How to Establish a Think Tank
- 1). Find a specialization. Every successful think tank focuses on one specific issue. Specializing in a certain niche helps limit your competition, especially if you develop a reputation for being the best in a certain area. Focus on an issue that is important to you and work forward from there.
- 2). Recruit experts to serve on your think tank. Companies hire think tanks as a way to rent expertise; without credible, published experts in a field, you will not see much work coming your way. Look for respected individuals in your field of study, such as professors and educators, former and current professionals and noted authors or critics. The more highly esteemed and regarded your think tank members are, the more credible it appears at first glance.
- 3). Start networking as soon as you have a staff of credible experts. Contact old clients, new businesses and anyone else you think may need your services. A successful think tank knows how to manage each of its members’ professional contacts to find new work and push their findings into the public eye.
- 4). Draft and publish reports with your experts that deal with a major issue in your field of study. Actively publishing insightful and valuable information draws attention to your think tank and encourages new clients to seek out your services.
- 5). Find funding. This is the most difficult part of creating a successful think tank. Decide whether to seek direct payment from clients, apply for government funding or look for special-purpose grants from groups within your field. You may need a small business loan to get started, or your experts may work for free in the hopes of the think tank becoming successful. Positive word-of-mouth marketing, a strong reputation and a demonstrable history of expertise make finding funding much easier.
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