Author, "How to Think Strategically." (forthcoming, 2018) Issues clarifier who helps clients find the crux of the matter. Coach, speaker, trainer who is adept at turning vision into results.
Years coaching, consulting, and workshop facilitation helping people to step back, ask better questions of themselves and others, and conceive of winning approaches to give them advantage.
The word consultant can mean several things: trusted advisor or a "pair of hands." If your desire is to be a trusted advisor, then follow Stuart's excellent advice: develop yourself. If you have little experience or track record, then you should position yourself more along the lines of a temp: a pair of hands that has some training in performing a set of tasks.
One of the biggest problems that busy consultants have in prospecting is that their target clients are themselves busy. These prospective clients will frequently admit that they are "too busy to think about their needs." The prospective clients have confused solutions with problems, anchor to things they already know about, and just have a superficial understanding of the issues.
I've spent money subscribing to several services that promise to put prospective clients in front of me. It turns out that most of those prospects haven't thought through their needs and, at best, are just "kicking the tires" to see what is out there.
The interesting part of your question is not about the focus on results, but on having an inclusive management style. Sometimes better decisions come from soliciting the input of others. Sometimes not. Almost always, though, people appreciate being part of the decision process and will be more supportive of a decisions that included their input.
As a small shop, you'll find it easy to be informal and share information and solicit the opinions of others. As you scale to a larger-sized organization, you will have to be much more selective in who you talk to and the amount of information that you or they can assimilate.
Answer these questions for yourself: What are the advantages and disadvantages of inclusiveness? How much time are you willing to sacrifice to have inclusiveness? How will you deal with people who want to be included, but have little value to add to strategic discussions? Will you need to have 100% buy-in before you commit to a course of action?
