Many of those who venture into the world of independent consulting make mistakes that sabotage their well-intentioned efforts. Here are some common mistakes and how to avoid them.
1. Not abandoning a job search.
It is very difficult to consult with clients, market your consulting services, while keeping your job search alive. Each requires a great deal of energy and focus.
But, more importantly, the people in your network who you need to rely on for your job search networking (i.e., those who know and respect you) are the same people that you need to refer you to consulting prospects. Sending them mixed messages about your career intentions will limit their ability and interest in helping you.
2. Closet marketing.
Staying home and just waiting for the phone to ring is not how consultants find new business. You need to tell the world that you are now a consultant, what type of services you provide, how you can meet their needs, and how they can contact you.
Send an announcement (via mail or email) to everyone you know.
3. Working as an employee without benefits.
Consider this example. Sheila, an unemployed human resource professional, landed a 20-hour "consulting" assignment working as a human resource generalist for a small non-profit. A few months later she landed another similar position for a small start up. She now is working 40 hours a week and receiving 40 hours of pay. But she has no time to market or grow her business. She is really just a full time employee without benefits.
4. Selling your body.
Sheila also has the problem that independent consultants should try to avoid. She is expected to be onsite 40 hours per week.
She does not have any of the freedom and independence that she yearned for when she started her consulting business.
5. Saying you do everything.
If you say you do everything (e.g., "I am a management consultant who solves all types of problems"), people will think that you do nothing.
Focus is key. You need to focus on a particular problem organizations face, an industry sector, and/or a geography. This will help you to brand yourself, refine your expertise, and provide more value to clients. It will also make it easier for you to target your marketing.
For example, if you provide cost reduction services for the medical device manufacturing industry in New England, it is relatively easy for you to figure out what professional meetings to attend to network with your target market, where to seek speaking engagements, and to which publications you should submit articles.
6. Charging too little.
If you are too shy about charging, your business will struggle and die. Think about the checks to consultants you approved when you were working in the corporate world. They probably seemed like a lot of money, but consultants need to charge a lot in order to fund their benefits, retirement, overhead, and marketing costs. Also, they are providing value that is typically well worth their fees.
If your services are not providing sufficient value, then you need to improve or change what you offer.
7. Partnering.
Independent consulting can be a lonely profession. Many start out with the idea of partnering with someone else so that they have company and combine their expertise. The problem is that you need to make twice as much money when you partner with someone. Some decide to partner because they hope that the other person will handle the marketing and sales.
Forget about that idea. You should not rely on someone else to sell your services. You have to force yourself to learn how to market and sell yourself. Partnering requires that 1 plus 1 equals at least 3.
Bottom Line
Hopefully, you won't make these 7 mistakes and your consulting business will get off to a quick start, live long, and prosper.
© Copyright Bruce L. Katcher, Ph.D., 2012. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
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About This Author
Starting a Consulting Business Expert Bruce L. Katcher, Ph.D. is an Industrial/Organizational psychologist, president of Discovery Surveys, Inc. and Executive Director of The Center for Independent Consulting. He is author of "An Insider's Guide to Building a Successful Consulting Practice" (AMACOM) and "30 Reasons Employees Hate Their Managers" (AMACOM). Reach out to Dr. Katcher for consulting assistance at BKatcher@CenterforIndependentConsulting.com, 781-784-4367, on LinkedIn at Bruce Katcher PhD, or on Twitter @BruceKatcher.
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