FIND YOUR CONSULTANT
JOIN OUR COMMUNITY
FIND YOUR CONSULTANT
JOIN OUR COMMUNITY

Setting Up Your Consulting Practice

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1 Overview
  1. Course Intro
2 Strategy
  1. Set Intentions and Goals
  2. Assess Your Core Network
  3. Identify the Problem
  4. Set Your Fishing Line
  5. Name Your Firm
  6. Establish Your Vacation Policy
  7. Managing Your Time
3 Office
  1. Find a Place To Work
  2. Setting Up Your Office
  3. Packing Your Laptop Bag
  4. Building a Facilitator Toolkit
4 Team
  1. Building Your Team
  2. Finding an Administrative Assistant
  3. Find a Bookkeeper
  4. Finding a Graphic Production Service – Independent Management Consultants
  5. Choosing an Attorney
  6. Selecting a Tax Accountant
  7. Getting Health Insurance
  8. Setting Up Business Insurance
  9. Finding a Remote IT Professional
  10. Hiring a Research Assistant
  11. Swing Capacity
  12. Get an Advisor
  13. Expand Your Team
5 Legal
  1. Register Your LLC
  2. Obtain Employer Identification Number (EIN)
  3. Using Contract Templates
  4. Publish That You Are in Business
  5. Apply for MWBE Certification
6 Financial
  1. Calculating Your Cash Cushion
  2. Set Up a Business Checking Account – Independent Management Consultants
  3. Set Up a Retirement Account
  4. Getting Life Insurance
  5. Obtain Disability Insurance
  6. Choosing a Business Credit Card
  7. Selecting Bookkeeping Software
  8. Making Quarterly Tax Payments
  9. Using Loyalty Programs
  10. Estate Planning
  11. Automate Your Financial Life
  12. Using an Invoice Template
  13. Tracking Invoices
  14. Paying a Subcontractor
  15. Setting Up International Wire Transfers
  16. Pricing Your Services
7 Technology
  1. Setting Up a Backup Computer
  2. Keeping Passwords Secure
  3. Maintain a Backup
  4. Use Two-step Verification
  5. Getting a Branded Email
  6. Setting Up Your Email Signature
  7. Manage Your Contact Information
  8. Set up a CRM system
  9. Setting Up DocuSign
  10. Selecting an Email Marketing Tool
  11. Tracking Expenses
  12. Taking Notes
  13. Getting a Scanner App
  14. Scheduling Appointments
  15. Video Conferencing
  16. Setting Up International Calling
8 Marketing
  1. Get a Logo Designed
  2. Print Business Cards
  3. Buy Correspondence Cards
  4. Get a Professional Photo
  5. Update Alumni Sites
  6. Design a PowerPoint Template
  7. Update Your LinkedIn Profile
  8. Update Your Traditional Resume
  9. Create a Bio Page
  10. Create a One-page Overview
  11. Invest in Branded Gifts
  12. Create a Project List
  13. Build a Proposal Template
  14. Line Up References
  15. Create Work Samples
  16. Build a Website
9 Business Development
  1. Business Development Overview
  2. Raise Your Visibility
  3. Create a Newsletter
  4. Write Headlines
  5. Create Human Interactions
  6. Build Relationships
  7. Sign Up With Industry Intermediaries
10 Preparation
  1. Preparing to Transition to Consulting
  2. Build Industry Relationships
  3. Develop Skills
  4. Research Industry Problems
  5. Build Your Thought Leadership Platform
SECTION

Preparation

Topic: Preparing to Transition to Consulting

You may be thinking about starting your independent consulting business while still working full-time in a corporation or professional services firm.

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Transcript

In the other sections of this course, I have been assuming that you are setting up your independent consulting practice right now. But perhaps you’re in the position where you’re currently a full-time employee… either at a professional services firm or in a corporate role and you’re thinking about setting up an independent consulting practice a year or two from now.

Well, most of the actions that we talked about so far in this course you can do today while you’re working. 

You can come up with a name for your firm, get the domain, get your email set up, go ahead and register the LLC, find a tax accountant, find a bookkeeper. You can go ahead and get your business checking account set up, even start building a website. You can keep it and not publish it and make it live, but you can get that done. Start sprucing up your LinkedIn profile and get a professional photograph.

You can do a lot of the elements that we talked about. If you’re still employed there are some other things that you can do that are really helpful when you do make the leap and decide to become an independent consultant and we’re going to talk about them in this section.

We’re going to talk about building relationships. We’re going to talk about thought leadership and we’re going to talk about understanding and researching the problems in your industry that your peers are facing.