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how to become a consultant

How To Become A Consultant Study & Guide (2024)

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Want to learn how to become a consultant?

You’re in luck.

We sent out a survey to consultants asking how they became consultants — and over 2800 responded.

We analyzed the data and put together this guide for you on how to become a consultant.

If you want to learn how to become a consultant based on the data from real consultants, this study is for you.

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How To Become A Consultant Study

How To Become A Consultant Guide

Stories & Resources To Help You Become A Consultant

How To Become A Consultant Study

Key Findings From Our “How To Became A Consultant” Survey

Let’s start with our 12 key findings from the survey data.

  1. Over 75% of consultants reach their previous income levels in less than 2 years.
  2. Over 90% of consultants invested in courses, coaching, or mentoring to become consultants.
  3. 60% of consultants benefited from the COVID-19 pandemic. 22% said the pandemic very positively benefited their business, and 39% said the pandemic somewhat positively benefited their business.
  4. 65% of consultants started their consulting business while still working at their job. 35% of consultants quit their job and then became a consultant.
  5. For over 50% of consultants, their first client was a former employer.
  6. Sales, marketing, time management, and fees were the top 4 biggest challenges consultants had as new consultants.
  7. Consultants who invested in courses, coaching, or mentoring (and found them helpful) earn a higher annual income from consulting and tend to reach their previous income level as an employee faster.
  8. Over 85% of consultants were dissatisfied with their former job before they became a consultant. 37% were very dissatisfied with their job, and 50% were somewhat dissatisfied.
  9. Of consultants who felt most prepared for sales before becoming a consultant, 59% of them still named sales as their biggest challenge once they actually got started.
  10. 53% of consultants said they felt lonely when they first became a consultant, but do not anymore.
  11. Most consultants thought about becoming consultants at least a few years before making the leap. 38% were thinking about it for more than 5 years, and 47% were thinking about it for a few years.
  12. Most consultants (61%) want to grow their business. 17% want to maintain where they are at, and 9% want to eventually sell.

Reasons For Becoming A Consultant

We’ll start with WHY people decide to become a consultant.

We asked consultants about what they were doing before they began their entrepreneurial journey.

The # 1 Reason People Become Consultants

reasons to become a consultant statistic

People decide to become a consultant for a few different reasons.

38% of consultants became a consultant to realize their potential.

28% of consultants became a consultant to be their own boss.

11% were most attracted to the unlimited income potential, and 11% desired the flexible schedule.

6% became a consultant because they were laid off from their job, and 4% wanted to work from anywhere.

2% chose other.

For Sam and I, it was a combination of all of the above.

Learn more about why we decided to start OUR consulting business below:

Were Consultants Dissatisfied With Their Former Jobs

were consultants dissatisfied with their jobs statistic

Most consultants were at least somewhat dissatisfied with their former jobs before becoming a consultant.

50% were somewhat dissatisfied, and 37% were very dissatisfied.

Only 13.5% liked their job before deciding to become a consultant.

How Long Consultants Thought About Starting Their Consulting Business

how long consultants thought about starting a consulting business statistic

47% of consultants were thinking about becoming a consultant for a few years, and 38% were thinking about it for more than 5 years.

14% thought about it for less than a year before becoming a consultant.

We’ve seen people become consultants and start consulting businesses at many different points in their careers.

What Consultants Felt MOST Prepared For Before Becoming A Consultant

what consultants felt most prepared for before starting a consulting business statistic

Here are the numbers on what consultants felt MOST prepared for:

  • Sales: turning conversations with prospective clients into paid projects (37%)
  • Marketing: generating conversations with prospective clients (17%)
  • Time Management & Organization: getting everything on my to-do list done (12%)
  • Fees: figuring out what to charge for my services and why (12%)
  • Operations: setting up and running the business (accounting, legal, etc) (10%)
  • Project Delivery: delivering on projects for my clients (7%)
  • Knowing what to focus on and when (3%)
  • Emotional: loneliness and frustration with starting a new business (3%)

What Consultants Felt Least Prepared For Before Becoming A Consultant

what consultants felt least prepared for statistic

Here are the numbers on what consultants felt LEAST prepared for:

  • Sales: turning conversations with prospective clients into paid projects (38%)
  • Marketing: generating conversations with prospective clients (16%)
  • Fees: figuring out what to charge for my services and why (14%)
  • Time Management & Organization: getting everything on my to-do list done (12%)
  • Operations: setting up and running the business (accounting, legal, etc) (9%)
  • Emotional: loneliness and frustration with starting a new business (6%)
  • Project Delivery: delivering on projects for my clients (3%)
  • Knowing what to focus on and when (2%)

How Consultant’s Families Felt About Them Becoming A Consultant

how consultants partners felt before they became a consultant statistic

Worried if your spouse or family will support your decision to become a consultant?

Most are supportive.

41% said that their partner/spouse/family were somewhat confident and happy to support the decision, and 36% said they were very confident and happy.

6% said that their partner/spouse/family were somewhat unconfident and unhappy to support the decision, and 11% said they were very unconfident and unhappy.

7% said N/A: they were single when becoming a consultant.

Transitioning From Corporate To Consultant

So, how do consultants transition out of their corporate jobs into starting a consulting business?

In this part of the survey, we learned about how consultants made the leap.

Did Consultants Start Consulting On The Side Or Quit Their Job

do consultants quit their job before starting a consulting business statistic

Most consultants started consulting while still employed. 65% of consultants quit after they already had revenue coming.

35% of consultants quit their job and then became a consultant — what we call the “all-in” approach.

Starting a consulting business is the perfect side-hustle while you are still employed.

How Consultants Got Their First Consulting Client

how consultants get their first consulting client

For most consultants, their first client is a former employer.

24% said their first client was their previous employer from their most recent job, and 28% from any previous employer.

21% of consultants got their first client using an outbound marketing method like cold-calling or cold-emailing.

14% of consultants got their first client from a referral.

11% of consultants got their first client from an inbound marketing method like writing or speaking.

Getting your first client is the real “start” to your consulting business. We cover these methods further down in the guide.

Do The Skills You Learn In Your Career Help As A Consultant

do corporate skills translate to becoming a consultant statistic

The overwhelming majority of consultants say that the skills they learned in their careers helped them succeed as a consultant.

49% said these skills helped a lot, and 45% said they helped at least a bit.

Only 6% said they didn’t help at all.

Consulting is the business of expertise. If you’ve developed expertise working in your corporate job, you can become a consultant.

Read our article on the important consulting skills here: The 6 Essential Consulting Skills (Clients Want These).

The Biggest Challenge For New Consultants

biggest challenge for new consultants

Here’s what new consultants struggle with the most:

  • Sales: turning conversations with prospective clients into paid projects (39%)
  • Marketing: generating conversations with prospective clients (16%)
  • Time Management & Organization: getting everything on my to-do list done (14%)
  • Fees: figuring out what to charge for my services and why 12%
  • Operations: setting up and running the business (accounting, legal, etc) (10%)
  • Emotional: loneliness and frustration with starting a new business (5%)
  • Project Delivery: delivering on projects for my clients (2%)
  • Knowing what to focus on and when (2%)

One of the biggest takeaways is this: delivering client projects is relatively easy compared to getting those clients in the first place.

If you can master marketing for consultants and consulting sales, you’re well on your way to consulting success.

Do Solo Consultants Feel Lonely

do consultants feel lonely statistic

53% of consultants say they felt lonely as a solo consultant, but don’t anymore.

20% say they still feel lonely as a solo consultant.

16% say they did and still do at times, and 10% don’t feel lonely.

Going from working with a team to working on your own is challenging for many. It’s an adjustment you’ll have to make — and engaging with a community can help.

How Long Does It Take Consultants To Reach Their Previous Income

how long does it take consultants to match their previous income

Most consultants reach their previous income level within 2 years (53%).

23% reach it in just 1 year.

16% reached it within 3 years, and 7% are still working on reaching it.

What Consultants Invested In To Learn How To Become A Consultant

what consultants invest in to learn how to become a consultant statistic

Most consultants invested in courses, coaching, and mentoring to become a consultant.

55% said these investments were very helpful, and 39% said they were somewhat helpful.

6% didn’t find these investments helpful.

Current Consulting Business & Goals

What are these consultants focused on now? Where do they want to take their business next?

In this section, we asked consultants about their business goals.

Annual Income for Consultants

how to become a consultant: consulting annual income statistic

How much do entrepreneurial consultants make?

Here are the numbers:

  • Less than $50,000 (9.94%)
  • $50K-$99K (20.64%)
  • $100K-$149K (21.78%)
  • $150K-$249k (27.50%)
  • $250K-$499K (13.13%)
  • $500K-$999K (4.32%)
  • $1M-$3M (1.06%)
  • $3M+ (1.63%)

Starting your own consulting business and earning your first six figures (or more) is very possible within 2 years — especially if you have the right guidance.

Do Consultants Have Teams

do consultants have a team statistic

Most consultants have a small team or an assistant/admin.

49% have a team of 2-4 employees or contractors.

21% have a team of 5+ employees or contractors.

19% have an assistant/admin to stay organized and free up time.

11% do nearly everything alone.

If you’re looking for help with time management, systems, or productization, building a small team is a must.

What Did Consultants Find Helpful To Start Their Business

most helpful learning on how to become a consultant

What form of learning do consultants find most helpful?

  • 34% said free online content.
  • 20% said books.
  • 20% said mentorship/coaching.
  • 13% said communities.
  • 12% said courses.
  • 2% said other.

All of these learning resources are worth a try. At Consulting Success®, we have all of the above.

Primary Goals For Consultants

goals for consulting business owners statistic

Where are the primary goals of consultants right now?

61% want to grow their consulting business.

17% want to maintain their business and are happy where they are.

9% want to productize — earn more while working less.

9% want to sell their business.

3% have other goals in mind.

How COVID-19 Has Affected Consultants

how covid has affected consulting industry statistic

Overall, COVID-19 has been at least somewhat beneficial for entrepreneurial consulting businesses.

39% said COVID-19 benefited their business a little.

22% said COVID-19 benefited their business a lot.

19% said COVID-19 affected their business somewhat negatively, and 10% said it affected their business very negatively.

10% said that their business was unaffected by COVID-19.

Long-Term Goals For Consultants

long term goals for consulting business owners statistic

What are the long-term goals for consultants?

55% say they want to keep growing and making more money and haven’t thought about selling their business.

32% want a profitable consulting business to provide a great lifestyle for them and their family.

10% plan to sell the business one day.

3% say they haven’t given much thought to their long-term plans.

How To Become A Consultant Survey Demographics

We asked consultants demographic questions.

Here are the numbers.

Types Of Consultants

types of consulting statistic

Here are the different types of consultants that took our survey:

How Many Years Of Experience Consultants Have

how long consultants have been consulting for statistic

Consultants have a varying amount of experience.

  • 38% have been consulting for 4-6 years.
  • 36% have been consulting for 1-3 years.
  • 12% have been consulting for 7-10 years.
  • 8% have been consulting for less than 1 year.
  • 4% have been consulting for 15+ years.
  • 2% have been consulting for 11-14 years.

Age Of Consultants

average age of consultants statistic

47% of entrepreneurial consultants are between the age of 30-39.

24% are between 40-49 years old.

18% are 20-29.

6% are 50-59.

4% are 60+.

In our programs, we have worked with consultants who have achieved success at any age.

Consulting Gender Demographics

consultant gender demographics statistics

68% of the consultants who took our survey are male, and 32% are female.

Where Consultants Live

where consultants live statistic

Here is a breakdown of where the consultants who took our survey live:

  • North America (34.90%)
  • South America (22.99%)
  • Eastern Europe (21.13%)
  • Western Europe (14.61%)
  • Africa (2.96%)
  • Australia/New Zealand (2.05%)
  • Asia (1.37%)

With the rise of remote work, you can build a great consulting business anywhere in the world.

How To Become A Consultant Guide

Based on the data, we’ve put together this guide to help you become a consultant.

Let’s dive in.

Step 1: Make Your Decision

Quitting your job to become a consultant is a big decision. It’s one you don’t want to take lightly.

Why People Become Consultants

There are many reasons why people in corporate careers want to quit and become a consultant:

  • They lack freedom and flexibility — being forced to work on projects they don’t want to work on
  • They dislike their boss and would rather be their own boss (and be able to give themselves a raise instead of having to ask for one)
  • They feel like they aren’t realizing their true and full potential — and are wasting their best years to create someone else’s dream instead of their own

With your own consulting business, you have the freedom and flexibility to work on the projects you want to work on.

You don’t have to answer to any boss — and you determine your income, not them.

And perhaps most importantly, starting and running your own consulting business is one of the most powerful vehicles for self-development. You will be challenged, overcome these challenges, and become a more complete person as a result.

If these points resonate with you, then it might be time to give it a shot. For more on this, read our article: 7 Signs You Should Become An Independent Consultant.

How To Quit Your Corporate Job (The Right Way)

To give yourself the best chance of success, you want to start by quitting your job with grace.

Give your employer at least two weeks’ notice. Thank them for the opportunity. Offer to help them as much as possible to make their lives easier with you leaving.

As you’ll learn, consulting is a relationship business. You don’t want to burn bridges, especially with your past employer. If you can quit with tact, your previous employer will help connect you to your first clients — in fact, they might even be your first client. For over 50% of consultants, that is exactly the case: their first client is a previous employer.

In your final 2 weeks on the job, give it your all. But, you should also use this time to prepare and get your consulting business started.

Step 2: Decide On Your Transition Strategy

There are two ways you can transition from corporate to consultant: the Side Transition or the All-In Transition.

The Side Transition

The Side Transition is where you start consulting on the side while you work in your corporate job. 65% of consultants take this approach.

It’s a lower-risk approach to starting a consulting business. It allows you to test and validate the demand for your services while you still have income from your 9-5 job.

With The Side Transition, you gain traction before you quit your job. You prove to yourself that you can get clients and do the work so that when you do quit, you will have income.

It also gives you the chance to develop case studies, giving you a marketing asset to help get more clients once you make the leap.

However, with the Side Transition, you’re not giving it your 100% effort. You’re being held back by spending most of your time and energy on your full-time job. Thus, you won’t know how successful you can truly be if you’re only giving it 50% (or less) of your concentration and effort.

The All-In Transition

The All-In Transition is where you go all-in on starting your consulting business with little to no pre-existing income from it. You’re quitting your job to become a consultant, and that’s that. You go 100% into it.

sam zipursky from consulting success, corporate to consultant case story
Sam Zipursky, Co-Founder of Consulting Success — learn about his all-in transition in our story

35% of consultants use the All-In Transition.

It is going to be stressful. And you’re going to have real pressure to perform: to get clients, deliver excellent work, and generate income.

But, with the All-In Transition, you’ll see faster results. You’re committed. You have to generate an income, and that means you’ll have to put more time and energy into it.

Pressure makes diamonds: and when it comes to quitting your job and starting a consulting business, the All-In Transition gives you the good kind of pressure you need to succeed.

NOTE: If you are going to make the all-in transition, make sure that you do have income saved up. 6+ months of living expenses are often more than enough to remove a lot of the stress that comes with this transition.

Step 3: Adopt The Mindset Of A Consulting Business Owner

So far we’ve talked about tactics and strategies for making this transition from employee to consultant. Now, it’s time to talk about the foundation of it all — your mindset.

Being an employee is very different from running your own consulting business, or any business for that matter. You don’t have an employer who is supplying you with a steady paycheck. Instead, your income comes from a variety of clients who pay you for your consulting projects. The pressure is on you to not only do the work but also to bring in the business.

You Are In The Marketing Business

For that reason, it’s useful to think of your consulting business as a marketing business.

“You’re not in the consulting business, you’re in the marketing business. I know this sounds harsh, but here’s an even more frightening thought: your consulting skills may be good enough right now to implement the business you acquire, but I’ll almost guarantee that your marketing skills aren’t good enough to continually acquire business.”

—Alan Weiss, Million Dollar Consulting

You don’t need to be a world-class marketer or salesperson to become a very successful consultant. But you need to be comfortable with marketing and sales.

Marketing and sales are what help you attract clients. And it’s from your clients that you’ll earn the income necessary to keep your consulting business surviving and thriving.

For more resources on marketing and sales for consultants, read:

(To learn more about the mindset of six and seven-figure consultants, read The Elite Consulting Mind™ 16 Proven Mindsets to Attract More Clients, Increase Your Income and Achieve Meaningful Success)

So what is the best way to adopt this mindset? It’s not by thinking about it. It’s by taking action. But not any kind of action. Imperfect action.

Taking Imperfect Action

Imperfect action is putting your perfectionism aside. It’s taking action without all the information or practice you might feel you need to move forward. It’s exploratory and experimental. And it’s how you learn how to do marketing, sales, and attract clients.

When you first become a consultant, you won’t feel comfortable promoting yourself. You won’t feel comfortable writing a proposal, pricing your service, and asking your prospective client to sign on the dotted line.

Instead of being frozen because of this discomfort, imperfect action gets you to move forward and try things, see what works, and discard what doesn’t. All the elite consultants you read about start with imperfect action. And there is no better mental model to adopt when you first become a consultant.

Step 4: Win Your First Consulting Client

With imperfect action on your mind, let’s talk about the next step: winning your first consulting client.

The Power of Pro-Bono Work

Now, we’ll answer the age-old question…should you ever work for free?

It’s not a simple question. There are situations where it makes sense to provide your consulting services for free. There are other situations when you should never provide your consulting services for free.

Because your first 1-2 clients are so important, this is one of those situations when doing pro-bono consulting work makes sense.

Take a long-term view. Acing your first 1-2 consulting projects and getting those first 1-2 testimonials will pay dividends when it comes to searching for — and winning — paid consulting work.

When doing pro-bono work, don’t devalue your work and expertise. It’s helpful for both you and your client that you send them an invoice for the actual amount you would charge, and then waive the fee.

By doing this, you’re demonstrating to both your client and yourself that what you are providing does have a monetary value even if, in this case, you are providing it for free.

Pro-bono work is valuable when you first transition from corporate to a consultant because of the relationships you’ll build, the testimonials you’ll receive, and the case studies that result. Do good work for your client, and you’ll develop a good relationship with them. After the work is done, ask them for a testimonial. Once you’ve finished the work and learn the results of your project, write a case study.

Finally, once you’ve completed these steps, ask your client for a referral:

“A referral from you would be incredibly helpful for me in this early stage of my consulting business. Do you have the name or two of someone who’d benefit from this value?”

If you can develop a relationship, receive a testimonial, write a case study, and get a referral, a pro-bono project can end up being very lucrative. Get everything you can out of a pro-bono project.

You might also get the chance to turn pro-bono relationships into paid work. Either with your existing client or through a referral, it will be much easier to charge your usual fees for the next project. You’ve proved your value and can now demonstrate the results of your expertise.

Getting those first 1 or 2 clients is difficult. But if you follow this framework for pro-bono work, you can not only get these first few clients, but you can use them to build up a pipeline of paid consulting business.

Turning Your Previous Employer Into Your First Consulting Client

Like I’ve said before: consulting is a relationship business. Even if you despise your current job and current employer, try and resign without burning any bridges. You can even turn your previous employer into your first client. Here’s how.

You’ll need to ask them if they’re willing to become your client in the first place. If you leave your job with grace, then this could be one of the easiest sales you make: your previous employer already knows you, likes you, and trusts you.

Tell them in advance what you’re thinking about and get their input. Position it as collaborative and that you can support each other. You’re deciding to leave anyways. Why not provide mutual value?

Focus on the benefits for them. Unlike full-time employees, they don’t have to pay you a full-time salary, provide benefits, or give you a bonus. They only need to pay you for what they need and the value you’ll create for them.

It’s a win-win. You get to work with them as a consultant instead of an employee. And they get to benefit from your value without having to pay you a full-time salary.

The worst-case scenario is that they say no. That doesn’t mean you should change your plans — as you learned about in the previous section, you can still leverage pro-bono work to win your first couple of clients. But it’s worth trying to turn your previous employer into your first client if that’s something you would enjoy.

Learn about the 9 ways to get more consulting clients for alternative ways to get your first client.

Step 5: Creating Your Consulting Discovery Offer

Here’s the thing about pricing your first consulting engagements: they don’t have to be massive projects.

I’m sure you’ve heard about, and eventually want to win those high five or six-figure projects. That will come. But first, you can go small to get started.

What Is A Consulting Discovery Offer?

A consulting discovery offer is a service designed to get your foot in the door in a business and demonstrate your expertise. It’s a low-risk, one-time form of a productized consulting offer.

Discovery offers are easier to sell because they are…

  • Inexpensive: Discovery offers are often between $1.5K-$15K, which is much less expensive than a typical custom consulting engagement. They allow your client to “try you out” before taking more out of their budget.
  • Quick: Discovery offers are often quick, anywhere from an hour conversation to 1-2 weeks in length max. They allow your client to get a feel for working with you without spending too much time.
  • Low-risk: Because they are inexpensive and quick, they are low-risk. Buyers can be very risk-averse, especially to bigger projects, so your discovery offer reduces the risk and makes it more likely they will work with you.

Above all else, your discovery offer should add value to your client and their organization despite its smaller nature. Creating a discovery offer will help you articulate how you can add value to your client’s business in a shorter time frame, which is an excellent exercise for a newer consultant.

Here’s how Sam Schutte, Clarity Coaching Client used discovery offers in his consulting business:

“We will not do a project unless the discovery. It’s probably been that way for about a year. I tell folks, “We’re delivering real value. We’re giving you design documents, requirement documents, a roadmap, and a feasibility study.” These are real things. There are people out there that probably charge tons of money for that.

We’re providing a lot of value through these discovery things because we’re telling you if what you’re even talking about is feasible. Is it possible? Are you crazy? Is it going to take ten times what you’re thinking or is it going to be ten times cheaper than you think? What’s the value of that? There has to be a price on that.

What I found is if they do the discovery project, they always do the other project. Your win rate was much higher there. Whereas, if you didn’t make the discovery, it was 50/50.”

Turning Discovery Offers Into Bigger Consulting Projects

As Sam says, you can and should leverage your discovery offers into bigger consulting projects.

Think about what happens in the mind of your client after you’ve finished a discovery project.

Now, they know you, like you, trust you — and you’ve created a good result for them. This is exactly where you want to be with your clients. At this stage, they are willing to invest more in you based on the fact you’ve already added value to their business.

Turning your discovery offers into bigger consulting projects is known as existing client development.

Setting this up is quite simple. First, your discovery offer should have given you a good idea of the problems they are facing. You should always be paying attention to these problems and study them, as helping to solve these problems is the best way to add value to your client.

Second, you can’t just keep all of these ideas to yourself. You must bring them up in conversation with your client. Ask them more about this problem. What is their goal? How is this problem keeping them from achieving their goal? How is it making their day-to-day life harder? Then, introduce your ideas and solutions — which can be a larger consulting engagement.

Conversations — with new or existing clients — are how you make more offers. And making more offers is how you win new business, increase your income, and continue to build your consulting business.

Next, you’ll begin tracking what works and what doesn’t so you can build the proper systems to grow your consulting business.

Step 6: Rinse & Repeat: Creating Processes To Continually Attract Clients

So now, you’ve started your consulting business and became a consultant. You’ve won your first couple of clients. You’ve created a discovery offer. And you’re taking imperfect action — putting yourself out there, talking with ideal clients, and making offers. The longer you’re in business, the more patterns you’ll start to observe.

Tracking Your Wins

When you take imperfect action, you’re trying all types of different marketing and sales methods. You’re trying LinkedIn outreach, phone calls, email, content — all of it. After doing this for a couple of months, you’ll start to get a feel of what’s working: what’s actually generating conversations with buyers.

The rule of 80/20 — also known as the Pareto Principle — asserts that 20% of your results will generate 80% of the results. If you apply this principle to your marketing and sales, you’ll start to notice that one or two efforts out of the ten you do will generate most of your results. You want to double down on what’s working and eliminate the rest.

A simple way to do this would be to set up a spreadsheet. In the first column, list out all of the marketing methods you are taking imperfect action on. Then, at the end of each week, write how many conversations with buyers each method generated for you. This will give you an idea of what works best for you.

Some consultants do very well with content. Others do very well with cold-calling. A lot of it comes down to your personality and your interests: different people enjoy and excel at different forms of marketing and business development. But unless you take action and record your results, you won’t have a clear picture of how to move forward and put what works into repeatable systems.

Building Your Consulting Systems

Now that you have a good understanding of what’s generating results, you want to create standard operating procedures (SOPs) and systems. Writing your most impactful actions you take in your consulting business — whether that be writing an article, sending an initial outreach email, or your questions for the first sales call with a client — builds the foundation on which your business runs.

consulting business processes and systems

You gain tremendous peace of mind and clarity when you know that when you need to get a new client, you have a process that’s worked for you before that you can rely on. That when you are first meeting with a client, you know the questions to ask for the best chance of a sale. It removes much of the uncertainty and stress that comes when you’re new to the game.

It’s not easy to create these systems. They require you to have earned some wins first, so you know what works and what doesn’t. In our Momentum and Clarity programs, we’ve crystallized and improved on these systems for nearly 2 decades. You don’t have to do it all from scratch. Consultants who make the transition successfully all stress the importance of having best practices they can rely on to get what they need — and at the right time.

How To Become A Consultant Stories: Learn From Those Who Made The Transition

Now, you’ll learn from consultants who successfully made the transition: their stories and what worked best for them.

How Husain Quit His Corporate Job To Become A Consultant

“I joined Clarity Coaching to help me transition from being an employee to a full-time, self-employed consultant. Mike and Sam helped me through the process of changing my current employer into a consulting client. They instructed me on how to approach my employer, help with proposals, help with negotiation, and gave me the confidence to go forward and seal the deal.”

How Dauwn Started Her Consulting Business From Scratch

“I engaged with Michael at the very beginning when I was really thinking about starting a consulting business, and with his encouragement, direction, and focused strategies about how to build, grow, and expand the business, it really gave me the courage to step out.”

Learn more about how Dauwn became a consultant in her Consulting Success Podcast feature:

> The Secret to Landing Six-Figure Consulting Projects with Dauwn Parker

How Elliot Went From 0 Clients to Over $100k in Projects in 7 Weeks

“I was reluctant at first to seek Michael’s help. But I was hit with the reality that being out on my own was very different from working for an organization, and I was finding myself like a squirrel in search of that next nut. I reached out to Michael, and he helped me see the action steps and provided me with the system — and a systematic approach to going out finding, and getting my ideal clients. I’m working for people I truly care about and feel as though I’m making a difference.”

Learn more about how Elliot started a thriving consulting business in his Consulting Success Podcast feature:

> Elliot Begoun and The Power of Betting on Yourself

(If you want to see dozens of other case stories of those who successfully became consultants, check out our Consulting Case Stories playlist on YouTube)

How To Become A Consultant: Frequently Asked Questions

1. What specific legal structures are most beneficial for a consulting business (e.g., LLC, sole proprietorship, corporation), and what are the pros and cons of each for consultants?

Choosing the right legal structure and model for a consulting business involves balancing liability, tax implications, and administrative overhead.

  • LLCs offer personal liability protection and tax flexibility, but come with some complexity in setup and operation.
  • Sole proprietorships are easy to establish and manage, but offer no personal liability protection.
  • Corporations provide the strongest liability protection and opportunities for raising capital but involve significant regulatory requirements and taxation complexities.

2. How does a new consultant set competitive yet profitable pricing strategies for different types of consulting services, especially when just starting out?

Setting competitive pricing strategies requires understanding the market, evaluating your expertise level, and considering costs.

Tiered pricing or value-based pricing can help cater to different client needs — and help you command higher consulting fees.

3. What are the most effective ways to handle difficult clients or projects that go awry, including communication strategies and contract clauses to protect the consultant’s interests?

Handling difficult clients or projects requires clear communication, setting boundaries, and having detailed contracts with dispute resolution clauses. Establishing a process for regular check-ins and feedback can also prevent issues from escalating and scope creep.

Need Help Becoming A Consultant?

Do you want help making the transition from corporate to consultant as smooth and stress-free as possible?

To quit your job with confidence, knowing that you’ll be able to earn the same income — or even far surpass it — by using a proven, step-by-step system?

There are many things we haven’t mentioned here that aren’t in the scope of this article: setting up a productive office, perfecting your proposals, building a team — all of these are also important.

So we’ve put together a course designed to help those frustrated with their corporate career to become a consultant.

Click on the link below to learn more about Momentum — our flagship program to help you go from employee to successful consultant using a proven step-by-step system:

> Momentum: The Proven Implementation Program for Early-Stage Consultants

4 thoughts on “How To Become A Consultant Study & Guide (2024)

  1. Its really a great way to earn more rather than to do job whole life.

  2. Really helpfull and quite fantastic! Good work on this article. It’s worth reading.

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