By: Lindsay Angelo, Strategy and Foresight Consultant, MBA, TEDx Speaker
Are you a business professional looking to leverage your skills and broad industry knowledge to create freedom and fulfillment for yourself? Independent business consulting offers an exciting avenue to explore. As a Consultant, you can deliver valuable insights, strategic guidance, and solutions to organizations facing difficult company decisions.
In this article, we'll delve into the world of independent consulting. Whether you aspire to be a remote consultant or a subject-matter expert in corporate strategy, read on to discover how independent consulting can unlock new career possibilities for you!
What is an Independent Business Consultant?
Independent business consulting refers to the practice of providing expert advice and guidance to businesses across a variety of industries. As a self-employed professional, Consultants work autonomously and offer a field of specialization to clients seeking assistance.
The nature of work typically involves providing recommendations for businesses. This could include developing effective business development campaigns, creating strategic business plans, advising on optimizing business structures and a wide range of other possibilities. Independent business consultants are adept at understanding and addressing client issues, working closely with organizations and business leaders to identify challenges and develop tailored solutions that contribute to client success.
Why Choose to be an Independent Business Consultant?
You may be a full-time corporate professional, a contractor, or a freelancer/advisors/coach looking to step into the consulting arena. Whatever your current role, what normally attracts professionals to independent consulting is three-fold: flexibility, versatility, and impact.
Flexibility
Independent business consulting can be taken on both as a side hustle and as a full-time gig. In today's day and age, I would argue everyone should set themselves up to consult as a side hustle at a minimum. It is sound career management, particularly during challenging economic times.
The beautiful thing about consulting is that it allows you to design your own life. Looking for freedom in your schedule? Or the freedom to embrace a digitally nomadic lifestyle? Consulting allows you to break free from the confines of traditional 8-5 o'clock employment. Picture yourself working from the comfort of your home, in a cozy coffee shop in Barcelona, or on a romantic train ride through the Alps!
The world becomes your office, and you can tap into a vast array of commercial opportunities and diverse projects.
Versatility
Independent consulting provides the power to tailor your expertise to different industries. It also provides the opportunity to take on a variety of projects and engagements depending on your interests and passion. For instance, you could provide consulting services in community services and development, working with non-profit organizations to generate positive impact. You earn while also helping people fulfill their causes.
Alternatively, you might venture into design consulting where you help businesses create visually captivating marketing materials for their customers.
You could enter brand or marketing consulting, where you help businesses explore their brand strategy and marketing campaigns.
Or perhaps your passion lies in both marketing and technology. In that case, you could target the technology sector, offering marketing strategy improvements to tech startups and established companies alike.
Here are some other consulting tracks available to you:
Accounting Consultant
Sustainability Consultant
Management Consultant
Legal Consultant
Travel Consultant
Tax Consultant
Managed Services Consultant
Business Process Consultant
Design Consultant
The choice is yours, and each industry and project brings new challenges and rewards, expanding your skill sets, and broadening your knowledge base.
With the versatility of independent consulting, you can adapt to changing market trends, and remain at the forefront of your field.
Impact
Many people veer towards the independent consulting arena with the goal of not only creating financial independence but making big impact. Consultants carry a tremendous amount of influence. Through delivering an objective lens coupled with problem-solving superpowers, you can drive sustained positive change for organizations. Clients hire you to do just that.
Feeling stifled by your current work or career? Consulting provides a great avenue to unlock your full potential.
What Does an Independent Business Consultant Do?
Imagine having the freedom to be the captain of your own career ship. As an independent consultant, you get to be just that—the master of your destiny. You have the autonomy to shape your career path and take charge of your professional journey. No more being confined to the limitations of a traditional employee role.
Here are some of the things an independent business consultant does:
Navigating Difficult Company Decisions
One of the critical roles of a business consultant is to assist organizations in making difficult company decisions. With your analytical skills, and strategic thinking skills, you can delve deep into the challenges faced by your clients and understand their unique circumstances from an "outside-in" perspective. As a subject-matter expert, you bring a fresh perspective to the table, and can craft tailored solutions to overcome their obstacles.
Becoming aN Organization's Trusted Advisor
As an independent business consultant, you naturally become a trusted advisor to your clients. Part of this entails navigating the dynamics of client relationships, building strong connections based on trust, transparency, effective communication, and strategic leadership. Your expertise and skill sets make you a valuable asset, providing insights and guidance that shape the future success of the organizations you work with. Managing stakeholder needs and building trusting relationships is key.
Delivering Insight on the Future
Clients naturally look to Consultants for insight on industry and market trends. As a Consultant, you are naturally a futurist. That's why it's imperative to stay up to speed on the latest and greatest. This will position you as a thought leader in the field. Looking for tips on how to become a Futurist? Check out this post.
Building New Career Opportunities & Marketing Yourself
Transitioning from a full-time employee role to that of an independent business consultant offers a wealth of new career opportunities—part of your job is to manage your own career so it's important to carve out time to do this. Identify your marketing strategy—how will you attract clients? What marketing channels will you embrace? Craft a marketing plan for yourself. As a general rule of thumb, you should spend roughly 20% of your time on marketing activities—and closer to 50%-75% at the very start of your venture.
How Do I Become an Independent Business Consultant?
Lindsay Angelo, Strategy & Futurist Consultant
To thrive as an independent consultant, continuous learning or professional development is crucial. You can explore specialized training programs that enhance your interpersonal skills, strategic problem-solving skills, presentation skills, verbal communication skills, and expand your knowledge. As a Consultant, being up to speed on bodies of knowledge such as diversity and inclusion and purpose-driven practices are a must-have. You'll also want to be up to speed on trends in your industry - clients will naturally look to you for guidance on the future. Read more here on how to become a business consultant.
By staying up-to-date with trends and honing your expertise, you can position yourself as a sought-after consultant ready to play in the big leagues!
Where Can I Find Independent Consulting Engagements?
When you're starting out as an independent consultant, it's crucial to find the right types of projects. There are a variety of ways to do this - from freelance platforms to tapping into your personal network to social media to email outreach. Tapping into your personal network is normally the path of lease resistance when starting out. Letting them know where you can help and asking for referrals is key, as is establishing a strong online presence to showcase your expertise. Upwork is an expert marketplace that you can peruse for existing consulting engagements as well.
Hot Tip 🔥: Remember, being a successful independent consultant depends on not just your technical skills but also your ability to market yourself effectively. Want more training on this? Enroll in our Consultant Accelerator today.
Start Your Independent Consulting Business—Your Potential is Limitless
The possibilities are endless as an independent consultant. By leveraging your unique skill set and passion, you can shape your future beyond your corporate career, fit your desired lifestyle, and make a meaningful impact. So, why limit yourself to the constraints of a traditional employment model when you can embrace the freedom, versatility, and limitless potential of independent consulting?
By embracing the role of an independent business consultant, you can navigate difficult company decisions, tap into a diverse range of projects, and create big impact in the world. Now is the time to embark on this exciting journey, click here to explore our brand new training accelerator and launch your independent consulting venture now!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
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As a consultant, your superpower lies in critical thinking. A variety of clients will rely on your expertise to tackle a wide range of complex issues that impact their businesses, and leverage in-demand skills. You will tackle intriguing projects head on. You might also have to discuss ideas for improvement regarding business planning, process, and development. Whether they have a general direction or need you to kickstart the discussion, your problem-solving skills will be in high demand in a wide range of consulting jobs.
Moreover, to excel in consulting, strategic thinking and strategic problem-solving is a must. That comes hand-in-hand with grasping the MECE (Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive) framework and issue trees.
Want to build your strategic thinking skills? Enroll in our strategic thinking masterclass today and build the most important consulting skill you'll need on your journey.
Second to strategic thinking is powerful foresight skills. Looking to specialize in foresight Consulting? Click here to learn more about our Futurist-in-50-Days Accelerator.
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Determining consultant salaries and your business model depends on several factors, including your expertise, market demand, industry standards, and the track record or value you provide to existing or prospective clients. Research market rates for consultants or independent contractors within your relevant field of expertise (whether you're a startup consultant or an experienced one), consider your experience and unique offerings relevant to customer engagements, and assess the specific needs and budget of your target clients when setting your rates. A range of salary potential exists in the consulting realm and it's up to you as to how to position yourself. Read here for more info on rates.
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The Business Consulting Accelerator is suitable for individuals aspiring to become business consultants, such as corporate professionals, entrepreneurs, business owners, advisors, and even independent professionals who want a career development. It's applicable to those interested in starting a side hustle or full time consulting business and caters to all niches/industries.
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Read more here to explore additional skills and learn how to become an Independent Consultant, independent business advisor, or even a full-time freelance consultant.
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If you don't have experience in consulting or haven't taken on and independent consulting jobs, don't worry—you can still be an independent consultant! Whatever your field of expertise, you can leverage it. For example, if your experience is health care, explore high-demand roles in health care consulting. You can also become a highly-skilled independent contractor in business management, business analysis/analytical analysis, human resources, real estate, and other dynamic careers in your field. If you have an eye for building strategies and solving problems, you have the potential to excel as a market consultant.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lindsay Angelo is the founder of Permissionless Consultant, supporting purpose-preneurs in launching their practices to create impact, freedom, and a life they love.
She's also a practicing and award-winning Strategist, Futurist, MBA, and TEDx speaker. She launched her consulting firm six years ago with the goal of helping purpose-driven brands and business owners drive growth and impact.
Since then, she's more than tripled her prior earnings while advising entrepreneurs, think tanks, celebrities, and Fortune 500 companies—all the while creating a nomadic lifestyle rooted in travel, family, and community.
Named a Woman to Watch and Global Innovation Leader, Lindsay has delivered over 100+ keynotes and is the creator of a signature blueprint for driving brand growth and impact.
A born entrepreneur, former NCAA athlete, and wellness warrior, she sits on the Advisory Board for World Business Research. She contributes to a variety of media houses including CBS, The Globe and Mail, Retail Executive, and the National Post. She believes magic happens where logic meets intuition, where the rational meets the emotive, and where facts meet insights.
