........ ..... ................. ........................ 32
Research Methods: .... ......................... ............................ ........ ......... ........ ........... ..... .. 32
Small Business Info: ....... ... ......... .. ... .... ...... ..... ..... ........ .................. ........... ................ 33
Appendix 1: Survey .. ......................................... ................................. ............. .... ........ 34
Appendix 2: Survey Results............................. ............... ... ................ ................... ........ 41
Appendix 3: Interview Responses .. .... ......................................... .... .............. ..... .... ...... 56

v

Table of Figures
Figure 1: Hourly Rate Responses by Category ........ ...... ........ ......... .... .................... ...... .... 22
Figure 2: Hourly Rate Breakdown by Firm Size (by revenue) ........... ........ .... ..... ........... . 24

Table 1: Interest in Consulting Service by Revenue Category ........................................ 23
Table 2 - 9: Cross tabulation of survey data ................ ... ........ ..... .... .... ..... ....................... 52

1
Chapter 1

Introduction
Although small business is the backbone of the Canadian economy, many
entrepreneurs do not possess the required expertise or knowledge for successful
startup and growth of their business venture. This paper investigates the
feasibility of a consulting program at the University of Northern British Columbia
to bridge this gap. This centre would also provide an important training ground
for students to gain first hand experience in the area of business.

Consulting Centre Goals:
The consulting center has four main goals. It will allow students to apply their
new knowledge and research skills in real world scenarios. It will improve upon
students networking, interviewing, listening, observational and presentation skills.
It will allow student to provide much needed assistance to the Small Business
Community at a nominal cost and it will act as a bridge between the business
community and the university for the betterment of the community.

Importance of SME's to the Canadian Economy
Small & Medium sized businesses (SME's) contribute significantly to the
Canadian economy. They account for over 50% of Canadian employment and
over 2 million Canadians are self employed (cfib.com)

Importance of Consulting Services to SME owners

2

Many business owners do not possess the expertise for successful startup and
planned growth of their companies. This results in only 55 to 60% of startup
small businesses surviving longer than three years. Basic knowledge of
business practices and access to individuals with business training and expertise
could possibly avert many of these failures. A UNBC business consulting centre
would provide regional businesses access to UNBC's talented pool of business
schools and to the business program faculty.

Importance of Consulting Centre to the UNBC business students
Through participation in the consulting process , students would gain real world
experience in applying their newly acquired knowledge and skills. The consulting
center would also present excellent networking and mentoring opportunities for
students as they are preparing to enter the work force full time.

Importance of Consulting Centre to downtown Prince George
If the consulting center were to be located in the downtown core of Prince
George, it would contribute to the downtown revitalization by enhancing UNBC's
presence in the area. If the center were able to positively influence the
sustainability of their clients , more successful small businesses in downtown core
would contribute to the city's tax revenues and broaden the business base for the
entire area.

3

Aim/Objectives of the Study
The objective of this study is to determine if there is sufficient demand in the
Prince George Market to support a self-sustaining, student staffed small and
medium sized business consulting centre.

Hypotheses
1. Sufficient demand exists to support a self-sustaining small business
consulting service
2. Operation of a UNBC small business consulting centre would benefit
students, businesses, the community and the university

Methodology
Primary data was obtained by conducting two individual surveys. The first survey
involved personal interviews with individuals in the Prince George area
considered to be knowledgeable in the area of small business owners advisory
and consulting needs. These individuals include accountants, lawyers, small
business bankers as well as other individuals providing professional services to
entrepreneurs. The second survey was an electronic survey sent out to small
and medium sized businesses in the Prince George area. The intent of this
survey was to determine what level of interest there would be in the utilization of
a University Consulting Centre. Questions on service types, prices, frequency of
use and service features were also included.

4

Literature Review
The literature reviewed was broken down into four main topics; managerial
consulting, student consulting, research methods and small business information.

5
Chapter 2

Literature Review
Introduction
In the world of business , management consultants are jacks-of-all-trades.
Working through consulting firms or as independent contractors, they advise
corporations and other organizations regarding an infinite array of issues related
to business strategy-from reengineering to e-commerce , change management
to systems integration. From billion-dollar mergers and acquisitions to corporate
reorganizations in which thousands of jobs are at stake, they are the directors
behind the scenes of nearly every major event in the marketplace (WetFeet.com,
2005).

The generic term "consulting" can encompass a wide variety of industries.
"Consulting" is a big , one-size-fits-all term that includes virtually any form of
advice giving. Pretty much anyone with a specialty in a field can offer consulting
service. This paper focuses primarily on Management consulting; a broad
category in its own right, often called strategy consulting. This segment of the
industry includes firms that specialize in providing advice about strategic and
core operational issues.

The increase in self employment in Canada, which according to Statistics
Canada has accounted for the majority of employment growth in Canada in the

6
1990's and early 2000's, is dramatic. The increase in the self employment rate
(the share of self employment of total employment) has increased to 18% from
14% after remaining stable throughout the 1980's. Add to this the proliferation of
other small and medium sized enterprises and this figure increases to nearly
55% of the total employment market in Canada (CFIB, 2003) . Given the fact that
these self employed individuals are spread across all major industries and have
varying degrees of work experience and a wide variety of educational
backgrounds, this represents a significant market for management consultants.

According to a comprehensive study commissions by the Canadian Association
of Management Consultants (CAMC) in 2004, Canada has a sizable market for
management consulting , which accounts for $6.7 billion in spending annually on
consultants. The study also indicates that the Canadian management consulting
industry is increasingly well placed to expand into more North American Markets,
and seize on opportunities in the United States -the largest global consumer of
consulting services. The study found that while there is increasing competition
both in the US and from overseas, there is also opportunity for Canadian firms to
form strategic partnerships with competitors and seek business in other sectors
beyond the heavily serviced IT sector. The advantages that Canadians possess
are a result of their higher than average education level and close geographic
proximity to the US.

The study also states that business is increasingly going to

a short list of large firms , but that there are increasing opportunities for small
firms . This study also notes that the field is currently dominated by IT consulting

7

and public sector work. Since the IT sector is mainly serviced by a dozen or so
of the largest consulting firms, growth opportunities can be found in other
important sectors such as strategic consulting, cost reduction, outsourcing and
other more specialized markets. The CAMC study also provides a current
breakdown of average hourly billing rates by firm size. Based on the 2004 data
reviewed entry level analysts in consulting firms earn $126 per hour in small firms
increasing to $163 in large firms. Consultants range between $170 and $216 per
hour, Sr Consultants between $224 and $299 per hour and Managers I Partners
earn between $270 and $560 per hour. This price tag puts the services of
traditional consulting firms out of reach for many small and mid size firms. Even
for larger firms, individual department budgets are often far too constrained to
utilize the services of an outside consultant. The CAMC report also indicates that
consultants with varying levels of education staff the consulting marketplace.
While it is noted that 4% of consultants possess a Ph.D. and that 41% have a
Masters degree, a full 55% of industry consultants in Canada hold only a
Bachelors degree.

Canadian Consulting Industry

The Canadian consulting industry has historically been concentrated in Ontario
with Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia following. In 2003 these four
provinces accounted for a full 94% of the Canadian market in management,
scientific and technical consulting services. This is broken down to 48% in
Ontario, 18% in Quebec, 16% in Alberta and 12% in BC (Statistics Canada,

8
2003). According to a June 2005 article in "Business in Vancouver'' magazine ,
the pattern of large firms specializing in IT consulting also holds true for the
British Columbia market. The two largest management consulting firms in BC
are IBM Business Consulting Services and Sierra Systems Group Inc. These
two firms have 820 and 324 employees respectively with 300 and 255
consultants locally. The next largest firms according to number of local
consultants are Grant Thornton LLP , Bearing Point LP and Delloitte & Touche
with 140, 89 , and 48 local consultants. The fact that accounting firms round out
the top five is not surprising based on the common practice in North America of
providing consulting functions alongside accounting services. According to
Adams and Zanzi (2004) , the consulting industry has recently experienced
dramatic problems due to actual and perceived collusion with the accounting
profession as well as misconduct at the highest level. The double-digit gains in
revenue in the 1990's for consulting firms have decreased to single digit gains
and in some cases, losses in revenue.

This collusion issue , whether real or perceived , represents a significant
opportunity for independent consulting firms to make further inroads into the
market and a chance to gain market share. The issues of reputation , honesty
and bias are increasingly important to firms utilizing management consulting
services (Schlegelmilch et al. , 1992).

9

Student Consulting
Many facets of the consulting industry have been explored over recent years,
and specifically the student as consultant. Much of the available literature is
based on the Small Business Institute student consulting program in the United
States. The SBI provides free assistance to approximately 7000 businesses per
year (Bernstadt & Byron , 1993). The SBI program in the United States involves
approximately 20 ,000 students and 1000 faculty members at 510 universities. In
Canada, student consulting is offered at a number of post secondary business
schools. The Small Business Consulting (SBC) program at Queen's University
School of business has been in existence for over a quarter century (Bamji,
2000) . The Concordia Small Business Consulting Bureau in Montreal was
founded in 1984 and offers a wide variety of services from experienced
individuals who are pursuing post graduate degrees in business. Although these
types of programs have been in existence for many years, there appears to be
no formal research or evaluation of the academic literature. This disparity is
likely due to the fact that the SBI is a national program in the United States,
whereas in Canada each University has been designing and implementing its
own version of the student consulting model.

Papers based on the SBI in the United States have been numerous and varied in
their topics and research methodologies. In 1998 Junell's study reported that
based on detailed surveys, there was reason to believe that the SBI consulting

10
process provided value to both the student and the businesses involved with the
program. Weinstein undertook a detailed review of students as marketing
consultants in 1990 and found that the client satisfaction rate was over 62%.
This study also indicated that the SBI was providing an important service to
primarily young, inexperienced, but well educated entrepreneurs. Many of whom
could not afford to hire professional consultants. The Bernstadt and Byron paper
focused on the results of the student consulting process. This paper indicates
that student consulting does have a long term impact on the businesses that
utilize their services. The vast majority of firms surveyed indicated that they
implemented changes based on the recommendations of the student
consultants, and 62% of the clients indicated some improvements in sales or
profits as a result of the SBI assistance.

In Canada, one of the most innovative and widely known university consulting
programs in which graduate and undergraduate students work under the
direction of faculty is the Venture Development Program at the University of
Calgary (Chrisman, 1998). This program consists of four programs: Projects,
Business Owner Transitions, Forums, and the Legal Clinic. These programs are
designed especially for clients who are sophisticated with respect to their
technology, but often unsophisticated with respect to business management.
Research has suggested that this program is effective in providing assistance to
aspiring entrepreneurs and managers of growing ventures. A 1986 article by
McMullan, Long and Graham reported the results of a telephone survey to fifty

11

venture managers who had received project assistance from students at the
university. The results indicated that significant value was gained in terms of
time gained or saved, knowledge gained, information gained, contacts made and
strategic changes made. The clients rated the student recommendations as
highly beneficial and indicated that most recommendations were implemented.
The value added to those ventures was estimated to exceed $1.75 million.
Clients also estimated that if the studies had been done by professional
consultants it would have cost them $13,000 on average, an amount that they
could not afford.

The benefits of student consulting are well documented, however the majority of
paper are based on the United States SBI system. This system provides
consulting services free of charge as it is a nationally funded program. The
Canadian system differs greatly in that the student consulting services must be
self supporting, the result is that University business consulting services are pay
for use. This pay for use requirement does put student consulting in competition
with commercial ventures and professional consultants to some degree. The
Bamji article on Queen's small business consulting provides an excellent
breakdown of how a student consulting program fits into this market and what
market niches are best suited to student consultants. Based on the experiences
of this program and surveys of past clients it is clear that a student consulting
service can have an advantage over commercial consultants in terms of
providing market research. This is a primarily due to the availability and

12

affordability of students to undertake the market research data gathering. This
paper also gives some insight into the operational aspect of the SBC in terms of
fees charged to clients and compensation of students. This particular program
does not pay students for their time or work, undergraduate students are graded
based on their input to the consulting process and the output delivered to the end
client.

Conclusion
The market for management consulting services in Canada has grown steadily
since 1998. This trend is also evident in British Columbia, which accounts for
approximately 12% of the total Canadian market. The fact that BC's two largest
consulting service providers are primarily focused on IT indicates that there is an
opportunity for other firms to attain market share by broadening the scope of their
consulting practice. If the fact that the number three , four and five firms are
accounting firms and that many business owners believe that accounting
functions and consulting functions should be separated is taken into
consideration , this is a further supporting argument that there is a potential gap in
the market. Compounding this market gap is the fact that many of the large
consulting and accounting firms do not have a significant presence in Northern
BC. One solution to this market gap would be a University sponsored , student
consulting center. This consulting center would provide services similar in nature
to the services offered by traditional consulting firms , but the fees would be able

13

to be significantly less. This would greatly increase the accessibility to
businesses in Northern BC.

Since studies have indicated that reputation and cost are two of the largest
determinants in the choice of a consulting company (Schlegelmilch et al , 1992).
A university consulting center would be ideally positioned to capitalize on these
factors and fill this consultancy gap. The reputation and non-biased nature of the
university would carry weight with consumers of management consulting , and the
fees involved with utilizing the services would be able to be kept low due to the
use of inexpensive student talent.

14
Chapter 3

Methodology
Fieldwork
Primary data collected in this study was obtained through survey research. The
first survey completed consisted of a semi-structured interview with local
accountants, corporate lawyers, small business bankers and other professionals
in the small business consulting I education field . This survey was completed as
an initial source of information on the types of services in demand in the local
market place. These individuals would have regular contact with entrepreneurs
that are in the process of starting up a new business , looking for financing to
expand their business or requesting professional services to enhance their
business. Based on their detailed knowledge of the local region and contact with
large numbers of business owners, their insights would provide information as to
the extent of the demand for consulting services as well as information on what
areas of managerial consulting would be in the highest demand categories.

The second survey was a web-based survey distributed by email and fax to local
business owners. First, a pretest of the questionnaire was sent to approximately
10% of the expected sample. The pretest was used to determine possible
response formats and to identify potential problems in the questionnaire
construction. The questionnaire was kept brief (less than 5 minutes) since small
business entrepreneurs are unlikely to respond to lengthy surveys (Eistrott,

15

1987). A mail survey was considered , but due to the low response rates and
slow turnaround times for completed questionnaires, this method was avoided.

Definitions
Small and Medium Enterprise
The size of a business can be defined in many ways; by the value of its annual
sales or shipments, by its annual gross or net revenue , the size of its assets or
the number of its employees. Many institutions define small businesses
according to their own needs: the Canadian Bankers' Association classifies a
company as "small" if it qualifies for a loan authorization of less than $250 000,
while the Export Development Corporation defines small or "emerging" exporters
as firms with export sales under $1 million . Industry Canada has often used a
definition based on the number of employees : goods-producing firms are
considered "small" if they have fewer than 100 employees, while for service
producing firms the cut-off point is seen as 50 employees. Above that size, and
up to 499 employees, a firm is considered medium-sized. The smallest of small
businesses are called micro-enterprises, most often defined as having fewer than
five employees. The term "SME" (for small and medium-sized enterprise) is used
to refer to all businesses with fewer than 500 employees, while firms with 500 or
more employees are classified as "large" businesses

16

Consulting
A consultant (from the latin consultus meaning "legal expert" is a professional
who provides advice in a particular area of expertise such as accountancy,
technology, law, human resources , marketing, finance , public affairs or
communication. Management consulting (sometimes also called strategy
consulting) refers to both the practice of helping companies to improve
performance through analysis of existing business problems and development of
future plans, as well as to the firms that specialize in this sort of consulting.
Management consulting may involve the identification and implementation of best
practices, analytical techniques, change management and coaching skills ,
technology implementations, strategy development or even the simple advantage
of an outsider's perspective. Management consultants generally bring formal
frameworks ormethodologies to identify problems or suggest more effective or
efficient ways of performing business tasks.

Self Sustaining
The dictionary definition of self-sustaining is the "ability to sustain oneself or itself
independently". In the context of this study the term "self-sustaining" is used to
indicate that the resource center is able to continue operations without continued
financial sponsorship. It is self supporting in terms of the clients that students
themselves have to procure , the revenues that are generated, and the expenses
and disbursements that need to

17

Survey format:
The structured survey (appendix 1) contained:
•

Multi point scale questions regarding use of consulting service , ex. interest
in service, features of the service , specific types of service

•

Open ended questions, ex. What would be your main reason for buying I
not buying the proposed service , what would you expect to pay for service

•

Identifiers, ex. Size of business(# employees, revenue) , age of business,
education level of respondent , gender of respondent.

The data obtained was analyzed to determine statistical significance and any
sources of bias such as response rate bias and selection bias.

The Sample
The sample selection method used for this study deserves some comment. First,
the typical desire is to use a random sample in the hopes of attaining results
representative of the entire population. If the entire population itself can be used
as a sample , this is more beneficial , since it eliminates the requirement of using
statistics to make inferences to the entire population. It is however, nearly
impossible in many cases to obtain information from all members of a given
population. This results in a tradeoff between determining the sample to be used
and the amount of effort required to obtain data on the full population . In this
study access to the full population was not possible , so a subset of the
population was used. Member lists were obtained from the Downtown Prince

18

George Business Improvement Association and the Prince George Chamber of
Commerce. These two organizations represent many of the businesses and
individuals in the market area that would be potential users of the consulting
centers services. Resource limitation made it impossible to pursue a 100%
response rate from the subpopulation although a high level of participation was
desired. Therefore a follow up email and I or fax was utilized whenever possible
to increase participation rates .

This selection process and the limited amount of follow up can introduce
significant bias into the survey process. It is also possible that individuals who
were favorably disposed to the services offered were more likely to respond to
the questionnaire than those who were not interested. As previously mentioned ,
these sorts of problems exist with any study where less than 100% of a random
sample or a population respond to a questionnaire. This does not indicate that
the results obtained are meaningless however. These sources and types of
errors are simply pointed out to ensure that the reader is aware that the numbers
and estimates obtained are simply that, estimates. This is the primary reason
that the individual interviews with knowledgeable members of the community
were undertaken. These interviews provide additional insight and anecdotal
evidence to support or reject the results obtained from the survey process.

All the interviewees have requested anonymity. Accordingly, the interviews are
provided as a separate Appendix to this paper, which is confidential and which is

19

available only to staff and examiners who need to see it as part of the
assessment process.

20
Chapter 4

Results
Survey Responses
A total of 47 complete , usable survey responses were received from the 457
businesses sampled. The survey respondents were comprised of significantly
more men (70.2%) than women (table 3). The majority of respondents had been
in business for over five years (76.6%) the remaining were three to four years
old (17%) or startups less than two years old (table 2) . The majority (80.9%) of
respondents would classify as small businesses based on having fewer than 50
employees (table 4). Another 8.5% were medium sized (51-500 employees) and
the remaining 10.6% were large companies with over 500 employees. Private
companies accounted for 74.5% of respondents were private companies, 14.9%
were public companies, 8.5% were not-for-profits and one response came from a
government agency (table 5). As table 7 indicates, the respondents came from a
wide array of businesses and had a broad range of educational background
ranging from high school (19 .1%) , college diplomas (12.8%) , Bachelors degrees
(19.1 %) to Professional Programs and Masters degrees (32%) .

The low response rate achieved from the survey process caused some
difficulties in completing calculations that indicated statistical significance. This
low rate was primarily a function of the method of contacting prospective
businesses. The majority of businesses were contacted directly by the
Downtown Business Improvement Association by email or fax. One follow up

21

contact was also completed using the same communication medium by the
DBIA. Further follow up was not possible since the DBIA was not able to share
the contact list directly with the author due to privacy concerns. An additional
180 survey invitations were sent electronically to members of the Prince George
Chamber of Commerce. Only those members who had an email account listed
in the Chambers online member list were reachable. This unfortunately left out
the majority of Chamber members. The selection method also resulted in a
higher response rate from established businesses as these businesses are more
likely to be members of the above-mentioned associations. This may have lead
to an under representation of start up businesses, many of which would be in the
target market for student consulting services.

Although the small sample size makes generalizations to the overall populations
less accurate, 76.5% of the respondents responded favorably when asked if they
were interested in utilizing the services of a student consulting centre. The
responses to the question "If available, how interested would you be in using the
services of a UNBC Business Consulting Center ... ", were 57.4% somewhat
interested and 19.1% extremely interested. Men (84.8%) showed more interest
in utilizing student consulting services than women (61.5%).

The responses to the question of "What hourly rate would you expect to pay for
this service" resulted in range of answers from $8 to $75 per hour. The mean of
the responses was $30.21 with a standard deviation of 18.56. This indicates that

22
65% of the respondents were willing to pay between $11.65 and $48.77. The
median of the responses was $25 per hour. The most popular responses were
$15 (12.7%) , $20 (8.7%), $25 (10.6%) and $50 (10.6%). The table below
indicates the number of respondents who indicated how much they would pay by
breaking the rates indicated into eight categories. The categories chosen are 0
($0) , 1 ($1-1 0) , 2 ($11-20), 3 ($21-30) , 4 (31 -40) up to category 8 ($71-80). The
most frequent category is category 2, with 12 responses indicating a rate
between $11 and $20 per hour.

Figure 1: Hourly Rate Responses by Category

23

Histogram of Hourly Rate Category
Normal

Mean
StDev

12

N

3.263
1.826
38

10

0

2

4
Hourly Rate Category

6

8

To determine if companies of varying sizes had different levels of interest in the
service and if there was a difference in the level of price they were willing to pay,
a cross tabulation (shown below) was performed comparing a companies interest
in using the consulting service (1 =somewhat or extremely interested, 0 =not
very or not at all interested).

Table 1: Interest in Consulting Service by Revenue Category

24

Tabulated statistics: Interested in using service, Revenue
Category
Rows: Interested in using service

Columns : Revenue Category

1

2

3

4

5

Missing

All

0

0 . 00
0.00

0.00
0.00

25.00
16 . 67

37.50
25.00

37.50
21.43

*
*

100.00
18.60

1

8 . 57
100.00

5. 71
100.00

28 . 57
83.33

25.71
75.00

31 . 43
78 . 57

*
*

100.00
81.40

All

6 . 98
100.00

4.65
100.00

27.91
100.00

27.91
100.00

32.56
100.00

*
*

100.00
100.00

Cell Contents:

% of Row
% of Column

Revenue Categories:
1 Less than $30m ; 2 $30m+ to $100m; 3 $100m+ to $500m; 4 $500m+ to $ 1 million;
5 Over $1 million

The cross tab clearly indicates that all respondents that were not interested in the
services of a consulting centre belonged to the higher revenue firms (categories
3,4 and 5 representing firm revenue of $100,000 to over $1 million. There was
however substantial interest from all categories , with 81.4% of companies that
indicated what there revenues were being favorably disposed to using the
service. To determine if there was a relationship between the size of the
responding firms and the price they were willing to pay a pearson correlation was
performed between the price category and the revenue category. The result
indicates that the two categories are positively correlated with a P-Value of
0.130. The histogram below shows that on average larger firms are willing to pay
more for consulting services.

Figure 2: Hourly Rate Breakdown by Firm Size (by revenue)

25

Histogram of Hourly Rate Category
Normal

~

4

6

8
4

Mean
StDev
N

2.333
0 .5774
3

2
1

Mean
StDev

3.5
2.1 21

N

2

3
Mean
StDev
N

2
1.633
10

4

-2

0

6

8

-2

Hourly Rate Category

Panel variable : Revenue Category

4

Mean
StDev
N

4.5
1.434
10

Mean
StDev

3.333
1.875

N

12

This data indicates that although the initial target market identified for a UNBC
student consulting centre was small and medium sized business, large
businesses may also be a market worth pursuing. This fact is also supported by
the positive correlation found between firm size and the price that they would
potentially pay.

The project type that respondents were most interested in using a consulting firm
for was market research (table 8), 70.2% of respondents stated that this would
be of interest to them. Market research was especially attractive to those
individuals who stated they were interested in using the services of a UNBC
consulting centre. Over 81% of respondents who were "somewhat interested"
and 88.9% of those who were "extremely interested" in the centre indicated
market research as a potential consulting project. Surveys (42.6%), business
plans (42.6%) , feasibility studies (36.2%) and Information technology (25.5%),
rounded out the top five overall.

26

Another interesting fact that was extrapolated from the data is that businesses
indicated that their future use for consulting services would be greater than their
historical use if the UNBC consulting centre were available to them (table 8).
Although 46.6% of respondents indicated that they have never used the services
of business consultants in the past, only 6.6% indicated that they would not go to
a UNBC consulting centre. In fact 20% stated that they would use the service for
a one time only project and 66.6% indicated they would utilize the service on at
least an annual basis. A portion of the sample (8.9%) even indicated that they
would have projects for the centre on a monthly basis.

The open ended questions asking what the main reason would be for buying I
not buying the service generated a wide variety of answers. The reason given
most often for using the service was to obtain market research , market analysis
and market information (17% of respondents). Expansion I growth of the
business (1 0.6%) and the low cost of the service (6.3%) were also mentioned by
numerous respondents. The reasons for not using the service primarily revolved
around costs ((17%) and quality I dependability I experience issues with students
performing the consulting duties (19.1 %). These open ended responses are
consistent with question 10 which asked 'What features I attributes are important
to you ... ". The quality of the service output was ranked as being important to
74.5% of respondents and low cost was important to 53.2% of respondents.
Ease of access (53.2%) and physical location (48.9%) were also ranked high in

27
comparison with connected to UNBC. Only 31.9% of respondents indicated that
this was an important or valuable attribute.

The consulting companies that respondents indicated that they had heard of
indicated that government sponsored entities such as Community Futures
Development Corp (80.9%) and Business Development Bank (74.5%) were the
most well known. Other private firms (34%) and private accounting firms (29.8%)
were also known to provide business consulting services. Of interest is that only
21.3% of respondents had heard of IBM Business Consulting Services, and
14.9% of Sierra Systems Group Inc. These two firms are the largest business
consulting firms in Canada, but they seem to have little presence in Prince
George and Northern BC. Other providers of consulting services that were not
on the list of choices, but perhaps should have been would be law firms providing
business consulting services , and the Innovation Resource Centre. Each had
one respondent point them out as missing from the non-exhaustive list.

Interviews
Every interviewee indicated that they supported UNBC and its efforts to ensure
that qualified, trained graduates were adequately prepared to enter the workforce
(confidential interview notes attached as appendix 3). The support for a
university consulting centre was also strong, but not unanimous. Very strong
support came from bankers and accountants specifically, as they saw the centre
as an excellent resource to refer their own clients to without any negative impacts

28
on their own businesses. Other interviewees from law firms and government
sponsored programs were more guarded in providing their endorsement to the
proposed service. This hesitation was not due to the fact that they did not feel
that the centre could provide needed services and provide an excellent learning
opportunity to students, it was more based on the belief that the centre should
not duplicate or compete with existing services either in the public or private
sector. Comments were also received from a small business IT consultant; his
strong belief is that university programs should not be competing directly with
private enterprise. These comments from private enterprise and from
government sponsored programs indicate that the method of implementation and
the process of collaboration with stakeholders would be very important in terms
of successfully introducing a university consulting centre. Further research would
need to be done in this area specifically to ensure maximum benefits for all
involved.

29
Chapter 5

Conclusion
The paper investigated the market demand for a university run consulting center
to provide managerial consulting services to small and medium sized business in
Northern BC . The hypotheses were that significant demand exists for the service
and that the service would benefit all stakeholders (students , businesses , the
community and the university).

The sampling plan permitted self-selection by respondents with an active interest
in supporting or using the services of a university consulting centre. It seems
possible therefore , that intentions to use the service may be overstated relative to
the larger population. Nevertheless, observed interest in using the services of
the business consulting centre reflect strong local demand and suggest that an
accessible and relevant operation would be well received.

Evaluations received from the group of interviewees contained both positive and
negative feedback in regards to the proposed centre. The positive evaluations
indicated that the centre would provide benefits to the students, the university
and especially the community and its businesses. These beliefs are also
supported by the available literature on student consulting. The evaluation of the
US Small Business Institute by Weinstein (1990) clearly indicates that 80% of
clients in their survey found the student reports to by useful for developing

30

marketing strategies for their business and 93% of clients surveyed indicated that
the SBI program was of some benefit to them. Another study on the SBI
program by Junell (1998) concluded that the program provided value to both the
businesses and the students involved. The Borstadt study (1993) on the SBI
found that on average the percentage sales, profits and employment growth were
higher for SBI small business clients than for the average of all other businesses
in the same state. These higher levels of profits and employment have clear
benefits for the community. The negative feedback that was received does not
negate or refute any of these findings. This level of negativity simply indicates
that careful consideration and consultation would need to be undertaken with all
interested parties and stakeholders before any moves were made to make the
business consulting centre a reality.

It is thus the conclusion of this study that there is demand for a centre such as
the one proposed and that it would provide benefits to the students , the university
and the businesses involved as well as to the community as a whole.

31
Chapter 6

Bibliography
Managerial Consulting:
Adams , S, and A Zanai. "Academic development for careers in management
consulting." Career Development International 9.6 (2004): 559-77.
"Biggest Management Consulting Firms in BC." Business in Vancouver 31 May
2005.
Blake , R, and J Mouton. Consultation. 2nd ed. New York: Addison-Wesley,
1990.
Career Profiles. Wetfeet. 8 Feb. 2006
<wetfeet.com/asp/careerprofiles_lite.asp?careerpk=9>.
Cheok, J. "The Growing Management Consultancy Industry." Productivity Digest
(1991 ): Feb 2- 5.
McCune, J. "The Consultant Quandry." World Executive Digest Dec (1997).
Nahavandi, A, and S Chesteen. "The Impact of Consulting on Small Business."
Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice ().
www.sbaer.uca.edu/research/asbe/1998/pdf/15.pdf
Nahavandi, A, and S Chesteen. "The Impact of Consulting on Small Business: A
Further Examination." Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice 13 (1998):
29-40.
Rocha, JR., and M R. Khan. "Impact of Counseling on Small Business
Performance." American Journal of Small Business Summer (1984): 3443.
Schaffer; R. "Overcoming the Fatal Flaws of Consulting: Closing the Results
Gap. " Business Horizons Sept I Oct (1998).
Schlegelmich, B, A Diamantopoulos, and S Moore. "The Market for
Management Consulting in Britain: An Analysis of Suppy and Demand ."
Management Decision 30.2 (1992).

32
Tunwall, C, and J Busbin. "Consulting Effectiveness in Smaller Companies:
Guidelines for the Consultant and the User." Journal of Organizational
Change 4.4 (1991 ): 16-23.
"Turning Challenges into Opportunities. " Canadian Association of Management
Consultants. 5 Oct. 2005. 7 Mar. 2006
<www.camc.com/index.cfm?PID=12515&PIDLIST=12515>.
Statistics Canada. 8 Mar. 2006 <www.statcan.ca>.

Student Consulting:
Bamji , P B. "Running a Small Business at Queen's School of Business." 2000.
Queens University, Kingston Ontario. 8 Feb. 2006
<PJB/SBC/Conferences?ICSB2000Paper>.
Borstadt, L F., and A Byron. "The Impact of Student Consulting Programs on
Decision Making , Operations and Financial Performance of Small
Businesses. ". 1993. 8 Feb. 2006 <sbaer.uca.edu>.
Chrisman , J. "Program Evaluation and the Venture Development Program at the
University of Calgary: a Research Note." Entrepreneurship Theory and
Practice Fall (1997) .
Elstrott, J B. "Procedures for Improving the Evaluation of SBDC Consulting
Activities." Jou rna I of Small Business Management 25 ( 1987).
Junell, S K. "SBI Clients Perception of Student Consulting Projects: An
Emperical Model." 1998. 8 Mar. 2006
<www.sbaer.uca.edu/research/1998/ASBE/98asb078.txt>.
Weinstein , A. "Students as Marketing Consultants: A Methodological Framework
and Client Evaluation of the Small Business Institute." Florida State
University (1990) .

Research Methods:
Solomon , D. "Conducting Web Based Surveys." Practical Assessment,
Research & Development. 2001. 8 Mar. 2006
<PAREonline .net/getvn.asp?v=7&n=19>.
Shannon , D, T Johnson , S Searcy, and A Lott. "Using Electronic Surveys :
Advice from Survey Professionals." Practical Assessment, Research &
Development. 2002. 8 Mar. 2006 <PAREonline .net/getvn.asp?v=8&n=1 >.

33

Small Business Info:
Duplipovici , A, and B Kahn . "Small Business- Big Employer." Canadian
Federation of Small Business. 2003. 8 Mar. 2006 <www.cfib .ca>.
Perry, S C. "The Relationship between Written Business Plans and the Failure
of Small Businesses in the U.S." Journal of Small Business Management
39.3 (2001 ): 201-08 .

34

Appendix 1: Survey
UNBC Small & Medium Size Business Consulting Center
Questions marked with a * are required.

Although small business is the backbone of the Canadian economy, many entrepreneurs
do not possess the required expertise or knowledge for successful startup and growth of
their business venture. This survey is designed to investigate the feasibility of a
consulting program staffed by faculty and students of the University of Northern British
Columbia. This consulting center would also provide an important training ground for
students to gain first hand experience in the area of business. Consulting projects could
involve, but would not be limited to: Market research I surveys, business plans, feasibility
studies, business analysis, operations management, accounting I finance and information

C
C
C
C
C

Not at all interested
Not very interested
Neither interested or Uninterested
Somewhat Interested
Extremely Interested

35

3.

r

r

r

r
r

r
r

r
r

Market research
Surveys
Business Plans
Feasibility study
Operations management
Accounting
Finance
IT
Other:

I

1

Quality C
Trustworthiness C
Value

r::

2

c
c
c

3

c
c
c

4

c
c

c

5

c
c
c

36

r
r

r

r

Every three months
Two or three times a year
Once a year
One time only
Would not use
Other:

I

r:: Startup Company

C Company expansion into new geographic area
C Introduction of new product I service

r:: Modification of existing product I service
r:: Other: I

r
r
r
r
r
9.

Family member
Co-worker
Business partner
Student
Other:

I

~~

37

C Every three months
C Two or three times a year
C Once a year
Once or twice

r
r

r

r
r
r

Low cost
Ease of access
Physically located close to my business I in my
marketplace
Connected to UNBC
Quality of service output
Other:

I

1

c
Reputation of consulting firm c
Quality of finished product I
c
service output
Cost

Linked to UNBC c

12.

2

c
c
c

c

3

c
c
c
c

4

c
c
c
c

5

c
c
c

c

38

r

r
r

r

r
r

r

Community Futures Development Corp
Business Development Bank
IBM Business consulting services
Sierra systems group inc
Other: Private firm
Other: Private accounting firm
Other:

I

c Less than 1 year
c 1 - 2 years
c 3-4 years
c 5 years+

39

16.

c 1
c 2-5
c 6-10
c 11-50
c 51-100
c 101-500
C 500+

C
C
C
C

Public Company
Private Company
Not for Profit
Public sector I government

C Other:

C
C
C
C
C

I

Less than $30,000
$30,000 to less than $100,000
$100,000 to less than $500,000
$500,000 to less than $1,000,000
Over $1,000,000

40

20.

c High School
c College Diploma
c Trade Program
r:: University Bachelors Degree
c Professional Program
c University Masters Degree
c Other: I

41

Appendix 2: Survey Results
UNBC Small & Medium Size Business Consulting Center
Although small business is the backbone of the Canadian economy, many entrepreneurs
do not possess the required expertise or knowledge for successful startup and growth of
their business venture. This survey is designed to investigate the feasibility of a
consulting program staffed by faculty and students of the University of Northern British
Columbia. This consulting center would also provide an important training ground for
students to gain first hand experience in the area of business. Consulting projects could
involve, but would not be limited to: Market research, surveys, business plans, feasibility
studies, operations management, accounting, finance and information technology.
This survey will take approximately 5 minutes to complete.
1. The results of this survey will used to prepare an estimate of demand for a UNBC
Business Consulting Center. This project is being undertaken as part of the
requirements to obtain an MBA degree from UNBC. Do you consent to the use of
your survey answers for this purpose?
Yes
100.0%
(47)
~

~

47
---100.0%
2. If available, how interest would you be in using the services of the UNBC
Business Consulting Center to support your work needs? Please check one
Not at all interested
8.5%
(4)
(3)
Not very interested
-6.4%
(4)
Neither interested or Uninterested
-8.5%
TOTAL

57.4%

Somewhat Interested
Extremely Interested

19.1 %

(27)
(9)

100.0%
47
3. Which project types would you be interested in using a consulting firm for?
Market research
70.2%
(33)
42.6%
(20)
Surveys
(20)
Business Plans
42.6%
(17)
Feasibility study
36.2%
TOTAL

21.3%

Operations management

(10)

Accounting

-10.6%

(5)

Finance

-6.4%

(3)

Information Technology
Other: student tracking

25.5%
•2.1 %

(12)
(1)

42
4. Based on the description, what hourly rate would you expect to pay for the
service? Please record one number, not a range.
#
Response

3

10

1

12.00

4

15

2

15.00

1

18

3

20

1

20.00

5

25

1

30.00

2

35

2

40

1

45

5

50

1

55

2

60

1

60.00

1

75

1

8

5. Select what rating comes closest to best describing how you feel about the
described service. One is the lowest rating, five is the highest.
Average rank
1
2
3
4
5
Quality
(4.1 )
(4.2)
Trustworthiness • • • (4.1)
Value
6. Assuming you ordered the service, how often would you use it?
- 8 .5%
(4)
Once a month
Other: don't know

•2.1 %

(1)

Other: now and then

• 2.1%

(1 )

Other: occasionally

•2. 1%

( 1)

Once a year

- - 19.1 %

(9)

43

Other: Depends on quality of service and needs
for business

(1)

Other: don't know

• 2.1%

(1)

Other: now and then

• 2.1 %

(1)

Other: occasionally

• 2.1 %

(1)

7. At what times or occasions would you use the service?
Startup Company

25.5 %

(12)

Company expansion into new geographic area

44.7 %

(21)

Introduction of new product I service

46.8 %

(22)

Modification of existing product I service

51.1 %

(24)

Other: Market analysis

(1)

Other: Non routine issues

• 2.1 %

(1)

Other: ongoing student tracking

• 2.1 %

(1)

Other: reaching new markets in region

• 2.1 %

(1)

Other: Referrals for others

• 2.1 %

( 1)

Other: Research to support my work

• 2.1%

( 1)

8. Which other people do you expect would use the service? Please check all that
apply
(3)
Family member
- 6.4%
Co-worker

27.7%

Business partner

38.3%

(13)
(18)

Student

-

6.4%

(3)

Other: Clients

-

8.5%

(4)

Other: funding agencies

8 2.1 %

(1)

Other: members

• 2.1%

(1)

Other: other business

• 2.1 %

(1)

Other: other businesses

• 2.1 %

(1)

9. How often have you used business consulting services in the past? Please check
one.
(3)
Once a month
- 6.4%
Every three months

. 2.1 %

(1)

Two or three times a year

-

10.6%

(5)

Once a year

-

10.6%

(5)

Once or twice
Never

21.3 %
4n _R%

( 10)

(22)

44

47
TOTAL
- - - 97.9%
10. What features/attributes are important to you or would you find valuable about
this service? Please check all that apply.
Low cost

53.2%

(25)

Ease of access

53.2%

(25)

Physically located close to my business I in my
marketplace

48.9%

(23)

Connected to UNBC

31.9%

(15)

Quality of service output

74.5%

(35)

Other: Access to resources not available in-house. • 2.1%

(1)

Other: accuracy of survey's

•2.1%

(1)

Other: being a part of a mentor program

•2.1 %

(1)

Other: benefit of results

•2.1 %

(1)

Other: Referrals

. 2.1 %

(1)

11. Please rate the features below in importance to you as it relates to business
consulting services. Select one rating for each on a 1-5 scale where (1) is "Not
important at all" and (5) is "Extremely important."
Average rank
1
2
3
4
5
(4.1)
Cost
(4.2)
Reputation of consulting firm
(4.7)
Quality of finished product I service output • • • •
(2.9)
Linked to UNBC
12. What would be your main reason for buying the service?
#
Response
1 Increase sales
1 Insurance against making bad business decisions
.
.
.
.
1 Interest in a perceived younger workforce I quality assurance and cost
1 lack of time to do it myself
I

KP.Tf P r

11nr1 Pt"C'T-:l n r 11nf"T AT f"'\T"\P.t"-:lT11"\MC'

1 low
cost
...... ,...._. ... _
....... ...., ... . . ...., _
....... _

.._.._.._,._..

_

...... _. ...,. ._,. ,.... .... ....... . . . . ......................

1 Low cost for basic service

t;a n ')l ll. TC' 1 C'

-- . . . . . ....

f"'\T

.._.. _ ._. _.

n11 C'1 MP C'C'

t"\l "".lnC'

-::a nr1

f""' n '=ll nf'r P

.... _ ._. ..., .

1 Market analysis
1 Market information. Recommend to start-ups to seek business plan
assistance.
1 Marketing
1 need

Tr\

45
1 I don't have the access to the public and business contacts that a consulting
firm would be able to offer.
1 Increase sales
1 Insurance against making bad business decisions
1 Interest in a perceived younger workforce I quality assurance and cost
1 lack of time to do it myself

1 low cost
1 Low cost for basic service
1 Market analysis

1 Market information. Recommend to start-ups to seek business plan
assistance.
1 Marketing
1 need
1 Outsource of specialties
1 possibility of answering questions

1 supplement existing skills and research
1 supporting locally
1 targeting of select potential clients.
1 Time savings

1 To assist me in maintaining a viable going concern capable of meeting the
changing needs of my customers as they arise.
1 to expand business

1 To find more inhouse expertise on fields of research. Most times businesses
who want to start up don't know demographics, relative income brackets,
age, tastes etc
1 To grow and expand my business
1 To improve sales and efficiency

1 To reach new business markets for our products & services
1 To test the market for a new service or product. To create a business plan for
a new service or product.

1 Try it out
1 We have clients who do not have these skills and can not seem to commit to
developing them. They need someone to do the work for them

13. What would be your main reason for not using this service?

#

Response

46
1 BEING ASBLE TO COMPETE AS A LOCAL FIRM AND EXIST WITH
THE INFLUX OF BIG BOX RETAIL
1 company structure

10 cost

1 Cost & dependability.

1 Do not currently use consulting firm services. Have corporate consultants
to perform described services

1 Don't want to be a guinea pig if it's students with no experience.
1 If I used service and was disappointed by quality
1 If it were too expensive. You should offer various levels of service I levels
of cost.
1 If the cost was to high. For a lot of startups and new businesses, they
cannot afford to spend a lot on a project that might not be followed through
on.
1 In-house services cover some of the same areas.

1 Lack of expertise
1 lack of expertise or not professional
1 No use for it at the time, or not offering what it was that I was needing at
that time. - Cost of course - it is always a concern of anyone's.
1 Our objective is to develop the capacity of the entrepreneur to do this work
themselves during the stage of their enterprise when they need to learn for
themselves and when funding is not always readily available
1 poor quality, or if I got the expectation that there would be little value.
1 Priced too high. Lack of quality. Lack of confidentiality.
1 Prohibitive cost.

1 Quality of product
1 Since we are a marketing research firm it would be a conflict of interest to
use this service. We have our own in house consultants for the services
offered by the UNBC consulting center

1 typically expensive and difficult to implement recommendations
1 Unqualified personnel

1 we are supporting the development of future business leaders
1 We provide business consulting services

14. What companies offering business consulting services have you heard of? Please
check all that apply.
r1R)
r.ommunitv
~ Develonment rom
- - - • R 0.9%
Sierra Systems Group Inc

-14.9%

(7)

47
IBM Business consulting services

- - 21.3 %

(10)

Sierra Systems Group Inc

-

14.9%

(7)

Other: Private firm

- - - • 34.0%

(16)

Other: Private accounting firm

- - - 29.8%

(14)

Other: Innovation Resource Centre

• 2.1 %

(1)

Other: Law firms, training institutions

• 2.1 %

(1)

Other: Professional Development Int.

• 2.1 %

( 1)

15. How old is your company I organization?
Less than 1 year
• 2.1 %

(1 )

1 - 2 years

• 4.3 %

(2)

3-4 years

- - 17.0%

(8)

5 years+

- - - • 76.6%

(36)

TOTAL

47
- - - 100.0%
16. How many people are employed by your company I organization?
1
12.8%
(6)
2-5
21.3%
(10)
6-10

17.0%

11-50

29.8%

(8)

(14)

51-100

-

6.4%

(3)

101-500

• 2.1%

(1)

500+

-

(5)

10.6%

TOTAL

100.0%

47

17. What is the structure of your company I organization?

Public Company
Private Company

-

14.9%

(7)

(35)

Not for Profit

- - - ·74.5%
8.5%

Public sector I government

• 2.1 %

(1)

TOTAL

- - - 100.0%
18. What does your company I organization do?
#

RP"non"P

1 Business & Economic Development Consulting
1 Business Association

1 Computer Software Consulting
1 Driving Instruction
1 Financial Institution

(4)
47

48

map sales
1 Business & Economic Development Consulting
1 Business Association
1 Computer Software Consulting

1 Driving Instruction
1 Financial Institution

1 financial planning
1 financial services
1 Highway maintenance and infrastructure
1 Industrial wholesale and retail
1 Insurance I Travel Services/ Road Assist Services
1 interior design, building design, planning, project management

1 land title & mobile home services, personal property liens
1 Law firm
1 Law Practice
1 Maintain city services
1 Make eyeglass lenses

1 Management Consulting
1 manufacture lumber
1 Manufacturing

1 Marketing Research
1 Medical Spa
1 Office products

1 Professional Training (transports and machinery) and Compliance
1 property management/real estate sales
1 Pulp and paper
1 Rent vehicles
1 resource consultant

2 retail
1 retail audio I video

2 Retail sales

1 RETAIL SERVICE STATION AND FAST LUBE
1 Retail Specialty Store

1 Sell & Support Accounting Systems

49
1 Software Development
1 website hosting and desktop publishing

19. What is your annual revenue?
Less than $30,000

-

6.4%

(3)

$30,000 to less than $100,000

.

4.3%

(2)

$100,000 to less than $500,000

- - · 25.5 %

(12)

$500,000 to less than $1,000,000

- - ·25.5%

(12)

Over $1 ,000,000

- - - 29.8%

(14)

TOTAL

47

- - - ·91.5%
20. What is the highest level of education that you have obtained?
High School
19.1 %

(9)

College Diploma

(6)

-

12.8%

Trade Program

(0)

University Bachelors Degree

- - 19.1%

(9)

Professional Program

(13)

University Masters Degree

- - • 27.7%
. 4.3%

Other:

•2. 1%

(1)

Other: Associates Degree

• 2.1 %

(1)

Other: irrelevant

• 2.1 %

(1)

Other: Military education

• 2.1 %

(1)

TOTAL

- - - 91.5%

47

21. Please indicate your gender.
Female

- - • 27.7%

(13)

Male

- - - • 70.2%

(33)

(2)

47
- - - • 97.9%
22. Thank you for your time, please feel free to include any other comments
#
Response
TOTAL

1 As the proprietor of a management consulting firm, I am concerned that

potential clients will access free or close to free resources that compete with
the services that I offer . I think this has the potential of negatively
impacting management consulting and accounting firms in Prince George
and their ability to compete in a tight market. These services are already
available in Prince George. Moreover, most professionals practicing as

50
business consultants for networking purposes and to obtain advice on how to
structure your service: - organizational structure -how to market and deliver
service - how to dovetail your service with "competing" services to find an
appropriate niche or demand 7. You should ask what related services may be
needed (for future expansion)
1 As the proprietor of a management consulting firm, I am concerned that
potential clients will access free or close to free resources that compete with
the services that I offer. I think this has the potential of negatively
impacting management consulting and accounting firms in Prince George
and their ability to compete in a tight market. These services are already
available in Prince George. Moreover, most professionals practicing as
consultants do so after obtaining valuable experience in their line of work.
Consultants without a lot of actual work experience cannot offer the same
level of quality. However, small business owners, who may not be aware of
the differences would be attracted to the low cost which would not actually
help them in the long run. A more effective way for MBA students to gain
necessary experience would be to partner them with Businesses already
providing services in this area. This would allow the students to gain
experience without negatively impacting small business who are already
providing services and perhaps driving them out of the community - thus
weakening the communities ability to provide qualified services as well as
educational opportunities.
1 Being from the professional training sector, I feel this is long overdue as I
am a true believer in adding "real life" scenarios to any training program.
1 Build this up to a thriving business center.
1 Good luck with your initiative.
1 I don't think quoting hourly rates is appropriate ... a contract price is easier to
control. In particular, if I'm hiring students, graduate or otherwise, I'm hiring
less than fully skilled individuals and therefore, don't want to have to pay for
what might be unproductive and open ended billing. A mutually agreed
upon fixed price for delivery of a specific product I service is more
appealing ... less chance for misunderstanding. Though hourly rates may be
more appropriate for raw data catchments and reporting, etc.

1 I would like to hear more about what you are proposing to do
1 Sounds like a good idea - should be an interesting extension for some
students. If resources are well placed could do very well. Business start up is
certainly a difficult time and entrepreneurs need all the help they can get.
Good Luck!
1 Unsure if I would use service, but concept is very interesting.

1 While your survey does not appear to apply to a long established small

business, we would wholeheartedly support any venture that would promote
growth and demographic character of the downtown core. A UNBC

51

Consulting Centre would need significant public exposure to ensure the
knowledge of it being a service to the "general public" and limited to any
university enrolment criteria. This venture would need to be well marketed
highlighting what services were offered. Many small business ideas may be
jumpstarted just knowing help was so close. As a UNBC teaching tool, I
would expect that attributes like trustworthiness and honesty are inherent.
Quality, indicative of experience, may be less, but this would be offset by
the cost. As part of a curriculum for the MBA degree, I would expect the
rate charged should be based on the cost, or at a significantly lesser rate than
what current market charges are for this type of service.
The results of this survey will be made available at www .downtownpg.com

,.....-----

52
Table 2 - 9: Cross tabulation of survey data

" If available, how interest would you be in using the services of the UNBC Business Consulting Center
to support your work needs? Please check one"vs " Ho" old is your compan) I organization? "

Less
than 1
year

I -2
years

0

0

ot at all interested:
·--, ~

5
years

3-4

years

+

2

2

•-> '

0

ot very interested:
:

0

1

2

'

,' -·:· ~

0

0

either interested or Uninterested:

Totals

3

1

>·:t I
.· :c_,

":'::·:

4

~ ~

3
•-'

4

-

"'F7

,_: ~ .::· :

1

omewhat Interested:

4

0

27

22

:'<:" '0!\.:•_.:; ·- ·Ct_•'•'!?:! ''

~~

xtremely Interested:

'"'

.

'•

TOTALS

1

0

1

=[7

~~

1

2

F

7

9

36

47

.y:

~

8

.,.

":

" If available, how interest would you be in using the services of the UNBC Business Consulting Center
to support your work needs? Please check one"vs " Please indicate your gender. "
,,

Female
. :·

~

~

~

(

~

2

ot at all interested:
!~

~

~ ~~~

~

ot very interested:

...-

.;

Male
~

2

:-::-

~

_,.,_, ·iJ;· ~

3
7

~

omewhat Interested:

4
3

1

·;;;r,!!}''J'C

~

Totals

~

2

either interested or Uninterested:

"' ,;

2

1
0:,'

,_

-:c

..

7

20

27

1

8

9

-

·._

xtremely Interested:
_,;

"""'-

~

TOTALS

-

: ,:

~

.<L'

13

-::: =

,.,..,..,...
:<'if

33

- .____

46

-

53
. "If available, how interest would you be in using the services of the UNBC Business Consulting Center to
support your work needs? Please check one"vs " How many people are employed by your company I
organization? "

101-500
ot at all interested:

0

ot very interested:

0

~

interested or
interested:

0

2

2

0

0

Totals

0

0
~

mewhat Interested :

1

0
TOTALS

1

" If available, how interest would you be in using the services of the UNBC Business Consulting Center
to support your work needs? Please check one"vs " What is the structure of your company I
organization? ''

Public
Private
Company Company

TOTALS

Not
Public
for
sector I
!other Totals
Profit government

0

0

0

0

0

0

6

1

1

0

7

1

54

" If available, how interest would you be in using the services of the UNBC Business Consulting Center

to support your work needs? Please check one"vs " What is your annual revenue? "

$30,000 $100,000 $500,000
ess
to less
Over
to less
to less
than
$1,000,000
Totals
than
than
than
$30,000 $100,000 $500,000 $1,000,000
L

ot at all interested:
ot very interested:

TOTALS
" If available, how interest would you be in using the services of the UNBC Business Consulting Center
o support your work needs? Please check one"vs " What is the highest level of education that you have
obtained? "

High
College
School Diploma

Trade

Bachelors Professional
Program
1

1

0

7
4

13

43

55

ailable, how interest would you he in using the se n ' ices of the UNBC
~ Con,ulting Center to support your work needs? Please check onc"vs " Which projec
~ pes '"'uld )OU he interested in using a mn'>ulting firm for'! "
Opt•ratiom,
manaocmcnt

0

Totals

0

0

0

0

5

7

1

121

" Assuming you ordered the service, how often would) ou use it? "vs " Ho" ortcn ha\C you uwd husine.,s consulting sen ices in the pa.,t'! Plea.,c check one."

56

Appendix 3: Interview Responses
Eric Bennett- Community Futures Development Corporation
"There would seem to be cross over between the proposed service on some
aspects of CFDC and there would be some competition with existing businesses.
Market research would be one area where a student consultant would be of
value, as market research is dreaded by the majority of business owners."

Tom McBride- Business Development Bank of Canada
"It would seem that what you are proposing would complement what BDC does.
We do have a consulting arm but it is targeted at higher end businesses. They
charge a couple of thousand dollars for an initial proposal , full contracts range
between five and twenty thousand. The initial, inexpensive project services are
not a fit with BOG's current offering. When startups come in to the office we give
basic suggestions and direct them to a business planning website or to an
accountant. We also recommend CFDC quite regularly. I would say between
50% and 75% of startups coming through the door are referred to one of those
three sources."

Michael Kerr- National Research Council
"I have used the university as a resource for some small projects in the past, I
went directly to the appropriate professor to enlist their help. The benefit of this
is that you get a lot of energy from students. I would recommend you stick with
4th year students, they are very keen and can do a great job if they are
appropriately supervised . In my experience , firms often hire one or two of the
keenest students once the initial project is complete. For startups with limited
knowledge , students are great. They do not have the same networks as a more
experienced practitioner though , and sometimes companies that have been in a
particular business for a while and need more detailed, in depth studies need
this. I think there would definitely be enough work to keep a student consulting
group going."

Katherine Voit- Export North
"I personally and professionally think that this type of project has value.
Especially market research and business plans. Many of our customers have the
technical skills in their particular field , but lack the experience or time to do the
work when it comes to research and planning . This would also provide excellent
experience for the students involved. It would provide a type of co-op experience
without making a full commitment to a co-op program. There are some very
valuable organizations in the area that provide some of the services suggested ,
but there is no one-stop-shop for business owners to access ."

57

Norm Schmitz- Accountant; Schmitz, Anderson, Nielson
"This type of service would not be competition for us. It looks like there might be
some overlap with CFDC . We do some business plans for clients but refer the
majority out to other organizations. It would probably cost a client $10-15m for
us to work through an entire business plan with them. An organizations such as
CFDC has this as their mandate and provides services at low or no cost."

Evelyn Rancourt- Small Business Banker, Scotiabank
"I think this is a great idea. CFDC does provide some of these services to small
business and they offer some great programs. They are often too slow to fit a
clients needs though, and they don't really suit all clients, such as those who just
want their business plan done. The other option that clients have for business
plans is to go to an accountant, they are way too pricy for most small startups. A
lot of the people I meet want to start a business and they just don't have a lot of
time to spend on the planning and research side. If they could hire out some of
this it would be really valuable, especially for people who already have full time
jobs. Most of the customers we see could use a little help from time to time . I
think that the banks would definitely send referrals to a student consulting firm ,
and the first hand knowledge that the students would get from working with
clients would be invaluable."

Roy Spooner- Innovation Resource Centre (via email)
"I am in fact in favour of your general intent. I am frequently finding instances
where a service is being offered which is redundant to what is already available.
It seems to me that the best reason to start programme is that it would provide a
learning opportunity for the MBA students at very modest cost to established
businesses. There are several organizations, funded by the government, who
provide start-up support to entrepreneurs. I do hope that UNBC increases it's
profile downtown and that the MBA programme finds a way to contribute to the
business community in exchange for the learning opportunities they will have. As
I indicated in the survey we do have clients who need to hire help that we do not
provide in order for them to move forward and we will likely include the new
service in the referral list."

Alan Dixon - Advantage Computer Solutions (via email)
I am a local small IT business owner. I see you are proposing a Business
Consulting Centre supported by UNBC, which would create more 'direct'
competition in the market place of my business. Perhaps you should do some
marketing to see how many businesses you will effect and if the possibly
'negative' effect that will create is something that UNBC wishes to associate itself
with. I find it interesting that you would on one hand come to local business for
employment and on the other create a Business Consulting Centre offering

58
seNices to the local market. I will obseNe this development closely and as you
can tell from my tone. I support UNBC when it supports local businesses thru
training of qualified employees, but NOT in direct competition to the existing
business owners.
P.S. Please note that it's is not the competition that is the issue as heaven knows
we get new competitors every day, but I disagree with the source being UNBC.