How Can I Take My Consulting Business From a Kitchen Table Idea to Full-Time Work?
If you are thinking of consulting as a profession or business model then this is the article for you. Starting with just your own specialized knowledge of a topic and a little hard work, you can easily build your consulting practice into a full-time income. Read on to find out how.
Consulting can be a challenge to get into, just because of the sheer amount of consultant available. However, if you specialize correctly into your niche, you will be able to position yourself as the only show in town. When you are starting a consulting business, you need to make sure that you follow these 5 steps to get your business off the groud:
1. Start with a free email list and “practice” your consulting ideas on these customers. They have paid nothing for your service and you can try different solutions on them to see how your ideas measure up to the rest of your industry.
2. Offer your service to non-profit groups in your niche for a discounted rate if they are willing to become some of your first customers. This is the place where you will create a system for your consulting, where you can just plug in the customer’s information and create a proven method to assist businesses in your niche, no matter what their problem is.
3. Don’t take on too many customers. You may only be able to handle one at a time until you get your system developed. This is ok. You want to make sure you provide a very high level of service, especially since you want to create a good first impression.
4. Make sure you save all of the work you have done. You never want to repeat anything that you can re-create for another business. You work does not have to be unique for each company, they just want results. What worked for one company may very well work for another.
5. Get proper legal advice, contracts etc. in order to protect yourself. Make sure you have some type of contract that will explain how and when you get paid, what you are not liable for and other aspects that need protection. Of course you are operating with the customer’s interest at heart, but we all give bad advice on occasion and you don’t want to lose you life’s savings because of it.