Consulting Clients - Two (Good!) Surprises
Two surprising (and good!) facts - as an independent consultant, you don't need a lot of clients because:
1) Some clients will stay clients for a very long time. Sometimes the term "mothership" clients has been used. I have several clients that have been clients for 8 to 20+ years including The SANS Institute, The Open Software Foundation, and Digital Equipement Corporation (DEC).
Other multiyear clients have included Cisco, IBM, The Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club, The Singapore Ministry of Education, and many others.
2) Some clients will give you a lot of work.
It may be 50 to 80% of your work at times.
Right now I have a great client who is giving me 50-60% of my work.And no surprise, some clients will be long term clients who also give you a lot of work!
So, you can be an extremely successful independent consultant without needing lots of clients.Some of my other videos (as well as my book) go into how to get clients.
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The Hardest Part of Starting Consulting
What is the hardest part of starting consulting?
Getting Clients? Nope although that is obviously important.
(more here on getting clients: https://successfulinfosecconsulting.com/).
What is the second hardest thing? And what can do you do about these things?
The hardest part – is YOU.
I know I flip flopped back and forth when I decided, between “I’m going to start consulting” and “Who am I to do this?” Feelings of “I’m too young” or “I’m too old” and more are common. Some of this is imposter syndrome which is normal. What do you do about this?
Are Entrepreneurs Risk Takers?
Are Entrepreneurs risk takers? The answer may surprise you!The answer, no surprise, is “It Depends.”
A great many entrepreneurs are rick adverse, and know exactly how much risk their ventures entail – and everything has risk, including having corporate job and going to the supermarket.
Some entrepreneurs are willing to accept a large amount of risk, and although there are exceptions, generally know that they are.
Is Consulting More Risky than having a “Job” ?
Is consulting risky – specifically is it more risky than having a full time job?
The conventional wisdom says “yes” – and is absolutely wrong! Maybe it was “once upon a time but it isn’t now.”
If you have a job and lose it, you are unemployed – it’s binary: “job” or “no job.” And unfortunately people lose their jobs, especially during difficult times.
Consultants typically have multiple clients. If you lose a client, you still have others. Typical consultants have 3-6 clients per year. If one client doesn’t have any work for you, perhaps they “fire” you, go out of business, or are having a difficult time, you still have work from other clients.