Know-How Exchange : Career/Training

The hardest part of starting your own consulting business is finding clients....
I know I went through it four years ago. Many of my friends are going through it now.

There are a number of other little things to cover. If you would like to chat, you can reach me via my profile.

Most consultants have several years of experience before they hang out the shingle and start prospecting. It's tough to sell your skills when they haven't been honed/tested/proven in real-world practice.

You might want to go through the self-assessment for new consultants HERE.

And you probably want to consider reading Rasputin For Hire. The subtitle of the book is An inside look at management consulting between jobs or as a second career.

Rasputin For Hire is really not intended for people going directly from school into consulting, but a lot of the material in it might still be helpful. It's based on interviews with dozens of consultants and former consultants.

You might also want to check out a special report titled Experienced Consultants Talk About Consulting. It essentially contains the transcript of a round-table discussion with five of the experts here on the MarketingProfs Know-How Exchange -- all consultants -- in which they share advice and thoughts about consulting, how they started, mistakes they made, lessons they've learned, etc.

You can get the report free when you purchase Rasputin For Hire from the publisher using the link above, or you can purchase it separately HERE.

Dear bpy5000,

Here's an important question for you. And please, bear in mind that I know nothing about you but whenever I hear the words "recent graduate" I see someone in their early 20s who believes that by dint of having spent three to four years in college, that they therefore know everything (or at least, a good chunk of everything), and that they are therefore, bullet proof.

I know this because in 1985, I was that recent graduate.

I thought I knew it all. I thought I was the bee's knees. And that the world owed me its allegiance because—hey, I'd just spent four years getting my degree! But looking back, I now know one thing with certainty. I was an idiot.

Years ago, when I was learning to drive, and when I passed my driving test I thought I'd passed my driving test. Seems logical enough, doesn't it?

Yes, that's what I thought.

But my Dad put me straight on things. How? When he told me
"So, you've passed your driving test! Congratulations. Now, you're going to start learning to drive."

I didn't understand what he meant until he clarified his point of view.

He told me I hadn't learned to drive, he told me I'd been taught to pass a test. He then went on to tell me that it was only when I was out, driving on my own and making mistakes and rectifying those mistakes that I'd actually learn to drive.

And here, I think the same rule applies to recent graduates. You may indeed have your degree, but have you learned your craft or have you learned to pass a series of tests in order to GET that degree?

Think about it.

When I left college I learned more in the first six months of working as a paste-up artist and junior designer than I' learned in four years at college. The fact that this was 25 years ago isn't the issue. The same rules apply today.

Five years ago my cousin left university with a degree in hotel management and she was stunned that she'd have to begin her career in hotels as a receptionist and not as a manager.

So, here's my question: As a recent graduate, do you think your degree in marketing REALLY makes you enough of an expert to start your own marketing consulting company?

Let me be clear here: I'm NOT asking this to shoot you down.
I WANT you to succeed, and I think you CAN succeed.

But in order to climb this mountain, are you really ready—and
I mean REALLY ready, to set out on your own, without a guide, possibly without ropes, without crampons, and without a map?

From down in the valley the peak looks easy to reach, really it does. I know. I've trodden the same path.

But as you rise above the tree line, and as the Alpine meadows fall away the temperature begins to drop, the path becomes steeper and rockier, and the snow fields get closer and closer.

Then the wind picks up. Violently. From nowhere. Are you prepared for this? The clouds come down and suddenly, white hot ice is hammering into your body. Horizontal rain rips into your face as you cower behind a boulder and pull on every stitch of clothing you're carrying.

At altitude, when the temperature drops, the biggest killer isn't
the wind, or the risk of falling, or even the cold: it's hyperthermia. It's a silent killer. Body heat is wicked away from and your brain goes into overload. You begin to shed clothing because your brain is telling your body that it's way too hot, when in reality, the opposite is happening.

At altitude, death from hyperthermia is slow.

In marketing—in business, death from arrogance and ignorance is swift. No, I'm not suggesting you are arrogant or ignorant. But what I am suggesting is a little realism, that is, unless you've got years of work experience to fall back on, to help you, and to buoy you up.

Working from home is fine; it makes perfect sense. Local businesses may well be your clients. But there are several questions you must answer before I, as a small business owner, will put my trust in your abilities:

1. What have you done for other people?
2. Why should I work with you?
3. What are your credentials, your claims to fame?
4. What can you do for me that someone with more experience cannot do?
5. What social proof can you offer?
6. How will you prove that you're worth getting to know, that you're worth liking, and that you're worth trusting?
7. What have you got and what will it do for me?

On top of this you need to tell your clients where you'll take them
and what you'll do for them once they arrive at wherever it is you'll lead them.

The classroom theory from college is one thing. But how much of that is based on real world examples and connected to solving real problems for real people. As an addendum to your education I urge you to read as many books as possible from Dan Kennedy.

Then I suggest you find and join your local Glazer Kennedy Insider Circle group (if you're here in the US) https://dankennedy.com/

I did this a year ago and four things have happened:

1. I've learned a great deal.
2. I've had confirmed how much I already knew.
3. I've met some great people.
4. I've attracted new clients and started building my business, and I mean REALLY building it, not just THINKING about building it.

This answer may not be exactly what you thought you were going to hear. But it's realistic.

To succeed, to make a difference and to help people, you've GOT to be realistic: even if that means admitting that you know less than you think you do. I know it's a tough pill to swallow—believe me, I've been taking the same medication for over a year!

But you know what? Now, having taken those pills, now, I feel much better. I hope this helps. Good luck to you.

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA

The best way to start is to start. If you think you'd like to hang out a shingle, then start by meeting your local business owners. Find out more about their business challenges. Listen - don't sell. You can't sell until you both understand their problems and have an effective solution that fits their budget. If you want to build your client base, start by donating your hours to local non-profits. Learn by doing.