How to be self-employed as a consultant in five steps
Credit to Author: Margaret Jetelina| Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2019 07:00:27 +0000
Looking for a way to become self-employed in Canada? Become a consultant!
Consulting is one of the best business models on the planet. I don’t think there is any other business that can beat consulting, considering the benefits it offers. It gives you an opportunity to add value to other people’s lives and businesses. It has low start-up costs, high profit margins and unlimited growth potential. You can have the freedom to work from anywhere in the world. You can get clients from anywhere in the world.
However, the question that many people struggle with is how to actually start a consulting practice. I struggled with it, too. Eventually, I found the answer to this question after trying out hundreds of different approaches and strategies. It can take some people years to set up a successful consulting business. But, after going through the process myself, and taking thousands of my students through it, what I’ve found is that if you understand the right approach, it takes you only two to three months to start a thriving consulting practice.
Here is my approach with five key steps to becoming self-employed as a consultant.
Get a job
Being desperate while you’re starting a new business is not the best state to be in. A job that’s paying your bills and making you comfortable will allow you to think about diversification, expansion and growth. While being employed, try to invest one to three hours per day into setting up your consulting practice, before you gradually go into consulting full time.
Identify your consulting skill
A consulting skill is a skill that can potentially add value to other people’s lives and/or business. What is it that you would initially offer to the marketplace in exchange for money? Some examples of consulting skills are accounting, life coaching, marketing, copywriting, digital marketing, finance management and operations improvement. What is it that you have developed over time that can add value to others?
Identify your target market
Who is your ideal client? Who would benefit the most from your consulting skill? You might be able to serve a lot of different businesses, but you want to position yourself as an expert in a specific segment. For example, if you’re an accountant, you could potentially serve any business in Canada. But if you position yourself as an accounting specialist in a specific segment like tech start-ups, your demand will be higher.
Get prospects on the phone
Once you have completed steps 2 and 3, you want to find a way to get decisionmakers from your target market on the phone with you, to discuss your service offering. You can do this by first connecting with them on social media platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook, or at networking events and conferences.
Sell on the phone
Finally, once you have your prospect on the phone with you, you have to guide the conversation toward a sale. This happens by positioning your consulting offering as a solution to a problem your prospect is facing or a need they have.
Getting started as a consultant
Any immigrant in Canada can build a consulting practice by following the five-step approach above.
Remember, you only need one client to get started. Even if you have to go through a few rejections to get that first client, it will still be worth it. That’s how the biggest consulting business owners in the world started — with a single client and lots of rejection. So go out and get things rolling.