The business of getting more clients is something that every independent consultant needs to take very seriously. It would be foolish for any consultant to think that it can be left until later.
There is no short answer even for a starting point. Search Google for "Independent Consultants" and it lists 232,000,000 websites. Yahoo lists 133,000,000 sites and the numbers are growing. It is inescapable that many, if not most, will have different approaches to the getting clients.
Some approaches will suit certain consultants' circumstances, and others will be the right way to go for other consultants. It does have to be said however most good business plans will have many things in common.
Illustrative of how things can be different will be even the basic matter of where you live - or intend to live. If you have it in mind to become a business consultant of some kind and you live in, or within easy reach of, a busy, modern, major commercial centre, it is likely that you will have a big, well-stocked river to fish in and can formulate a client-acquisition plan accordingly.
If all your experience and enthusiasm lead you towards a consultancy in office layout, and you live in a remote area of the countryside with no commercial offices in sight, then you perhaps need to adopt a very different approach. You might also consider adding 'moving home' to your business-plan. After all, you are perhaps looking at a completely new future for yourself and your family.
"How many clients will I need?" is another question that has to be asked. And the matter of whether you want them to be long-term, low-turn-over clients, or to have a regularly-changing turn-over of the people you work with is another.
Many experienced independent consultants, from various niches, will often share the view that you need five, six, seven or eight clients at any one time, if that is possible. Then if you lose a client you still have income from the others coming in, to enable you to keep paying your bills and not suffer sleepless nights.
So why not have 10, 15 or 20 clients? Many consultants do (coaches for example) - but basically it depends on the nature of the consultancy business in question. As the client-consultant relationship grows, it is likely that the client will ask for more work to be done and the consultant's workload can grow as a result. Every client will expect to be treated as your number one priority and while having a full schedule of paying clients may be a nice-to-have, when it turns into a situation where your own personal bandwidth is exceeded, you could find yourself in a tight situation.
Having to work impossibly-long hours can be almost the least of them. It is likely to be 'conflicts of priorities' that become the nightmare to resolve - two top-rating clients wanting you to be with them for company way-ahead-planning weekends over the same weekend. It happens.
There is no short answer even for a starting point. Search Google for "Independent Consultants" and it lists 232,000,000 websites. Yahoo lists 133,000,000 sites and the numbers are growing. It is inescapable that many, if not most, will have different approaches to the getting clients.
Some approaches will suit certain consultants' circumstances, and others will be the right way to go for other consultants. It does have to be said however most good business plans will have many things in common.
Illustrative of how things can be different will be even the basic matter of where you live - or intend to live. If you have it in mind to become a business consultant of some kind and you live in, or within easy reach of, a busy, modern, major commercial centre, it is likely that you will have a big, well-stocked river to fish in and can formulate a client-acquisition plan accordingly.
If all your experience and enthusiasm lead you towards a consultancy in office layout, and you live in a remote area of the countryside with no commercial offices in sight, then you perhaps need to adopt a very different approach. You might also consider adding 'moving home' to your business-plan. After all, you are perhaps looking at a completely new future for yourself and your family.
"How many clients will I need?" is another question that has to be asked. And the matter of whether you want them to be long-term, low-turn-over clients, or to have a regularly-changing turn-over of the people you work with is another.
Many experienced independent consultants, from various niches, will often share the view that you need five, six, seven or eight clients at any one time, if that is possible. Then if you lose a client you still have income from the others coming in, to enable you to keep paying your bills and not suffer sleepless nights.
So why not have 10, 15 or 20 clients? Many consultants do (coaches for example) - but basically it depends on the nature of the consultancy business in question. As the client-consultant relationship grows, it is likely that the client will ask for more work to be done and the consultant's workload can grow as a result. Every client will expect to be treated as your number one priority and while having a full schedule of paying clients may be a nice-to-have, when it turns into a situation where your own personal bandwidth is exceeded, you could find yourself in a tight situation.
Having to work impossibly-long hours can be almost the least of them. It is likely to be 'conflicts of priorities' that become the nightmare to resolve - two top-rating clients wanting you to be with them for company way-ahead-planning weekends over the same weekend. It happens.
About the Author:
The author helps consultants turn their consulting practices into client generating marketing machines. He provides a free 8 part course to help them get started. Visit this site www.successful-consultants.com
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment