Being a Consultant - Part 1
I was having lunch with a client last month and she asked me “What does being a consultant mean?” I thought she was busting my chops until I looked at her face and realized that she really wanted to know. (And as I found out – she wants to become one – thus her interest…)
Here was my indirect answer to her:
First question should have been – Who can be a consultant? Who qualifies? If you know something and there is a market need for what you know, then you can be a consultant.
If you know something, but there’s no market for what you know, then you cannot be a consultant.
However, if you know of a market need, and you know people who have the expertise to satisfy that market (and these people don’t know how to see a market, or are unwilling to see…), then you can own a consulting company.
There are two key phrases in all of this – knowing something (or knowing somebody who knows something), and a market need for what you know. Then, and only then, can you be a (successful) consultant.
Since everybody knows something then owning, and growing, a consulting company comes down to a market need for services. The “If I Build It, They Will Come” strategy doesn’t work (trust me!) unless you are a very proficient marketer.
<To be Continued…>