Is a Consulting Career Right for You?

Before starting my business, I had never given thought to a consulting career. It just seemed too risky.

I remember when my dad was recognized for 30 years of service at a posh ceremony hosted by the giant aerospace company that he worked for. A couple of years ago, I was recognized for 24 years of service upon my retirement from military service. Even my son, who is still an undergraduate student, was recently recognized with a three-year service pin from his employer.

As a military reservist and government civil servant, I worked in an environment where I knew I would be employed as long as I did my job. My job was about as secure as it could get. I knew a year in advance the days on which I would receive my paychecks. I knew when I would receive pay raises. I even knew when I'd receive my promotions. I could make major life decisions based on the security of my employment.

Cutting Ties and Going Independent

Then, one day, I made a decision that would cause my family and friends to question my sanity. When I decided to become a consultant in 2000, many people strongly expressed their opinions on how unwise it was for me to exchange a "secure" job for the insecurity of consultant life. I was giving up the guarantee of a steadily increasing income. No retirement plan after serving decades for my employer. And how would I pay for crucial benefits such as health insurance, life insurance, vision, and dental care? Was I crazy?

It's Not the World In Which My Dad Worked

The days of long-term commitment by employers to employees and employees to employers are a thing of the past. The students I work explain that their career progression plans center around getting experience and then jumping to new positions to secure more significant titles and better pay. On the employer side, the lack of dedication to the employees is evidenced by large-scale layoffs by some of the country's largest companies.

According to a recent article in TechCrunch, these are some of the corporate layoffs announced in January and February 2024 alone:

• Bumble plans to lay off 350 employees;

• Sony is laying off 900 employees;

• Expedia is cutting 1,500 roles;

• Rivian is laying off 10% of its salaried workforce;

• Instacart is laying off 250 employees;

• Cisco is laying off more than 4,000 employees;

• Grammarly is laying off 230 employees;

• PayPal is laying off "thousands";

• Salesforce is laying off 700 workers;

• Microsoft is laying off 1,900 employees;

• eBay is laying off 9% of its workforce;

• TikTok eliminated around 60 jobs;

• YouTube will eliminate 100 employees;

• Google will lay off "hundreds" of employees.

You get the idea.

Swapping Job Security for Risk Diversification

I'm not suggesting that consulting doesn't have its downsides. There have been plenty of times throughout my consulting career when things got tight financially. However, the difference with being a consultant is that you can spread the risk across multiple clients. As a consultant, if one or two clients encounter issues where they need to reduce or eliminate your services, you likely have other clients who will ensure that your income stream doesn't completely dry up.

24 Years and Going Strong

Over the years, I have learned a few things that have helped keep my consulting business growing:

• When You Leave a Client, Leave with Grace – Regardless of who initiates the termination of your relationship with a client, do not burn bridges. People change jobs relatively frequently, and there have been many times when a marketing director moved to a different company and reached out to ask for assistance. People hire people they like and trust. Always take the high road when the business relationship with your client is terminated.

• Be Generous with your Talents – As a consultant, you have special skills and talents that are likely needed by organizations that may not have the budget to pay you. Volunteering my public relations and marketing services to small businesses and nonprofits not only provides experience to add to my portfolio and client roster but has also led to business opportunities from individuals that I interacted with during those pro-bono projects.

• Establish Yourself as a Subject Matter Expert – Write blog articles, make yourself available for interviews, seek speaking opportunities, and attend meetings at the local chamber of commerce. Share your expertise with others to help them figure out how to identify and address their challenges.

• Seek Certifications for your Business – Receiving certifications for your business such as Small Business Enterprise (SBE), Minority Business Enterprise (MBE), Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE), Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB), and Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) can open up government business opportunities. Many government contract opportunities have a requirement for a percentage of the contract to be serviced by a contractor with specific certifications. I am frequently contacted by large agencies requesting me to provide services as a subcontractor to meet a DBE requirement.

• Client Testimonials – Testimonials from your clients are gold! When you get those big wins for a client, take the opportunity to have them write up a quick testimonial for you on LinkedIn or via email for use on your website. Having them speak to the strength of your work, exceptional work ethic, honesty, and integrity will provide strong validation to potential clients who have not yet met you.

• Network, Network, Network – While I have a large number of professionals that I'm connected with virtually through LinkedIn, the most productive connections I've made are the ones that I've establish in-person through professional organizations and industry events. Getting out and meeting people face-to-face has always proven to be a better way to get to know someone and to establish potential business relationships. I've established relationships with many of my colleagues over a cup of coffee or lunch meeting that have resulted in us combining our complementary skills and experiences to secure new client projects.

The Wrap Up

The consulting life isn't for everyone. Taking on the responsibilities of securing clients, servicing accounts, keeping the clients happy, managing your business finances, negotiating with vendors, finding and managing relationships with collaboration partners, paying for your own benefits, planning for retirement, etc., are things that may not be your responsibility as an employee in a company.

However, if I look at job security through the lens of controlling my income, workload, work relationships, and work/life balance, being a consultant is much more "secure" than working for someone else.