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One question I get asked a lot is:
“What advice would you give to someone who is just starting a consulting business?”
My typical answer?
“Just take action. Get a grassroots campaign going — tell everyone in your circle of influence what you’re doing, start drumming up referrals, and get some momentum behind you.”
And while this is a great start — more than a few of my students have been shocked at how easily they were able to get their first clients — it’s important to remember this is only step one.
Action and momentum are important, but they’ll only take you so far.
Sooner or later (usually sooner) you’re going to have to get serious and start developing systems…
- Systems for generating leads
- Systems for converting leads into clients
- Systems for producing results for your clients
Because without systems, you don’t really have a business.
You’ve got a job.
And the clearer, more battle-tested your systems, the easier you land clients.
One of the elements we focus on in my consulting training is to help you create the systems you need to build a highly-leveraged consulting business for maximum profits in minimum time.
In fact, a few days ago I spent 15 minutes on Skype with one of my students, helping him solidify his lead generation system. The very next day, he got his first call from a potential client. He has been in the program 8 days total.
That is the power of a good system.
Take some time to develop systems in your business, and your business will go from hobby to “hooray” that much faster.
Hi Kyle,
Short and sweet, you get your point across without mincing words. I agree with you 100% that while taking action is great, but without any fundamental systems in place most find themselves soon overwhelmed and lacking focus. I think this applies to almost any direction you take in marketing, not just consulting. I met a guy the other day who is full of ambition and IS taking action but really does not have a firm grasp on the fundamentals. After spending 30 minutes or so with him on Skype, I realize that there must be a lot of “newbies” out there “taking action” with no real purpose or thought-out systems in place. I think that is a gap which needs to be filled!
Karen
Hi Karen
You’re spot on — a lot of people have taken the “just take action” advice to heart and are now giving things an honest go… problem is without the right structure and big picture overview of exactly what it is they are try to do, they’re simply treading water.
Or worse, going full steam ahead in the wrong direction!
I’m putting a bigger and bigger emphases on systems, processes and planning in my products/courses now, for this very reason.
People usually don’t need much more information. They just need a way to structure what they already know to leverage it for maximum impact.
Cheers
Kyle
p.s. The guy I mentioned in the original post landed that client 5 minutes into their conversation — again, using a simple system for dealing with new clients.
I truly believe that taking action is so, so true, but you also really need that S-ave Y-our S-elf T-ime E-nergy and M-oney.
Another update about the student I mentioned above — he made about $25k his first month. You can check out the interview I did with him here:
https://consultingtycoon.com/internet-marketing-consulting/from-installing-satellites-to-internet-marketing-consultant-in-3-5-weeks.php
Thanks for that great news.
I agree with your comment about systems but I would encourage any new consultant to first put together a business plan.
We use and teach a 1-page business plan that is very effective.
Looking back at all the consultants I’ve coached anyone who had a plan longer than 1 page was either a) confused, b) guessing, or c) procrastinating.