How to Launch a Consulting Business in 10 Steps (PART 1) | Ep. 173 · Grow Your Independent Consulting Business summary

Key takeaways

Decide to succeed upfront; commitment is the first step toward success in consulting.
Create clear, measurable goals across multiple quadrants—financial, lifestyle, fulfillment, and personal values.
Focus on essential business basics and avoid distractions like complex websites and CRMs in the early stages.
Develop a Minimum Viable Service (MVS) that clearly articulates your unique value to potential clients.
Set initial pricing based on value instead of simply replicating past salaries.
Establish simple marketing tools, such as a basic one-pager and a professional LinkedIn profile, to facilitate client connections.

Summary

Introduction to Consulting Fundamentals

In this episode of the Grow Your Independent Consulting Business Podcast, Melissa Lieberman emphasizes getting back to the fundamentals of launching or relaunching a successful independent consulting business. The episode serves as part one of a two-part series dedicated to outlining the essential ten steps needed for this process, with six key steps discussed in detail. Melissa highlights that these insights benefit both new and seasoned consultants, reinforcing the importance of revisiting foundational practices in business.

Step One: Deciding to Succeed

Melissa kicks off the discussion by emphasizing the crucial first step: making a firm decision to succeed as a consultant. She urges listeners to commit fully to their business endeavors without considering fallback options, drawing parallels to her personal experiences. This decision sets the stage for the mindset and behaviors necessary for achieving success in consulting.

Step Two: Setting Clear Goals

The second step involves defining clear, measurable goals across various aspects, including financial, lifestyle, fulfillment, and personal values. Melissa stresses the importance of creating a financial target that motivates action and enables tracking progress, along with envisioning a holistic business lifestyle that encompasses happiness and satisfaction.

Step Three: Establishing Business Basics

In this step, Melissa covers the fundamental business basics that every consultant should ensure are in place. This includes setting up the right legal structure (like an LLC), having a separate bank account, and securing a professional domain for email communications. She emphasizes what is not essential in the early stages, cautioning against distractions such as expensive websites and overly complex CRM systems.

Step Four: Creating a Minimum Viable Service (MVS) Offering

Melissa introduces the concept of a Minimum Viable Service (MVS) as a critical offering for consultants. This involves clearly articulating the problems solved, the target clientele, the outcomes promised, and the importance of these solutions to the clients. She encourages gathering feedback through market validation interviews to refine the service offerings.

Step Five: Initial Pricing Strategy

The fifth step discusses the need for establishing initial pricing. Melissa advises against waiting for clients to dictate rates and instead suggests using a rate calculator to determine a competitive price that reflects the value provided. This sets consultants up for strength in negotiations.

Step Six: Simple Marketing Assets

Lastly, Melissa highlights the creation of basic marketing assets, focusing on the importance of having a simple one-pager and an optimized LinkedIn profile. She advises against over-engineering marketing materials at the start, advocating for straightforward solutions that facilitate conversations with potential clients.

Show notes

Are you wanting to know the best way to start or relaunch your consulting business?

In this episode (part one of a two-part series), Melisa covers the 10 essential steps to set you on the path to a successful consulting business. This episode dives into the first six critical steps.

In This Episode:

Uncover the initial struggles of putting your business on legal and operational footing. Melisa explains why you should focus on vital basics rather than the common distractions that “seem productive”, but aren’t.
Understand the importance of articulating your unique value proposition to attract clients effectively.
Learn why many consultants fail to shift from hourly work to value-based pricing and how to set rates that reflect your true value.
Get critical tips for marketing your business on a shoestring budget.

Don't forget to subscribe, and leave a review if you find the episode valuable.

Episode Resources:

"Twelve Steps to Start a Successful Consulting Business" - Free ebook available at iclaunch.com
Rate calculator for initial pricing strategy: ictoolkit.com
"Grow Your Consulting Business: The 14-Step Roadmap to Make Your Independent Consulting Goals a Reality" by Melisa Liberman - https://www.melisaliberman.com/book
Full show notes and more information: https://shownotes.melisaliberman.com/episode-173/

FOR MORE

Don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and visit Melisa's website for additional resources to propel your consulting business forward. Remember, next week's episode (173) will cover the remaining steps— don't miss it.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

How to Launch a Consulting Business in 10 Steps (PART 1) | Ep. 173