How do you become a consultant? Consulting can be an attractive career move, offering greater flexibility, control over your work, and potentially higher earnings. But how do you transition from being a permanent employee or contractor to positioning yourself as a consultant?

To explore this, I spoke with my consultant friend Guy Thorpe from ValueKey. In our conversation, we covered:

• What consulting really means.
• How to position yourself as an expert.
• Pricing and packaging your services.
• How to find clients.

How to Get Started

If you’re thinking about making the move, here are a few key takeaways from our conversation:

1. Define your niche – Be clear about what problems you solve and for whom.
2. Build credibility – Leverage case studies, testimonials, and thought leadership to demonstrate expertise.
3. Network strategically – Consulting is as much about relationships as it is about skills.
4. Be someone that clients want to buy from, not someone that needs to “sell” – You don’t need to take on the persona of a used car salesman, just focus on being able and ready to solve problems.

Watch the Video

We went deep into these topics in my conversation with Guy, and he shared some great insights for anyone considering the consulting path.

📺 Watch the full video here: https://youtu.be/helMgn4yI08

• 0:00 – What is a consultant?
• 1:05 – Routes into a consulting career
• 2:19 – Using expertise to get a career as a consultant
• 5:22 – How to get clients as a consultant
• 7:22 – How consultants and clients agree on the work and price
• 9:00 – Preparation needed before engaging clients
• 11:49 – Scale strategically
• 12:42 – PMO Consultant