If you are tried of being bossed around and you want to take matters in your own hands, starting a consulting business is a great way to step out of the old story.
Surely this sounds idyllically and being your own boss is an ideal “job”, but this kind of business is not all about the perks. There are some bad parts to it too and you might as well know them before you start off on such a brave, fulfilling but yet stressful journey in creating your dream.
To be sure you start your consultancy business on the right foot, you should note and learn these 5 tips that any experimented consultant should give you.
- Being your own boss sounds nice, but it’s not like that. You might now have a boss, but your clients are demanding and eventually your need to respond to their needs, cope with their problems and solve issues that they might come across. So it’s not exactly like you don’t have a boss anymore.
- You need to set the right price if you want to be respected and paid for proportionally to the work you do. This means you need to set your standards high and ask a higher price than you might do. If your price is not low, then you would look more professional (even if you would do the same job for a lower cost). Be sure you make a name for yourself.
- Be flexible, try to make your client understand where you are coming from but be sure to hear their side too. In the end you will still need to stand up for what you know, and how you work and if the client doesn’t understand, then you wouldn’t be able to work with him anyway.
- Make a good first impression, dress to impress and have the right words up your sleeve. A first good impression is highly important and not just about the image you serve, but about what you are made of. A person that care about his image does also care about the image of the client he works for. Would you trust someone that looks sloppy? I don’t think so! At least not when it comes to business.
- Be informed! This might just be number one. As a consultant you have to be up to date with everything and be sure the info you use is really accurate and fresh. Read a lot, learn a lot and grow your knowledge field because this is what clients pay for. They hired you for the knowledge you have and how you know to work with it.
Now that you noted everything down, it’s time to draw the line and see how everything comes together. It might sound hard but don’t let this get to you. Follow your plan and go for it because you will regret later if you are done fighting for your dream just because it sounds hard at the beginning.
And do not forget that having a consultancy business is all about working with people that have good or bad days, and you need to face that fact too.
