These 3 simple steps will boost your confidence in starting a consulting career...

I´ve had many calls with people considering the consultant or freelance path recently. Their immediate concerns usually fall into two categories: how to start, and worries about having sufficient income while they get started.

By following these three steps you can make the transition easier and find a career that gives you more freedom and flexibility. 

Step 1 - Get clear on your "why" 

In my Expertise Unlocked* online course we start off with understanding your “why?”. What´s your purpose, why do you want to do this? Often the reason given is to spend more time with family, to work from home, or to do work that you enjoy.

But in reality, when I dig a little bit deeper, it´s more complex than that. One woman I spoke to this week, a marketing manager for a large US corporate, wants to set an example for her young daughter. To show her that there´s a different way other than the traditional corporate career path that she followed, having to deal with being excluded from meetings because she was pregnant, being overlooked for promotion because she had taken maternity leave, etc.

“By starting my own freelance business I know I can work on my own terms. If I want to take time off to be with my daughter when she´s sick, attend her school functions or just do something fun then I don´t need to ask permission or feel guilty about it. And I want her to know that she can have the same freedom when she´s ready to start her career”.

On leaving the military in the UK Greg Brownlee applied for several security consulting jobs with large companies.

“All of the opportunities I was looking at would mean being away from home again. I´ve had 7 years of that and I´ve missed my kids growing up. I want to find work that I can do from home, or at least get home at night. Starting my own consulting business is a bit daunting but fortunately, my wife´s salary can support us while I get established”.

Understanding why you want to make the change and writing it down helps you to keep going when things get difficult. It works. As I write my next blog I keep focusing on that Hawaii cruise I've been dreaming off.

Step 2 - What is your service and is it viable?

The next step on the Expertise roadmap is refining your area of expertise, focusing on one thing that you love to do. This usually proves to be more difficult than you might think, especially if you have a broad range of skills. Our regular coaching calls help with this as we can brainstorm your ideas and make sure that there is a demand for the service you want to offer. 

Step 3 - create a financial plan to support your business launch

Not everyone is lucky enough to be able to jack in their job and start something new. It takes planning and a bit of juggling around existing commitments. Many of my coaching clients have been able to reduce their hours while they get their business idea refined and work on landing their first client. Many start their business as a side hustle until they know it's something that will earn them enough to live on. 

Getting that first client is the hardest one but if you can attract one client, then you can attract more because you´ve proven that your approach works.

Completing these 3 initial steps is a great start towards career independence. You are clear on your motivation, the service you want to offer and how you will support yourself in the early stages. Building on this increases your chances of a successful career transition. 

Now it's time to make it a reality! 

*Expertise Unlocked is a proven online course to helping you set up your consulting or freelance business. It's available free to members of my PIVOT coaching programme.