How to Build a Successful Consulting Business

Massive but often overlooked reality check for fractional execs/consultants: Your greatest source of profitable “new” clients are nearly always current and past clients, colleagues, and those in their immediate circle. They know you, they know your work, it’s familiar. Yes, it’s important to be sharing knowledge / success / setbacks / hopes and dreams with the world on LinkedIn, and “shooting your shot” with some occasional cold outreach. But with extremely few options (like literally two), I can trace ten years of client “trees and roots” growth and probably 70% of revenue to my first major client retainer in 2015. Here’s 5 practical prioritization tips: 1) Focus on delivering amazing results for clients always, 2) Dedicate most of your biz dev efforts on your closest circle i.e. people and places that already know and trust you. Ask these people for referrals. 3) When doing cold or lukewarm outreach, focus on direct adjacent sector or similar work streams and be precise “In 9 months, I helped _____build an sustainable community engagement program that [insert very specific results]. 4) Share what you know and love on social and accept speaking invites to events and platforms. 5) Make referrals and get referrals. When something is outside of your wheelhouse, be diligent in connecting the potential client with someone who can knock it out of the park. I guarantee you both parties will remember when they’ll need your skillset. ———————————— And that’s it for now! Anything else folks want to add?

I built a $700K+ a year business using my laptop & Basecamp; here are my top 6 lessons. Context to that: We don't have a fancy tech stack. We don't do SEO, paid ads, PR, etc. LinkedIn & referrals = 100% of our biz. ------------------- #1 Be highly visible Luck surface area is a huge determiner of early success; you'll never find success if you don't put yourself out there. Networking groups, LinkedIn, online communities, incubators, etc. Hang out where your clients hang out. Don't focus on sales; focus on relationships. Early on; you really don't know where your best deals will come from; so take that call or send that connection request. #2 Measure progress in quarters / years; not week / months. Unlike all the hustle porn you read online; overnight success is RARE. This means you should likely have 6-12 months of expenses set aside before you make a plunge. I've seen several posts lately where folks are trying to build their biz & work FT W2; not saying it's impossible; just challenging. My first year I grossed 70K & netted 10K. It would have been easy to give up. The next year I grew 400%; however that time b/t year 1 & 2 is where many throw in the towel. # 3 Move the ball forward daily This does not mean 12 hour days / work till exhaustion. I never worked late into the night. But if you think you can build a business working every other day; or taking long stretches of time off; you're wrong. # 4 Build a network. There will be problems that your ideal clients have that you don't personally solve. However; the best way to be of value to a client is to solve their problems. I once sent a lead 6 diff referrals (over course of a year) before we closed our deal. Having a robust network of referrals is highly valuable. This also often has a reciprocal effect as the same folks who you send referrals; will often send you referrals back (if you want our referral agreement template; comment template; and I'll DM it to you!) #5 Save 50 cents on every dollar made. State & federal taxes need to be paid quarterly. I put a fixed amount of $ aside every week for this. This is around 15% of gross revenues (rough estimate) It goes into a money market account to earn interest (as do all my savings) Rainy days are real & so is lumpy cash flow. I aim for 7-8% of all of my earnings to go towards rainy day. I also have a fund for my W2 employee (another 2-3% monthly) I save for holiday bonuses each month. I find moving small amounts more frequently helps & automating it is key (i.e. setting up $100 auto transfer each Monday for every item above) This lesson helps you sleep better. #6 Being great is doing the little things, over time, consistently. For example; showing up on time to meets Being prepared. Answering emails quickly. Being positive These aren't rocket science, but many can't consistently do them for years. This is your edge. Our goal for next year (year 5) is to break 7-figures. 🚀

Breaking the Mold: Why 90% of Coaches, Consultants, and Advisors don't make it past the five-year mark– And How You Can Defy the Odds. This statistic frustrates me. It’s heartbreaking to hear about so many killing themselves or suffering in silence instead of seeking help. Owning multiple businesses in these industries, I've met many people who have shared their challenges. The main reason for failure? Lack of clear direction. Many advisors and coaches struggle to figure out: -> Where to begin. -> Where to concentrate their efforts. -> What to prioritize. Today, I want to share the strategies that have driven my businesses to over 300% year-over-year growth since 2014, expanding our wealth coaching services to all 50 states and our consulting firm globally. These insights are applicable to anyone in the service industry. 1. Define Your Ideal Client with Laser Precision Every business decision I make is guided by a crystal-clear picture of my ideal client. I've detailed: -> A fictional name -> Family background -> Career and income level -> Biggest fears and challenges -> Aspirations and dreams 2. Frame Your Service as Exciting & Continuous Planning A one-off plan isn’t enough. It’s just a momentary snapshot. Each year, we craft a new plan for every client. Clients especially value spontaneous, unstructured calls during major life or business decisions. Having our team on retainer, ready to assist whenever needed, is what clients appreciate the most. 3. Know & Measure Your Value Relentlessly We quantify every aspect of our value, even the intangible ones. Get Creative. We offer free strategy sessions, free workshops, and scholarships. We even done plenty pay on performance at the beginning. To this day, we offer scholarship -based plans supporting single moms, veterans, and Team USA athletes. We meet clients where they are, helping them grow their businesses and protect their wealth in ways that are safe, grow tax-free, and are shielded from market losses. Clients love it and refer us to others. We’ve collected thousands of video and written reviews over the last decade. 4. Focus on Clients and Prospects Delegate everything else as soon as you can. Acquiring new business and meeting with existing clients are the most valuable activities. When you’re not worried about where your next client is coming from, you can be fully present with your current clients. 5. Build Your Personal Brand Your online presence might not bring in direct clients immediately, but it keeps you top of mind with your existing ones. Want to grow faster? 🗣 Start speaking on stages and around your community more often. In conclusion, I didn’t come up with all of this on my own. I’ve been mentored and coached by incredible people and listened to thousands of clients over the years. This is all a culmination of those experiences. ♻️ Repost this. You never know who we may save. ♻️ Click my name + follow + 🔔 #success #linkedin #leadership #resilience

10 years ago, I had no idea how to start fractional consulting. If I were to start today, here's what I'd do: 1/ Don't overthink the admin 🖱️ Register for an LLC, get a basic bookkeeping invoicing tool, solid contract, and you're good. A quarter in, snag a free CRM. You don't need a website or newsletter at this stage. ⏩ Goal: Get to your first engagement as soon as possible 2/ Define your Highest & Best Use 🏋♀️ Consider all the things folks call you about, narrow down to the 3 business outcomes you are best at, put some metrics behind it and pivot your pitch and LinkedIn to focus here. ⏩ Goal: Do your best, don't do the rest 3/ Design your ideal schedule ⚖️ Consulting means you have many more options over how, when, and where you work. Think through an ideal week and ideal month, reverse out your work blocks you want. Full-time isn't the default. ⏩ Goal: Mindset shift from 9-to-5 to organizing work around your life 4/ Finalize your pricing 💰 Use a bill rate calculator to determine your hourly or retainer rate. Don't forget to layer the cost of PTO, benefits, and taxes IN your rate. Test if you prefer hourly engagements vs fractional residency vs project-based to see what works in this season for you. ⏩ Goal: Get that bread, on your terms 5/ Call the folks you want to be your clients 👯♀️ Almost always, your first clients are from your network. The barrier to start is just way lower. Who's values align with yours? Consider: - Previous employers who almost hired you - Former managers and leaders you would love to see win - Peers you worked alongside who you can talk in short-hand - Where there's a friendly leader with the exact business challenge you know how to solve ⏩ Goal: Run familiar water through new pipes Now, friends, there's one thing that so many folks miss... 6/ Align your skills to the business problem 🎯 I see so many consultant pitch their skills ("Hire me, I'm rad!") and it's up to the reader/client to fill in the blanks around how you'd fit in their world. Take the extra step to suggest where you can help the client achieve their goals. Do some research here. If you don't know, you can model their role + industry in ChatGPT and ask questions for likely scenarios. ⏩ Goal: Your expertise is a gift, make sure it's easy to see Use something like this pitch: "Hey __(friendly potential client)___, after __(X)__ years in corporate, I'm pivoting to fractional consulting and you are first on my mind. I remember ___(problem they need fixed)____ was something keeping you up at night. With ___(trend)___ ahead, I wanted to raise my hand to help. Recently, I achieved ___(exact problem you just solved with proof points)____. I think that experience could mitigate some risk for you next quarter. Do you have interest/budget for us to chat about a possible engagement to move the ball forward for you?" So, I'm curious - for those of you in it, what did I miss? What are the must-have tech tools for #Independent work right now?

This is a weird job market. I talk to a lot of friends about consulting vs looking for full-time work. Having worked as a consultant and operating two LLCs, I learned a few things. Here’s a list of things most people overlook. The boring stuff matters. - form your LLC right away - file taxes as a S Corp - learn Quickbooks - hire a CPA as soon as you can Deciding what work to offer. - Figure out what problems you solve - Talk to everyone for feedback - Make one-sheets with your service offerings Getting new clients - referrals or you don’t have a business - show up to relevant events - build an email list of prospects - share your relevant one-sheet when prospects have a problem you can solve Pricing your deals - back into an hourly rate based on your desired annual income - estimate the ROI that clients get by hiring you - have options based on time spent, project fees, and rev-share/commissions Doing the work - set clear expectations on your availability, how you work, what you produce - Do things that don’t scale - spend the hours creating the formula/model/framework - and you’ll make it a repeatable process - Don’t give your clients more work unless that’s what they’re asking for… get your hands dirty for them There’s probably a lot more but this is off the top of my head right now. If you’re in between gigs or thinking about consulting, feel free to hit me up. I’ll try to save you from some of the mistakes that I made.