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How to become a consultant - employed, independent, contract or freelance

Everyone in business should have to have a spell as a consultant at some point. It would certainly make those on the client side realise exactly how much better their companies could be run, that a good consultant can do more than look at your watch and tell you the time, and to realise what frustrating customers they sometimes make!

That said it is a lot of fun, you get to meet some interesting people, and if you like problem solving and steep challenges there are always plenty to take on. You might want to go into consulting at any point in your career and, if redundancy has curtailed a job you enjoyed, it is a very common option for business professionals to consider becoming freelance or independent consultants in e.g. IT, HR, Project Management, Marketing, PR or Management Consultancy.

Many of the most interesting boutique consulting practices have begun because talented individuals have broken away from bigger firms or have been made redundant when billings have looked dangerously low. The consulting business is picking up again so there is quite a lot of competition for the best talent at the moment - the big firms are recruiting again as are many of the smaller providers.


To become a successful consultant 3 things are really important

1. You do need to be really good at something i.e. have real expertise in an industry or a business discipline and have good interpersonal skills or you won't get any initial clients, repeat business or referrals. You need to be able to apply that expertise and knowledge in a setting other than your old company. Additionally, you must be able to think in a structured and objective manner, be good at problem solving, have the ability to write proposals that clients will be prepared to read and act upon, and be able to manage your team and your project. Whether you apply for a position in a consulting practice or set up pn your own you must think about where you already fit or where you'd like to go if someone is willing to train you. Are you Big Four material? Would you fit in the financial consultancy sector? IT? Outsourcing? Engineering? Marketing? HR? Do you have any kind of unique skill, experience or a suitable qualification?

2. You have to be exceptionally good at selling and marketing - selling yourself, selling your ideas, selling your pricing, selling your methodologies. You may be good at what you do but how are you going to get the work? Selling in this context is hard for newcomers especially if you have either no experience or you have only sold to a captive internal audience in your previous role. You have to have the courage to ask for the order, learn how to close and be comfortable networking and looking for business. If you have no idea what we're talking about, get yourself on a course or work for a firm that will provide the right training because you won't survive otherwise.

3. You have to be good at building relationships with clients and understand your accountability to them or you won't get any business the first time or any time after that.

How to get into consulting

  • You can join an established practice - there are lots of big players and niche consultancies keen to recruit good people. To look for a job go to the job hunting sites directory - jobs in management consultancy section or check to see if there are any recruitment events scheduled in our career events section.  
  • You could set up your own practice - a tough route if you don't have the experience or the contacts.
  • You can check out the interim management route and our page of specialist recruiters in the job hunting sites directory.
  • You can become a portfolio worker where you work for a variety of companies concurrently. It means you have several income streams, and client organisations still get access to expertise that perhaps they don't need or can't afford to employ on a full time basis or beyond a specific event.
  • You can become a freelance contractor. This has been a very popular route especially for IT professionals. Essentially you work for, usually, one client or project at a time for the contract duration. You must be very careful of the Inland Revenue implications of IR35. The best place to go for all kinds of advice and services in this area is The Professional Contractors Group Limited listed in the directory below and Top Consultant is also an excellent place to start - their management consultancy blogspot has some very insightful entries!
  • Freelancers often work as Associates of other organisations. You may be self employed but 'wear the hat' so to speak of the organisation you might represent. Trainers and management consultants often register for work with several organisations as part of an informal network or bank of 'approved' providers. For trainers and coaches an excellent place to start is Trainer Base listed below.  
  • You can register as a consultant on the National Register with Business Link too. They refer you to an accreditation body and at the time of writing charge c£300 to get on the register provided that you meet their criteria. It's certainly one way of getting in on the act of the substantial funds they administer.
  • You could also buy into a franchise like Action International. The beauty of something like the Action franchise is that you buy into a proven network of training, business generation tools and techniques and intellectual capital that it would take forever to build up as a lone operator. Plus, you'll be linked in with other Action coaches so you don't get so lonely either which can be a drawback for those operating on their own who have been used to working in a busy company.
  • Check out our selection of top consultancy recruiters here.
Qualifications and Professional Memberships

There isn't necessarily one qualification as such that you can take to become or to prove that you are a consultant. These days everyone seems to be obsessed with qualifications - how many, where from, are they dumbed down from 'my day'? It can work against the over 40's who have lots of experience and have undergone company training which has not been 'recognised' by some authorising body that might not even have existed (or at least in the same form) when you started out.

We all know that qualification or certification is no real  guarantee that a person can do a decent job but nevertheless you will need to start building up a series of signals which point to you being worth employing. If you are reading this before you need to leave your current job consider looking at the Chartered Manager scheme with the CMI or consider the MBA programmes route (check out our MBA course finder section) if you want want any of the big glossy companies to take you seriously.

When marketing yourself then (which includes what you put on your business card) having a relevant degree, an MBA, a post grad qualification or sporting the appropriate letters after your name of a trade or professional association that you are a member of is vital. You have to be very careful which ones you register with, unless you have very deep pockets, as most do offer more than just a certificate. The Chartered Institute of Management (which also incorporates The Institute of Management Consultants) is pretty good value for money. What you really want to evaluate each fee against, is whether or not it gives you access to industry news so that you can keep up to date, networking opportunities and somewhere to market your CV and/or company services. If they throw in a magazine and a reasonably priced conference, so much the better.

Setting up on your own


Actually, if you decide to work for a decent sized consulting firm they will probably encourage or expect you to be working from home sometimes. They will probably pay for your equipment, some offer an allowance for your home office as you'll probably either hot desk at their offices or at your clients premises. To set up on your own, however, you will need as modest or as de-luxe a set of resources you want to fund but it may look something like this and will run to a few thousand pounds, depending on whether you are starting from scratch or not.

  • A laptop, carrying case, printer (most have faxes and scanners combined and are quite inexpensive)
  • Appropriate business software - MS Office or similar, anti-virus, malware protection etc
  • An internet account - preferably unlimited broadband
  • An email address (Hotmail accounts really aren't good enough)
  • A website - a cheap but well executed DIY job or something fancier if you must. See the section on building websites and blogs
  • An appropriate vehicle for travelling to and from assignments and meetings
  • A home office space with a decent desk, back supporting chair, wrist guards and filing space
  • Optional - LCD projector, portable screen, flip chart and pens (only if you really need to provide this yourself )
  • An office address but not necessarily real space (it may be your Accountant's address)
  • A business library - check out your selections at the New Life Bookshop here
  • Business stationery - cards (your most important asset), some basic letterhead
  • A business bank account 
  • A simple logo/business identity - DIY or through an inexpensive local designer
  • Basic office supplies - folders, plastic wallets, post its, pens, stamps etc
  • An appointment system - paper diary or electronic
  • A mobile phone and a landline with answer machine
  • Professional Indemnity Insurance (usually at a discount through your Profressional or Trade Association)
  • A membership budget for networking and Professional or Trade Associations
  • A marketing budget for any activities you deem necessary  (try and use as much free stuff as possible and use any free PR avenues you can - there are more ideas in the starting your own business section)
  • A core compendium of documents to market yourself - mini presentation, portfolio, testimonials, CV
  • A core compendium of documents/spreadsheets to manage your expenses and invoices
  • An allowance for your accounts, VAT returns, company registration etc. to be done
  • An allowance for trade memberships, re-training etc
  • An allowance to live on while you are waiting for your invoices to be paid (be very, very good at sending out and getting invoices paid!)

You may need to register with the Data Protection Registrar, for VAT, as a Limited Company and so on but take advice from your Accountant and look at the Business Link sites for more specific advice. All the contacts you will need for this are in our business help services directory.

You should always start small and build up on the expense side. Use serviced offices if you need to, rent or lease whatever you need instead of buying, making your money go further.

How much should I charge?

  • Established firms will have their own fee structures and will charge different amounts according to the seniority of the consultants they are using. They have to recoup their fixed costs, costs for lost pitches and so on. 
  • Whether you are a full time employee, a sub-contractor or on your own, you need to know what you can charge and what your competitors are charging. 
  • Fees can also vary for each industry type - go to your Trade Association for advice on freelance rates both regionally and for London (usually a vast difference), and be careful how much free stuff you do for clients.
  • Over 66,000 businesses in the UK are registered with management consultancy as a core activity so there are a lot of players out there, however, don't be tempted to subsidise clients if you can't afford it, or if they don't buy from you in a reasonable manner.
  • You should always consider your down-time when considering your fees, build in holiday, admin days, selling days etc.
  • A really good independent can earn £50Kpa or more which isn't a bad living but it's not a route paved with gold and porsches despite what the media would have you believe.
  • For more information download the Top Consultant salary survey at the bottom of this page.
Keep your knowledge and skill base current


Whether employed or freelance you must make sure that you have ways of keeping up with your industry sector  - it's easy to get out of touch when you aren't part of a really big company anymore. The web is fantastic for this and lots of places will deliver free newsletters to your electronic mail box like these sites below.  

silicon.com for the IT updates, personneltoday.com for the HR updates, hbswk.hbs.edu Harvard Business Review Working Knowledge site for cutting edge management thinking, managers.org.uk and the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) for more home grown issues, timesonline.co.uk for the best in journalism from The Times and The Sunday Times.


Useful resources

files/graphics/filetypes/pdf Salary Report 2006 Top Consultant - 461kb
Download this file
files/graphics/filetypes/pdf Top Consultant recruitment report 2006.pdf - 255kb
Download this file
ActionCoach - Business Coaching
ActionCoach - Business Coaching
Action Business Coaching and Mentoring Franchise . Ongoing support and training, voted the 2006 UK Franchise Provider of the year by Business Britain magazine! Visit their website ...
Career Article: It's not about the money
As attrition rates across the management consulting industry soar, the incentives employers implement to try to retain staff are not always what consultants want the most, according to the latest...
Consulting Times
Consulting Times
The Consulting Times is the online oracle of the consulting world. Great for keeping up to date and pre-interview cramming! You can subscribe to their news articles and opinion pieces for free.
HM Revenue and Customs
HM Revenue and Customs
The Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise Dept combined. Find out about tax for yourself, your company or your employees, VAT registration, rules and regulations.
Institute of Management Consultants
Institute of Management Consultants
The professional association and networking body for Management Consultants, now part of the Chartered Institute of Management. A new Institute was created in April 2007, the...
Professional Contractors Group Ltd
Professional Contractors Group Ltd
Essential first stop for information on setting up as a professional contractor (especially in IT), gives advice on tax, IR35 etc. Download their free guide to freelancing here .
The Lamberhurst Corporation
The Lamberhurst Corporation
The Lamberhurst Corporation , established in 1999, independent business professionals focused on business generation activities targeted at the medium to large corporate and the public sector. At the...
Top Consultant - Contract
Top Consultant - Contract
Top-Consultant - online community for consultants, events, training, job boards for finding interim, contract and consultancy work.
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