When You Have Made The Great Decision To Start A Consulting Business, As I Did In 2003, What Do You Do Next? Hopefully My Starting A Consulting Business Checklist Will Give You Some Steps To Follow.
1. Type Of Company
Do you want to be a limited company, a partnership, a sole trader or a limited liability partnership?
Each has their own benefits and potential problems.
For me, it felt that as I intended for this to be a serious, income replacing and exceeding consultancy, the only way for me to go was to become a limited company, so that is what I did.
2. VAT Registered
Now at first you are unlikely to exceed the VAT registration threshold, but again, for me it was a case of taking myself and my business seriously, as that is what I wanted my prospects to do too. So, I immediately registered for VAT, meaning I didn’t have to go through an awkward change process later, and then set about ensuring that I passed the VAT threshold in year one, which I did. Nothing like a bit of extra motivation to get you growing your consulting business quickly, is there.
3. Professional Indemnity Insurance
For extra peace of mind for my clients, I have always had professional indemnity insurance so that should anything go wrong, there is insurance in place.
Hiscox has been my professional indemnity insurer for every year of my business since 2003.
4. Business Name
What are you going to call yourself?
Are you going to trade under your own personal name or a company name. I have both, Samson Consulting Limited is my main company but the site you are on is my personal name brand.
You should also have a business strap line that lets people know instantly how you can help them when you land on your website (business growth is mine, because that is my I focus on in my consulting business).
For help with this, see my choosing a business name process. Whilst the article was written for life coaches, it applies to any business and has been used by a vintage trading company, coaching and consulting businesses, online training companies etc, so it is a proven business naming system.
5. Your Marketing Plan
To understand which marketing tactics will work best for your new consulting business, it is vital that you know your Marketing DNA.
Now, I can shortcut this for you on this page, because you are starting a consulting business and I already have one of those.
A consulting business has a Marketing DNA of Nurture.
Your job is to grow your email list, nurture your relationship with everyone on that list by offering value and proving your expertise, and invite people to book in on a call with you to discover more.
Click the button below to see how to grow a 6 figure consulting business (detailing the most effective marketing for your consulting business):
Grow A Six Figure Consultancy Business: Click Here To Download:>>
6. Where Are You Going To Work
I started off working from home, then got offices for many years until the Covid Pandemic, then moved back to working from home.
I understand from talking to hundreds of consultants that for many of them, especially if they are starting a consulting business and have come from being employed, having an office to ‘go to work’ gets them into the right mindset.
I completely get that, and that is the main reason I did it after trying to work from home.
However, now that my working practices for running a consulting business are ingrained, I can run my business from home, the garden or on the beach.
7. Your Daily Plan
The most important thing when you start your consulting business and hopefully follow this checklist is to set a plan and stick to it.
Do not let the day drift, as it will if you let it.
My advice is to follow this plan:
- First 2 Hours – work on growing your business and following the consultants marketing plan (in the guide above).
- Second 2 hours – work on your client projects (if you have them) or keep working on growing your business if you do not yet have any clients.
- 30 minutes – first check of emails (more on that later). Quick replies can be done but leave everything else.
- Next 2 hours – more client work or working on your business.
- Final hour – set your tasks for the next day, including doing any keyword research if you are following my content marketing plan for consultants (you should be – see my SEO Steps for more details).
- Email Cleardown
If you want to grow a consulting business quickly, feed yourself and your family, make a very good income and enjoy your life and your business more, the best thing you can do is to properly manage your time where emails (and social media) are concerned and not to let it manage you.
I work with so many consultants, coaches, laywers, accountants, mortgage brokers and on and on, and too many allow email to control their day.
They do not make the progress they would like as quickly or at all as they do not find the time needed to work on growing their businesses.
You have a golden nugget there, it is now up to you if you use it.
If you do, I promise you will be thanking me.
8. Are You Niching Down?
My niche is simple: service businesses.
I don’t work with people selling products, or ecommerce, because that is not my area of expertise.
However, give me someone selling a service business and I can show them all of the Easy Life Client Attraction methods that they should be using to grow their business, and in which order they should implement them for the fastest (and most cost effective growth).
I know this because I have been marketing service based businesses since around 1990, when I worked inside law firms, and full time since 2003 when I started my business growth consultancy.
A niche allows you to do your best work, get the best results more quickly and to charge a good fee for your services, but most importantly, achieve great results for your clients which provides excellent return on their investment in you.
If you have always worked in one sector, your niche has more likely than not picked itself.
If you haven’t, what transferrable expertise do you have that could work in other sectors?
Download my Starting A Consulting business guide by clicking the button below and let’s get you going and get you growing – fast!