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Startup Consulting: How did you start your consulting career? I am looking to get into consulting but not sure where to start. Any advice or ideas are welcome!
JB
JB
Joy Broto Nath , Global Corporate Trainer & Strategist answered:

A consultant may be hired because of his or her expertise. For example, when I mentioned earlier that I had become an expert as a fund-raising consultant, I knew that every client who hired me was doing so partly based on my track record alone. A consultant may be hired to identify problems. A consultant may be hired to supplement the staff. Sometimes a business discovers that it can save thousands of dollars a week by hiring consultants when they are needed, rather than hiring full-time employees. Businesses realize they save additional money by not having to pay benefits for consultants they hire. A consultant may be hired to act as a catalyst. But sometimes change is needed, and a consultant may be brought in to “get the ball rolling.” In other words, the consultant can do things without worrying about the corporate culture, employee morale or other issues that get in the way when an organization is trying to institute change. A consultant may be hired to provide much-needed objectivity. A good consultant provides an objective, fresh viewpoint--without worrying about what people in the organization might think about the results and how they were achieved. A consultant may be hired to teach. A consultant may be asked to teach employees any number of different skills.
However, a consultant must be willing to keep up with new discoveries in their field of expertise--and be ready to teach new clients what they need to stay competitive. A consultant may be hired to bring new life to an organization. At one time or another, most businesses need someone to administer “first aid” to get things rolling again. A consultant may be hired to create a new business.
There are consultants who have become experts in this field. A consultant may be hired to influence other people. Although most consultants in this field are working as lobbyists, there has been an increase in the number of people entering the entertainment consulting business.
Your consulting business will probably not require a large capital investment at first. In other words, if a client agrees to your hourly rate of $400, then you had better give $400 worth of service to that client every hour you work for them. Some clients prefer to be billed on an hourly basis, while others hate the idea of paying someone what they perceive to be too much per hour. Those clients usually prefer to pay per project.
When working on a project rate basis, a consultant normally gets a fixed amount of money for a predetermined period. Because of this, I decided that all future clients who wished to be billed on a monthly basis would pay the first-month fee and the last-month fee at the signing of the contract, which meant that if the agreed-upon amount of the project was $36,000, to be paid on a monthly basis, I received a check in the amount of $6,000 before I began any work .
Most companies that hire a consultant on a retainer basis have a clause in their contract that prohibits you from working for their competitors. You are guaranteed income each month, and when you are starting out in your consulting business, cash flow can be a problem. Some consultants offer a percentage reduction in their fees if a client will agree to pay a monthly retainer fee. The average income when a consultant is paid on a retainer basis is $3,500 per month.
Besides if you do have any questions give me a call: https://clarity.fm/joy-brotonath

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