How to Start a Consultancy with Almost No Money
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When you are an independent consultant, you are in business for yourself. Those consultants who are employed by large consulting firms like Cap Gemini and Bain are a different breed. I am talking about the breed that is independent and who stand on their own two feet, running their own consulting business. Being in business as an independent consultant demands much more than employee needs to survive. It can be tough but once you have made it, you will never want to live the life of an employee ever again.
Of course it helps if you have capital behind you to get your consulting business going but you don't necessarily need a large amount. Aside from the funds you need to see you through the first few months until you begin receiving payments from clients, the most important assets that will help you get going are your time and commitment to succeed.
The days of spending large sums of money on advertising have gone. That was last century's way of building business. These days, the focus is on building contacts, creating a reputation by helping people and solving their problems. All of this can be done at very low cost.
One of the biggest mistakes that new consultants make is to focus too much on being the expert and not enough on marketing themselves. You can be the most knowledgeable person in your field, but without marketing yourself, you are unlikely to win a consistent pipeline of clients that are ready to pay you for your consulting services.
Here is an excellent list of tips to remember. All are just short statements that can be applied with little or no money, but together they can help you create a highly profitable consulting business.
- Select a niche and remain focused
- Commit to being the expert in your niche
- Make a deal with yourself that you are in this business for the long-haul
- Make sure you have enough guts, determination and ability to succeed
- Move away from negative people
- Listen and learn from those successful consultants who have trod before you
- Preserve your time and your money
- Help your propsective clients and give away plenty of sound advice - free!
- Accept help from smart people when they offer it
- Don't ever forget that you will need to constantly market yourself
- Don't make the mistake of selling. Help people solve their problems instead
Now you might be thinking; "are you really sure I do not need a big budget to market my consulting services?" I can appreciate the question, especially when there is so much advertising everywhere.
Many successful consultants have achieved success without an advertising budget and some of the principles of marketing are so simple, they are often overlooked by many.
Knowing these simple marketing principles can make the difference between a successful consultant and a failed consultant who has to go back to working for someone else, all because they neglected the importance of marketing. Knowing your subject might be sufficient to 'get a job', but it is very insufficient if you want to be a successful independent consultant.
There are plenty of resources on the net and on bookshelves about the consulting business. The trouble with some of them is that they spend too much time discussing the company name, business cards, and finances and not enough on the critical success factors such as marketing. But there are some wonderful places where you can learn how to market yourself as an independent consultant with a small budget.
Providing you are committed to being successful, and that you are prepared to learn from the right people, there is no reason why you cannot have your own successful consulting business.
Article Source: Articlelogy.com
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