After years of experience, breaking free from the routine 9 to 5 job can be pretty appealing. If you’re looking for a liberating yet effective way to put your expertise to use, then starting a career as a consultant can be the best choice. Whether you’re just getting started or you’re looking to scale up your business, here are 4 ideas on how you can boost your consulting career.
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1. Set a Process
First of all, you want your services to be scalable. While it’s understandable how you’ll need to customize your services according to the client, the main steps of the workflow process should roughly remain the same. Starting from scratch with every new client will make it harder for you to streamline your work and take on more projects.
The process you set should outline the timeline of the project with clear and concise steps that the client should adhere to. Documenting this outlined process will save you a lot of stress, where you’ll only need to send the documents instead of wasting a lot of time on unnecessary meetings.
2. Take Control
Some consultants feel hesitant about forcing their opinions on the client. After all, they believe that their job entails merely giving advice and leaving the final decision to the client. However, that’s as far as it can be for a consultant’s role in a company.
Clients hire consultants for their expertise. If you want to see the project you’re supervising succeed, you have to be firm about what should and shouldn’t be done. Remember that it’s your reputation at stake, not just the company’s.
3. Promote Your Business
If you really want to get word of your business out there, you have to actively market for it. You’ll start with creating a website that showcases your expertise, establish your existence on social media platforms, and cross-market your website by tapping in your social media marketing strategy.
However, you have to establish a business first before you can promote it, and ZenBusiness outlines how to create a consulting business from scratch. Like any other business, you have to start with creating a business plan, choosing a legal structure, devising a financial plan, create a business name, register your business, and purchase the needed equipment.
4. Expand Your Network
Speaking of actively promoting your business, one of the most effective ways to let people know you’re in business is by expanding your network. Make it a habit to engage in business networking gatherings and events to expose your business to interested clients.
You can also make good use of social media to personally connect with business circles, slowly positioning yourself as an industry expert.
Starting a consulting career is a great way to put all of your years of expertise to good use. There’s nothing more rewarding than guiding younger entrepreneurs through the ropes of the industry.
However, merely having expertise is not guaranteed to get you clients. You’ll have to take active measures to boost your consulting career, whether by improving the way you offer your services or promoting your business.