Building a Solopreneur Consulting Business

Being a solopreneur in any field has its good and bad points. Being alone means there is no one to report to, no bureaucracy to keep informed in triplicate and no support staff. On the other hand, you are your own boss, There are no processes in place and people to enforce them and nobody to back you up. How you respond to those facts depends on your background, personality and creativity.

Most successful consultants have a corporate background of some sort. Their experiences before they declared this new business will impact every decision they make with regard to it. If you are looking at making the move here are the things you might want to consider before you make the leap:

• Sales/Business Development: Are you a self-starter good at networking?

• Start-up funding/living expenses: Do they need your expertise at the old firm?

• Office/Equipment: What infrastructure do you need?

• Market Sizing/Availability: Are there enough customers to make it pay?

• Credentials/ Public face: What is your Vision, Mission, Position and Brand?

Yes, you have to do it all at once.

Faced with that list, people try to approach it serially. That won’t work.

Each decision you make cascades into the others. Because you must implement everything you strategize you need to keep your decisions fairly simple. Knowing the processes you will follow time in and time out will make it easier for you to build your business. Having the computers, software, transportation and communications to stay connected to clients and prospects will simplify providing your services. Answering the question, “What do you do?” succinctly will be of great help to you and your prospects.

Item by item

Research tells us that people can only juggle six or seven items at a time in their mind. It is easier for us to look at things one at a time. The answer I’ve found in building a business is to look at each area of concern individually and then relate it to all the others that must be considered. Here’s how I approach it using the items noted above:

Sales/Business Development

If you need someone to point you in the right direction, set goals for you or otherwise get you going, do not pass go. Go back to your corporate job. But, if you are a self- starter you have a chance of making a go of it. Your networking ability will be the gating factor for your success. Sales skills are important but every successful business starts with networking. Every business.

You can’t make a sale to someone you’ve never met. And in order to meet people you need to introduce yourself…memorably. That skill can be learned. You must have it. If you don’t look into social networking.

How does that relate to the other items?

• Funding/Expenses—Sooner or later you must clear the hurdle of people who will help you fund your enterprise. With most solo consultants that is the spouse. Most successful consultants have an initial contract with their former employer to get them through the first few months.

• Infrastructure—Should you office at home or downtown? Is a fancy car essential? If you travel will you drive or fly? Will you need to have specialized computer programs & printers? What about communications? Is phone enough or do you need a fax? Networking to men and women already in the field will cut days off of making these decisions with tips from their experience.

• Market—Again, determining if there are competitors and understanding the services they are providing will quickly give you insight into a rough assessment of the market. Networking at industry conferences can get you a lot of information in a hurry. Are there more firms such as the one you’re leaving to venture out on your own? Are they clustered in your geographic area? Or is the industry you plan to serve one that has similar installations scattered across the country? How frequently, based on your experience, will they need your services. Is there a cyclic nature to that need? Is the need due to environmental factors?

• Credentials/Public Face—Before you reach final conclusions on Vision, Mission, Position and Brand, you will need to verify how you will differentiate yourself from the other consultants out there. You don’t absolutely have to know the competitors personally to develop your ideas of how to present yourself to the market. Many times their web sites will be a better resource than the individuals you meet. But you must use your enhanced networking skills to extract the real points of difference you have.

Funding/Living Expenses

As a carny friend once said as I was departing for a consulting career, “Is the grouch bag full?” What he was asking was if I had money to tide me over. One of my clients, a Certified Financial Planner, recommends that everyone have a minimum of six months savings available at all times. A start up needs that for living expenses. I also needs funds for getting the business started. Here’s how that fits into the other items:

• Infrastructure—An out of home office can involve long term leases, first and last month security deposits and a large cash outlay. Even if you office at home you will need computers printers, telephones and probably an automobile. And if your practice requires travel sufficient credit card credit to get there and back. You should also be sure to have different cards for business and personal expenses.

• Market—How will you charge for your services? That is an important question as your livelihood depends on it. Some options to consider: by project, hourly, by deliverable, on retainer, for contracted time. It is your choice. Just be prepared ot defend your approach if it varies from other consultants doing similar work. Can you afford the industry data you need to pursue your solo consultancy? Specialized compilations can be expensive, even online. Do you have the funds to go to industry conferences? If you have o choose, go to the industry conference rather than a consultants conference. You’ll find more prospects at the industry conference.

• Brand—There is a price tag for all the stuff you need to look real in today’s market. The most significant costs are for development of a unified name, logo, website, business cards, in short, a Brand. You can try this on your own but professional help can save you time and money both initially and when you have decided you want to take your brand up a notch.

And so it goes.

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His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development for independent professionals on and off-line.

Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com DIY Training: www.ingomu.com