Would you call yourself a contractor ... or a 'consultant'?  Perhaps you don't feel there's any real difference.  Well, let me give you my take on this.  And at the same time, I hope it will give you some insights to help you launch (or re-vitalise) a very profitable consulting business.

As I see it, 'contractors' are people with specific skills who are contracted to fill a need on a pre-defined project.  They receive the job outline and the parameters in which to work.  And they work on a set negotiated fee for a specified time frame.

And that's fine if a set contract rate is how you like to work, although you become somewhat dependent on the availability of projects 'out there'.  So what about the 'consultant scenario' ...

As I see it, a consultant is PRO-active (Or should be!).  Proactive in FINDING opportunities, proactive in finding problems, and focused on the bigger picture, skilled at demonstrating how they can deliver solutions, and the value of those solutions.

With this type of consulting hat on, you can be a 'kid in a candy shop' when you think about what's out there.  There's just SO much opportunity for applying your consulting expertise for organisations and for demonstrating your solutions to their problems (and their untapped opportunities).

By the way, I would contend that there are tens of thousands of organisations big and small with chronic problems they can't fix.  And opportunities they don't know how to take advantage of.  And often they don't even KNOW they have the problem.

Put simply, they don't even know that they DON'T know!

Imagine then, that you come along with your 'grey hair' experience in uncovering problems and opportunities.  You put it to the business decision maker that these problems could be causing a serious haemorrhage on their profit line.  And you then provide case study examples of how you've solved these problems in the past.  (Incidentally, it could have been in your past employment!  It's still valid 'grey hair' experience.)

As you sit with the now very attentive decision maker, you calmly and methodically 'extrapolate' the potential ramifications of NOT fixing the problems, be that in dollars, in productivity lost, in lowering of morale, in lost customers ... it could be any number of ramifications inherent in ignoring the issues any longer ...

And here's the exciting bit when you've got your 'self-employed consulting hat' on ... by focusing PRO-actively on the bigger picture outcomes, you can graphically demonstrate that the value you bring to the table with your solutions, potentially well into six (or seven) figures!

And think for a moment about that.  With this 'outcomes' approach, what is your expertise?  I'll leave you to answer that question.  But here's a hint.  It's got nothing to do with charging an hourly rate, or any time based fee.  It's all about OUTCOMES!

There's more about the huge potential for 'consulting' ... at www.ageofexperience.com.au

 

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