Consulting means “engaged in the business of giving expert advice to people working in a specific field.” In other words, a consultant is somebody who gives advice to a specific group of people.
While a consultant is someone who has some level of expertise that a particular group of people find valuable, and people within that group are willing to pay the consultant to access their expertise.
Starting a business is a challenge, but starting a business where your goal is to help others run their own more efficiently is doubly challenging. A niche tends to be a good place to look when determining how to start a consulting business, whether your area is HR (managing the workforce of a company, including sourcing, selection, hiring, marketing and ensuring compliance), strategy (improving performance, perhaps through workflow management), technology (delivering and implementing new software solutions), or some other consulting service that will help other businesses improve and grow.
In the above categories the businesses or individuals you are serving need help with solving problems they or their businesses are faced with which is where the need for your services come to play .
Steps to starting your consulting service.
Understand your strengths and weaknesses.
Often, consultants are hired to solve problems that businesses can’t solve themselves. Otherwise, why would they pay you, someone who doesn’t know anything about their company, to come in and tell them what to do? When starting a consulting business, it’s important to have deep knowledge in a specific area so that you can offer value to your clients.
There are many different kinds of consulting that you can consider for your business. For example, if you know a lot about computers, you can set up shop as a computer or IT consultant.
There are also plenty of opportunities for PR mavens, accountants, digital marketers, and people who have a mind for business strategy.
Know your market.
Once you’ve identified your niche, think about what kinds of questions, problems, and pain points businesses in your chosen area of expertise have. It’s not enough to simply have a strong skillset and a lot of knowledge in your field. If businesses don’t have problems that your consulting business can solve, then you will find yourself treading water.
The best way to figure out what your market wants and needs is to ask. Start by doing an online search for blogs in your niche. What are the thought leaders writing about? Where does there seem to be a lot of confusion? Is there heated debate in any forums or comment sections over a particular topic?
Write good proposals.
Client proposals are your chance to illustrate how you can serve your client and solve their problem. As such, it’s necessary to be clear about what the project is, why you’re lending your consulting services, and when you’ll complete the project. It’s also important to be very clear about all the details that will go into the project, including deliverables, budget, and how you’ll measure results. Be clear, be convincing, and close that client.
Set your pricing.
This is one of the most hardest part of consulting if not the hardest especially for people just getting into the consulting industry it’s always best to show the amount of value and results that would be delivered before setting a price for your services.
Proper Staffing.
Whether you need (or want) a staff to help you depends on the amount of work you have to do. Working seven days a week and 12-hour days isn’t sustainable no matter how zen you might be, and is certainly a possibility if you’re successful at growing your company.