A Basic Overview On How To Start A Consulting Business

This page is designed to show you how to start a Consulting Business from home. If you have ever wonder what is a consultancy business, then hopefully this will answer your question.

Now, this business venture is definitely not for everyone and requires you to have a large amount of knowledge, expertise and experience. You should really have a wide knowledge in the field you wish to consult in. When done correctly, Consultancy can be a very lucrative business but you really need to know your stuff. You really need to be well versed with the area, field, topic or subject you are hoping to Consulting in.

Yes, there are many people that set up Consultancy businesses that do not have these credentials. However, unless you have a great deal of knowledge and expertise, you cannot legitimately offer your services as a Consultant. If you do and you lack the knowledge people would expect, you will soon be found out. This only results in your business suffering greatly and not lasting long at all!

If you are looking at setting up your own Consultancy business, you really need to ensure you have had the experience of working in your chosen field or hold extensive knowledge in it.

However, this said, most people who hire a Consultant, do so because they have a problem, They hire a Consultant because they want answers to their problems. If you know more than those people about the specific topic and can solve their problems you will be successful. Take them from where they are to their desired place, you will have achieved their goal. Get them to where they want to be, you will have provided them with what they were searching for.

Be Passionate:

Being passionate about a topic or having an interest in the area you wish to consult in, is a major plus point. As with any business, if you are passionate and enthusiastic about a topic, it will show and shine through. Not only will it show but consulting in a field, topic or area that interests you or you have a passion for, will make your job much more enjoyable. There is nothing worse than doing a job you don’t like. If you can earn money doing something you have a passion for, you will never have to do another days work again in your life!

What Should You Consult In – Consultancy Business Ideas

As we have previously mentioned, you should have a great knowledge in the area or topic in which you wish to consult. This means that if you do not already hold this knowledge, then before you offer your services, you will need to gain it. If this is the case, then it is advisable to choose a topic or subject that interests you. Choose a topic to which you naturally gravitate. The reason for this, is simply because you will be spending a lot of time addressing this topic.  Setting up your own Consultancy business, you will be spending a lot of time dealing with your chosen field. If you do not have an interest in this field, then you will get fed up of it very quickly.

A good way to find the best type of business for you, is ask yourself this simple question:

“If I wasn’t at work and had time off, what would I spend most of my time doing?”

or

“What would I really love to be doing, regardless of whether I was getting paid for doing it or not?”

Setting Up Your Own Consultancy Business

If you are already an expert or very knowledgably in your chosen field, then you don’t need to worry about this. However, if you are starting from scratch, with not much knowledge, this is important. You really need to master your craft and become an expert in your chosen field, topic or subject.

Firstly, you should start by acquiring as much information and knowledge you can on your chosen field. This could mean:

Starting to read books.

Watching videos.

Signing onto a course with accreditation.

Doing as much research and gain as much knowledge as possible.

You really do need to hold enough knowledge, to enable you to offer your clients a professional service. A service that gets them the desired results, when they hire your services as a Consultant.

Consultancy Business Plan

Let’s assume that you have all the knowledge and expertise you need to start your own Online Consulting business. You now need to start attracting customers! Now, at this stage, it is more than likely that you will not have a large budget for Advertising or Marketing. So, how do you attract clients, without spending ridiculous amounts of money Marketing your business?

Well, the one main reason why people are happy to pay you for your services as a Consultant is they believe you will be able to provide the solutions to their problems. So, naturally, you need to find potential clients, who are experiencing the problems that you are able to fix! The best way to attract these potential clients is simply to go where these people hangout. The good news is, there are a few places, that won’t cost you a penny! Starting off with a very basic but cost effective Consultancy business model, will ensure:

You do not spend large amounts of money at the beginning

Allow you to build your business with very little financial risk.

Facebook Groups:

Facebook Groups, are a great place to start. These Groups, can be a really good way to get your new business out to a very large target audience quickly. The bonus about this, is it is FREE!

The easiest way to do this, is to simply find groups that are based around the topic, subject or field, to which you are hoping to Consult in. When you find the relative groups, sign up as a member. Then take a look at all the questions people are asking. The chances are, there will be a large number of questions from other members, asking the group questions such as:

“does anyone know how to….”

Or I am experiencing this problem, any ideas how to solve it?”.

Now, this is where you can capitalise and begin. Answer these questions, by providing very informative information, that will help solve their problems. This will help you build huge trust in these groups and help you become an authoritative figure in your field.

Don’t forget, thousands of people will be looking at the Questions and Answers. If they do not post questions themselves, they may be experiencing the very same problems as the person who has posted the question. This means, that they will read the answers to those questions, with great interest. When they see your answer, they will see you as an expert and hopefully want to learn more from you. This could then result in them using services. You can then reach out to the individual once you have started up the dialogue with them. Then, you can let them know about your personal Consultancy business.

Keep answering people’s questions and offering helpful advice. Once people have begun to know and trust you, you can then start to offer your paid services.

Note: You really do need to start to build trust from all the communities. One of the best ways to achieve this, is by offering amazing advice for FREE. Do not sign up as a member and just start posting your Consultancy services in the Groups. Doing this will simply get you banned from the groups, as they will see you as Spamming the group.

Other good places to start answering questions are:

Reddit – Yahoo Answers – Quora

Discounts and FREE

At the beginning, you will definitely want to attract new clients and potential clients. A great way to attract people’s interest, is to offer something for a discount price or FREE. Offering potential clients something for a discounted price or FREE is a great way to build your client list. Providing your services for a discounted fee or offering a free session, video or guide is a good idea. Offer them in return for them providing you with a review or testimonial and it will help build credibility to your business.

Building Your Business:

Once you have started to build confidence and trust, you should continue to build your business. Just like any other business, it’s all about volume and you will need to create momentum to attract new clients. Being pro-active and answering questions on a regular daily basis, will help you. Answering question regularly, will sustain a regular flow of new clients into your Consultancy business.

Taking It To The Next Level:

Once you have attracted a number of clients using the free methods and started to generate an income, then you can start to try and grow your business. The money you are earning from your Consultancy business, can be put back into helping you build your business to the next level. Considering setting up your own website, will help build your brand and help make your business look more professional. Building a Mailing List, is a great way to create more revenue and using paid Advertising such as Google Adwords and Facebook Ads, can be a good way to reach a wide audience quickly.

Useful Reading:

How To Build Your Own Website Cheap

As well as learning How To Start A Consulting Business you can discover more ways to make money from home Online