In the world of consulting, connections win the day. Coarsely stated, numbskulls with good networking skills will out earn the smartest poorly-connected consultant in the game. No connections = no gigs.
On the other hand, businesses will hire complete strangers, sight unseen, for bookkeeping services. Hire a bookkeeper (or do a little yourself, if you're up to it) and promote your businesses as bookkeeping, then offer your consulting services to your bookkeeping clients. When newbies try to start a consulting company, they starve. When my clients start a bookkeeping business they are fully booked in three months.
Points to ponder...