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Ian Benjamin's Article - Contemplating consulting? - Your Life Magazine, August 2003 1. What is a consultant? ‘Overheard at the vets: ‘Tell me, now that he’s been neutered, does your old Tom still go out at night? Oh yes, but now it’s in the role of consultant!’ And I am sure you have a joke or two as well! Let’s start with a quite specific definition: a consultant is a person who gives advice, identifies and / or solves a problem. Their involvement with the person or the organisation is of a casual nature. You can see why doctors are called consultants. You can see why real estate agents want to call themselves consultants – the problem is to sell or buy a house – they will endeavour to ‘solve this problem’. Let’s hone the definition further. A consultant is someone who sets the parameters, whereas the contractor works within them. It is the consultant who recommends that your small business should use a particular bookkeeping program. The contracting function is then the installation of the program and the actual bookkeeping. The one person may do both.
2. Why might you become one? You maybe a lifestyle seeker. You want less stress, to work more on your own terms; that is, for whom you like, when you like and how you like. This may involve working at home, doing preferred type of work and minimising certain aspects including stress, travel and office politics. You maybe pursuing your own ‘seachange’ and work is an important part of it. A second reason for becoming one is that you are a passionate practitioner of your profession, craft or occupation. You love doing the actual work rather than being a manager or team player. You are the radio announcer who only wants to work with a microphone, the engineer who has no interest in running a department and dealing with staffing matters, the social worker who wants to help people experiencing hardship rather than climbing the bureaucratic hierarchy. In short, you simply want to do produce excellent results in your chosen occupation. There is also a third group: the reluctant recruits. You have always worked in an organisation and were happy. That organisation has undergone a lot of change and ultimately, for whatever reason, you have left that job. You see self-employment as one of the more realistic options even though you would rather be an employee in another business. Reluctant recruits often make very good consultants as they are often very motivated to succeed.
3. How to get started Be prepared. You may be a fantastic engineer, health worker or marketing manager but you may never have run a business. You are planning to make your living on the premise that professional advice is worth having and that it should be paid for: are you going to practise what you preach? Your preparation should include studying the market for what you will provide. Closely monitor the activities of those already in business, both as independent providers or as members of firms. Do some training, and, you could always buy a book or two – read it, discuss the ideas you discover with people whose opinion you respect and who know something about your profession and about being in business. One of these people might become your mentor. An accountant and a financial adviser would be worth a visit, and make sure you protect yourself by implementing their advice. See a lawyer if your business is giving advice to others. Blurriness is a normal condition for people starting off in something new. Recognise this and run with it. You may go down a number of paths before you choose the main areas of focus. As you start to develop ideas about your business, start networking. Contact all those people in your life who have given you support or encouragement at some time. Many of these will be former colleagues and ‘bosses’. Let them know what you are doing and give positive messages to them about your plans. Always remember that it is better that you ask them questions about what they are doing than to endeavour to spend the time telling them about yourself. They should reciprocate and ask you what you are doing – if they don’t do this, they are not prepared to listen so look for someone who is a better communicator. Your network will most likely be the source of most, if not all, of your engagements in the first two years. As you do work, and your reputation grows, new people will hear of you as a service provider and you will then have a real business: multiple clients. As part of the start-up process you will also need some appropriate marketing tools and excellent communication systems. If people want to contact you, they must be able to do so: by phone, electronically and in person.
4. More information Consulting Training Australia runs specialist training workshops for consultants, and has regular networking sessions in eastern states. Go to www.consultanttraining.com.au (This is my own organisation). The Australian Institute of Management has specialist interest groups and networking functions in all major cities. Go to www.aim.com.au. Excellent bookshops and libraries are located in many AIM centres.. Business Enterprise Centres are another source of advice and activities to help you as you set up and run your consultancy. On October 5, I am speaking at the Queanbeyan BEC Business Breakfast and at the Sydney BEC in November. Visit www.qbec.corg.au and follow the links to other BECs. In some states the activities of BEC’s are undertaken by the Department of Small Business. A very comprehensive list of alternative sources of support appears in the appendix of Consulting Contracting and Freelancing – be your own boss. This book contains practical advice and reveals how many Australian consultants have developed their businesses. Other books to consider are Flawless Consulting by Peter Block. He writes about how to consult. The Consultants’ Calling by Geoff Bellman is great for an understanding of the lifestyle as a consultant, and my own book is a ‘how to’ book with
Breakout Box # 1: Attributes of successful consultants * Persistence * Desire to succeed * Areas of specialisation – don’t be so general that you appear to lack depth of expertise * Adaptability: to different client environments and to changes in the market * Self confidence: to win engagements, and to work as a partner with clients * People skills: listen, communicate, engage, engender confidence, influence, take a real interest in other people, and stay in touch.
Breakout Box # 2: Don’t do this is if: * You are still concerned with, and talk about, what they are doing back where you used to work. You will need more time before you can go onto anything. * You don’t believe in the value of consulting * The people side of work does not interest you. Go and work for someone else. * You are not prepared to take 100% of the responsibility for the success of your consultancy. Only you can do it.
End box:
Book details: ‘Consulting Contracting and Freelancing – be your own boss’, Ian Benjamin, Allen & Unwin, Sydney 2003, 2007
Website: www.ianbenjamin.com.au Back to Consultant Training Australia
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