The first year of your consulting business is often the hardest. Not only are you trying to find your first client engagements, but you’re also doing work to set up your business structure. The good news is that it gets easier with time! We’ve been right where you are, and want to help you avoid making these five rookie consultant mistakes:
- Mistake #1: Thinking Building Your Business Will Be Easy
- Mistake #2: Thinking Your Business Will Always Be This Hard
- Mistake #3: Having Snow Day Thinking
- Mistake #4: Building Things In Isolation
- Mistake #5: Misunderstanding Networking
Mistake #1: Thinking Building Your Business Will Be Easy
In your first year, you will need to work on the infrastructure of your business. It’s not paid time and it’s not time that is billable; it’s just the work you need to do to get your business in place.
The mistake we see people making is they feel like if they don’t have a client engagement, they’re free to do whatever they want. In reality, they should be working on setting up aspects of their business that will help them grow in the long term.
Some of these things you may only have to do once. You only have to set up your legal structure once. You only have to set up your template for proposals once. You only have to set up your social media accounts once.
All of these items are non-billable hours, and things you have to make the time to do; no one is going to come alongside you and tell you when or how to do it. Managing your time well is a key part of running a consulting business, because you will have to continue to run the business as well as do client work as you grow.
Signs you’re falling into this mistake:
- Failing to use free time to work ON your business
- When you get a new client, you don’t have your prices/proposal/process figured out beforehand
What can help?
- Talk to other consultants about how they started their business
- Plan specific times throughout the week to work ON your business
Mistake #2: Thinking Your Business Will Always Be This Hard
For those of you who are not making that first mistake, you may be prone to this mistake! You might be doing the work of getting everything in place for your business, networking, and trying to find your first client. Sometimes that first client can be hard to come by. It might take three months or six months for some people, or it might take a year or sometimes longer for others.
During this time, it can be easy to become discouraged, because as you’re building that infrastructure, you’re not getting paid. In the first year, the first few clients may be hard to get, but once you get one, things start to gain momentum. Working on your business is an investment at this stage, and it’s important to not become discouraged during this time.
Signs you’re falling into this mistake:
- If you feel ready to give up
- If you feel burnt out
- If you’re looking for full-time job opportunities
What can help?
- Acknowledge and celebrate your small (or large) wins
- Keep a positive and realistic perspective
- Join the Prosper Consulting Community
Mistake #3: Having Snow Day Thinking
We’re not talking about going outside and playing in the snow. So, what is ‘Snow Day thinking’?
Remember when you were a child and you hoped it would snow so school would get canceled, and you had no responsibilities, just a clear schedule to do what you want to do? We see new consultants, especially ones that had a career in an organization for 20-30 years, have that same snow day thinking when they exit their organization.
All of a sudden for the first time in their life, they have this great freedom and flexibility. Month after month goes by where they take another vacation, they visit relatives, and they do a home project. All of a sudden six months have gone by and they haven’t done anything for their business.
Signs you’re falling into this mistake:
- Saying things like, “I’ll create my business cards (or fill in the blank) some day”
- If six months have gone by and you haven’t made any progress in your business
What can help?
- Find ways to show up consistently in your business
- Find accountability
- Join the Prosper Consulting Community
Mistake #4: Building Things In Isolation
This is a mistake we’ve seen others fall prey to frequently. Consultants can build courses, packages, websites, etc. in isolation, before they’ve had a chance to get feedback from their target market.
It’s a drain on time and often on money. Building out packages or designing websites can take up a lot of time, and be very expensive. If you wait until your product or service is perfect with every detail in place, it often misses the mark.
If you’re not speaking to your ideal client’s needs or don’t address something your ideal client’s wants, you’re left with a beautiful product that no one is engaging with or buying.
Signs you’re falling into this mistake:
- You haven’t tested your product before launching
- You just launched a product/website/course and no one is engaging with it or buying it
What can help?
- Conduct informational interviews with your ideal client
- Put together a beta test group for your product
- Join the LEAP Launch Series
Mistake #5: Misunderstanding Networking
This mistake is thinking that the only thing you can lean on for sales is a great website or awesome SEO and underestimating the value of a network. At LEAP, we say that your network is your second most important asset after your skills and expertise. As you’re thinking about consulting or freelancing, it’s important to learn how to network.
If you’re unsure about networking, the first thing to do is shift your mindset around networking. Networking is a way to build key relationships in your business that go beyond transaction and become transformational.
Think about your marketing approach as multifaceted. Your networking can be part of your marketing and it should work in sync with your website, social media, and any other marketing materials.
Signs you’re falling into this mistake:
- If you think “I’m going to build this killer website and work is going to come to me”
- If you think “Networking isn’t for me; it feels transactional.”
What can help?
- Shift your mindset around networking. It is more than transactional, it’s about mutually beneficial relationships.
- Make networking work in sync with your marketing strategies
- Join the LEAP Launch Series
- Join the Prosper Consulting Community
LEAP Resources
At LEAP, we’re here to help you start your consulting business swiftly, smartly, and with support. Starting a consulting or freelancing business is exciting, but we also know it can be overwhelming. So, we put together free and paid resources to help you make the LEAP into your consulting business.
LEAP Launch Series: Need help putting together your consulting business? We’re here to help during this 7 week course!
Prosper Consulting community: Want accountability, and a network of other consultants and freelancers just like you? Join this online community.
Consulting Conversations with Kris and Katie: Want to hear all about our consulting tips and tricks? Watch this free video series.
Consulting Blog: Want to read about current topics in consulting? Read more of our blogs!
Owning It: Take Control of Your Life, Work, and Career [Book]: In Owning It, Kris Taylor shares her experience building her dream consulting business, making a 6 figure income from consulting over the past 15 years.
