How to Start a Consulting Business
Starting a consulting business is intimidating. Even for seasoned business professionals, heralding yourself as someone who can “solve” others’ problems requires boldness. Fortunately, all of us have significantly more experience (and hard-fought wisdom) than we might believe. The trick is tapping into that experience to be able to export it to other businesses and individuals.
Since starting a consulting business can be difficult, we thought we would mention 7 IMPORTANT considerations.
1. Become a Master - Most business professionals find that they are particularly talented, or experienced, in a few specific areas. Many experts say it requires 10,000 hours of experience in a particular area before mastery can be achieved. What are the areas of business (or emotional health) where you have invested significant amounts of time and energy? Did you work in a particular industry? Do you always read the same self-help genre? Figure out your area of expertise and sharpen it to a surgical point.
2. Dominate a Platform - In today’s business landscape, it is important to have some social proof as to why you should be hired. Fortunately, there is no shortage of platforms to choose to share your craft and expertise. A few worth considering are: launching a podcast; focusing on instagram, facebook, tiktok, twitter, linkedin; starting a youtube channel; writing a blog; starting a local chapter in an interest-area, etc. Basically, it’s important for you to choose one platform and get really good at it. Spend time researching on youtube or other resources to learn as much as you can about that platform so you can maximize your time and efforts. You can add content to other platforms as well, but do it as a “backstroke” option (instead of expending a lot of your energy).
3. Find a Mentor - This may go without saying, but this truly is the most expedient way to becoming an excellent consultant. Finding a good mentor can shave years off your learning curve, save you tons of money, and help you learn strategies and tips not found anywhere else. You can find a local mentor, a mentor in your particular industry, or find an “online mentor.” Basically, look for the results you want and find a mentor who has already accomplished them.
4. Find Your Ideal Clients - Your success will come down to the type of clients you work with, and the offerings you give them. To find the right clients, reverse engineer who you want to work with. What industry are they in? Where do they hang out online? Where do they hang out offline? What are their pain points? How do they talk? What are their personalities? The more specific the better. These answers can guide your advertising or marketing efforts. When you start working with clients, they will refer more people like themselves, so it is important to attract clients you enjoy working with and resonate with your offerings.
5. Prioritize What You Need - When you are starting out, there is no end to the amount of things you can create, work on, or produce. For example, a website, a lead magnet, FB page, FB group, IG page, Tiktok page, Youtube Channel, Curriculum, Course, Email Drip Campaigns, business cards, email service, online advertising, offline advertising, referral campaigns, logo, brand kit, blog, scheduling software, office-space, webinar software, etc. Fortunately, it’s okay to start with a bare minimum of these items. Choose two or three important assets to your business and launch! We would suggest a logo, website, and scheduling software as a starter kit :) The rest you can learn or develop as you build. Many consultants launch with nothing more than energy and a willingness to offer their services to the people they meet.
6. Identify the Pain Points - One of the most important considerations is to determine what your clients desperately need from you. In marketing, this is called “the bleeding neck.” Basically, what can you solve for your clients that is of dire importance to them. When you recognize these areas, you will want to get crystal clear on how to express that you understand their pain. And possibly more importantly, you know how to solve that issue for them.
7. Develop Your Own Style - Consultants come in every shape, type, caliber, etc. They are offering their services to many industries, people, workforces, non-profits, and so on. As such, it’s important to differentiate yourself. What makes you and your services different? What have you spent ample time developing? How can you offer these products (or services) to your clients? What separates you from the pack? How can you communicate authentically and authoritatively?
There are other considerations to launching a business (primarily the logistics to set a business up), but don’t overthink it. Many people become paralyzed because of all of the options, or they are simply afraid to start. A consulting business is developed incrementally. You will “sharpen your teeth” over years of real-world experience. Our strong recommendation is that you find a community of like-minded individuals who are in a similar position (or possibly a few steps ahead). Being a consultant can be lonely and intimidated, but we can support one another if we are willing to share honestly and vulnerably. We wish you the best!
