Are you tired of working a standard 9-5 and eager to break free? Consulting allows individuals to explore a new lifestyle focused on flexibility and autonomy. As a consultant, you get to make decisions on your terms — you get to be in charge of the type of work you do, where and when you want to do it, and at what cost.
To reach success, there are many steps you have to take. From defining your niche to networking with the right individuals, it’s not always easy, but with the right tools and heaps of determination, it’s more than possible. Here’s a guide on becoming a consultant and starting your own business.
What is a consultant?
In simplest terms, a consultant is an established expert. They are knowledgeable in a specific niche and have demonstrated experience they can share with others as professional advice. A good consultant has gone through trial and error to understand an industry’s ins and outs deeply. Most importantly, they know how to handle challenges and solve industry-related problems.
Setting up a consulting business in Australia
Before building your consulting business, you need to decide on a niche and specialise in it. This will help guide you.
Find your niche
Look back over your personal and professional experiences. Do you know how to code new websites efficiently? Do you understand how to convert viewers exceptionally well on Instagram? Find your industry and what you do well, and analyse how you can use your past experiences to back up your expertise as a consultant in the future. It’s also essential to consider how your expertise can help potential clients. The sweet spot is when you find a hole in the current market that you can fill with your skillset.
Find your why
Before jumping all in, you’ll want to reflect on exactly why you are becoming a consultant to ensure you are heading into it for the right reasons. Are you becoming a consultant to switch out your current career path? Are you looking for a way to bootstrap your way towards being a successful entrepreneur? Are you itching to have a flexible lifestyle on your terms? Understanding your “why” will not only remind you why you decided to become a consultant when things get tough, but it will also give you direction on how to design your business to the best it can be in the market.
Find your value
If there’s one word to take away from this guide, it would be value. What value can you bring as a consultant? Where can you provide value to clients who need extra help? When you have a clear value you offer others, that becomes your unique selling point. With a unique twist, you can differentiate yourself and stand out against the competition in the market. As a consultant, you are both the product and the service, so it must be valuable for clients to engage.
Find your industry
Now, with your niche, why, and value outlined, you can start considering what industry you’ll be heading into. If you specialise in digital marketing, you may want to consider being a consultant for small businesses or e-commerce brands. If you’re talented in project management, you may send your details to event management organisations, IT firms, or construction companies. Brainstorm and list your potential industries to determine which will be the right one. From there, you can create a structure of your services and how they align with the needs of your chosen industry.
Find your team
You may start on your own for a bit, but if things go well, you may need extra hands to help sell your services, manage financial obligations or issue invoices. It’s important to iron out what tasks you can only do vs. what tasks others can assist you with. If you decide to build a team, you must bring together people with different perspectives and expertise to help you in various ways. It can be tempting to think you can do it all yourself, and sometimes you can. But to avoid burnout, you can quickly maximise your income-earning potential by building a team.
Plan your financials
Speaking about earning potential, many people want to become consultants because they know it involves minimal overhead costs and is easy to scale up and down to accommodate their lifestyle.
But don’t get too ahead of yourself. You must analyse how much it will cost to start your consulting business and where you will source the funds. You’ll also need to consider the cost of fully operating your business sustainably and at what point you will see a return on your investment.
Setting your prices is also crucial so clients know what to expect once they want to work with you. Pricing is a significant deciding factor for clients on whether they want to work with you. Is the rate too high? Clients will back away and choose someone equivalent but cheaper. Rates too low? Clients will be sceptical of your expertise and capability. To determine the best price, audit your competitors to see what they offer and at what cost. It’s ideal to charge somewhere within a similar ballpark, depending on how your offerings compare to theirs.
There are three ways you can charge as a consultant:
- Hourly: Flat rate where clients only pay for the time you spend on their accounts or projects per hour.
- Project: Rate that’s charged based on the project basis, but if it takes longer, it doesn’t offer much flexibility in how much you’re paid for overtime.
- Retainer: This is a rate charged for an ongoing service, where you’re paid at a recurring rate for an extended period. You’d be like an employee but without tax, benefits, or retirement funds.
Pick your ideal rate and set it early on so it’s clear how much you plan to charge.
Get your admin in check
Having your administrative tasks in line will help you start your consulting business smoothly. Below are the crucial things you must have:
- An Australian Business Number (ABN): To legally run your consulting business, you must register for tax through your ABN and have it so that others can identify your business when paying.
- A business structure: You must know what kind of structure you are running to clarify who’s in control. When first starting, you can be a sole proprietor, which requires no registration with state or federal governments and gives you full control. However, all the income and losses must be filed on your personal tax return. From there, you can merge into a partnership or a consulting company.
- A business name: You can use or create a name.
- Necessary licences and permits: You must have all the correct documentation to fulfil the legal requirements.
Consider who your clients are and what they need
What is the need you are solving? In any business, you must know who your customers are, how to target them, and in what way you can help them. Then, you can market your particular skills, benefits, or abilities to them. Over time, as you build a diverse client base, you’ll receive multiple income streams, which will help keep your business moving forward sustainably.
Connect with the right clients
Connecting with a couple of clients and asking them to share your consulting expertise via word-of-mouth is an excellent way to build a base. When they tell others about your business, a higher trust is already built, so there’s a better chance they’ll come to you. This is great if the experience is positive, but it can also hurt your business if negative comments are shared about your business.
Another way to connect with your ideal clients is by attending networking events and industry conferences. You’ll be able to meet many just as passionate individuals as you. You can also sign up for pitching nights, engage with online communities, share what you do on social media, and reach out to industry leaders on LinkedIn. You can send follow-up emails if you see people submitting contact forms or demonstrating interest on your website.
As a consultant, reputation is very important to keeping your business afloat. If you can’t fulfil project requirements, try not to take on more than you can handle. You want to provide every customer with top-notch service and experience, so they keep returning for more.
Understand how to manage and quote
When your client base grows, remember to set clear client expectations early on. To ensure everything is clear, communicate your prices, timeline, and consulting expertise upfront. Have contracts between you and your clients to outline the exact work and at what price it will be done. They are signed by both parties to avoid any misunderstandings. This makes it easier to quote and invoice once a project is finished. If you encounter any setbacks, have a strategy for tackling them.
Start your consulting business today
Becoming a consultant is perfect for those eager to apply their knowledge and experience to a specific industry while having the flexibility of being their own boss. If you’re searching for a place to set up shop, Haven Workspaces may be precisely what you’re looking for. We offer a variety of premium private and communal workspaces in the heart of Canberra. Filled with forward-thinking minds, we offer an environment focused on helping professionals, innovators, and thinkers to thrive. Learn more here.
