A few days ago I started a series on freelancing. In the first part I laid out some basics about building a home business as a freelancer. In this post I want to present one practical way you can use your skills in helping others to achieve the success you had always desired. I want to talk about freelance business consultancy. This is truly one option for working as a freelancer these days.

Until a few years ago, the title “consultant” was more or less limited to retired diplomats and top corporate officers. Those were the days when the consultant’s position was honorary than actual.

But not any more. That has all changed dramatically in the past few years. The number of consultants for almost any problem in life has increased by tenfold or more during the past ten years! Besides, the field of consultants has continued to grow. In fact, independent or freelance consulting is one of the fastest growing businesses in the world today!

The Business Consultant?s Scope of Work

A consultant works with the management of a business to improve the profitability of the business. As an expert a consultant is expected to be able to recognize problems and proffer solutions to those problems. Working with the top management gives you an indication of you could earning as a freelance consultant if you?ll take up this lucrative business model up today.

Some consultants charge $100 per hour. Others charge $1,500 per day for their services, and still others work on an annual retainer fee of $12,000 to over $30,000 per year from any number of large corporations.

The need for problem solvers for business problems- among large and small businesses worldwide- has never been greater. The ever changing moods of the buyer plus the myriad of crisis situations faced by businessmen almost daily, have created this “seller’s market” for the alert consultant.

Another side of this need for consultants is in the case of the over-enthusiastic entrepreneur who rushes headlong into a business in which he has little or no experience.

Many such dreamers invest their life savings in questionable projects without even considering the idea of bringing in a competent business consultant to analyze and evaluate their plans. Even experienced people are prone to over-rate their own ideas.

The image of the end result, and dedicated enthusiasm toward the attainment of one’s goal are the prime prerequisites for success. However unmerited enthusiasm and dedication can also be very dangerous as well.

Unless it is based upon solid research, it may cause people to chase headlong after nonexistent rainbows. And that’s where you can fit in as a business consultant.

How to Sell Yourself as a Freelance Consultant

One fundamental truth you must understand is that it is not necessary for you to have owned or operated a successful business to become a successful business consultant. Nor is it imperative that you have been in management or have held a titled position.

What you will however need is the ability to sell yourself, and an up-to-date understanding of the area in which you intend to assist others. This being so, the first step is to make an honest evaluation of your own training and experience(s). You might be an ambitious tax consultant who was never recognized for your abilities.

You might be especially good in such areas as:

>>> System Design;

>>> Marketing;

>>> Scheduling;

>>> Expediting;

>>> Productivity…

There are hundreds of entrepreneurs out there doing freelance consulting who specialize in areas like Direct Mail and Mail Order operations. Most of these people enjoyed some measure of success in those fields, and then discovered the easier way- advising others on how to operate successfully.

The important thing is to choose an area in which you’ve had some experience; an area that you have spent sometime learning about; and of course, an area of work that you enjoy.

What you will need to do is:

>>> Look over your educational strengths;

>>> Combine these with any special training or on-the-job experience;

>>> Offer your expertise to help others with their problems along the lines you know best.

Starting Your Freelance Consultancy Business

One thing that is sure is that you don’t need a big, fancy executive type office in order to get started as a freelance consultant. The economical way is to start your consulting business on a part-time basis.

A spare bedroom, a section of the basement, or even a corner of the dining room, will do very nicely.

If you handle your own bookkeeping/filing, you will need a ledger of some kind, and a file cabinet or two. You will need a good printer if you plan to do your own correspondence.

An alternative is to do all letters, etc. in longhand and hire someone to put them in final form for you. Check the local high school or college. They may be happy to post your ad for a young lady looking for part-time work.

Instead of going to the expense of paying for a business phone, use your residence phone and train all members of the family to answer it in a business-like manner during normal working hours.

Save copies of all the sales letters you send out, and of course, all job proposals you submit.

Set up your file system with your final plan in mind, and you’ll save a lot of time as well as frustration.

Get the kind of file folders that hang from the sides of the file cabinet’s drawers, allowing you to position the file folder title anywhere across the top of the folder.

Then as you add clients to your file, you can keep them in order without a jumbled-looking file drawer in which you have to search for each title.

It’s also a good idea to keep your active accounts in one drawer, your ?hoped-for? accounts in another. And master copies of all letters, proposals, business contact information and records in still another drawer.

You’ll also need business cards.

Your nearest quick print shop can usually order these and help you in selecting wording and design.

Whether to rent, lease or buy a copy machine is up to you, but virtually no business can get by without file copies.

Carbon paper means a loss of efficiency, and running over the corner shop to get copies is going to cost you time and money, so be sure to fit some sort of copier into your business start-up costs.

If impossible at the very first, use the old carbon paper- you must have a copy for your file.

If you type at all- there will always be at least a few letters that you should type personally- we suggest again that you go for the long haul probabilities and rent, lease or buy the best and most modern [laser] printer you can afford.

Later on, when you do move into that “dream” office; that will be one less piece of equipment you will have to be concerned with.

Remember that you don?t have to be necessary some successful business icon before you can work as a freelance business consultant. Neither is it necessary that you have been in management or have held a titled position. In our next post I will take a look a some ways you can get the word about your consulting business. It?s all about selling yourself. Make it a date!