Some people make a great career as a consultant, while some struggle to pay the bills solely from consulting.
If you’re hoping to be a full-time consultant, or are currently finding it difficult to get your consulting career going, some of the points below may help you figure out why.
I’ve had people respond with raised eyebrows when I tell them I’ve been a successful consultant for more than ten years. I believe a consultant has “made it” when you own your own home, own your own car, support your family and can comfortably pay 100% of your bills on your consulting income.
If you disagree with this description of making it, leave your thoughts below.
25 reasons why you will not make it as a consultant:
- You sleep past 9:00am most mornings
- When you hear the word “hex” you think someone is talking about a curse
- Your phone manner is terrible and you mumble
- You are not good at talking to strangers
- You are not self-motivated
- You don’t have a desire to be the most successful person you can be
- You don’t have a website
- You think white space on a website is wasted space
- You struggle to complete home projects
- You have zero business skills and won’t ask for help
- You don’t make your clients sign contracts
- You think you are right, and the client is wrong
- You think your prices must be lower than the competition so that you get the business
- You don’t study your competition
- You don’t even know who your competition is
- Your people skills are terrible
- You don’t really understand what marketing is
- You think a brand is a logo
- You are unable to manage and save money
- You don’t have a desire to continue learning every day
- You really don’t know how to help a client’s business grow
- You let clients choose their price
- You’re not a risk taker
- You do not manage your time well
- You’re guilty of more than fifteen of the points above
One more… you got angry with me after reading this.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
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#27 is you’ve worked for corporations all your life and you think you know what its like to do branding and marketing in the real world without all the insular corporate support you take for granted, and because you’ve managed to finagle your way through the office BS for all these years without realizing how myopically subjective office BS really is.
Sounds like you’ve been there and done that. Add this one to the list of reasons I left the corporate world many years ago…
I feel so much better now that I’ve read all this. Thanks!
Don’t forget:
When meeting clients you wear a t-shirt and your hair looks horrible and you keep apologizing for it.
I like that one!