Four Key Shifts That Make Consulting a Real Opportunity: Part Four

Key Shift #3: The New Normal (contd.)

NEW NORMAL OPPORTUNITY #2: TIMING AND MOMENTUM


There is a significant reason you should be looking at the unemployment figures in making your decision to become an independent consultant. Like anything you have ever done in your career, you will only get better at consulting as you gain experience. The sooner you get started, the sooner you will become comfortable and more expert. Over the next several years, hundreds of thousands of people will try to become independent consultants. The issue is not that competition will grow. We believe there is more than enough demand to meet the supply, and we have a deep belief in an abundance mentality. The issue is in the types of engagements you will receive, your ability to create long-term relationships, and the scalability and the profitability of your engagements. The sooner you start, the more time you’ll have to build the type of business you want.

We believe those folks who start working on their new craft now will have a better chance of securing engagements that will create long-term relationships. Our experience has proven this out. The more results we have provided, the more we have created almost evangelical referrals and references for later business. Business owners will have these types of strategic needs for the next few years and will create long-term relationships with those folks who have helped them at this time.

I’m enthusiastic about consulting. It’s been very good to me, both financially and in doing work I like. But to succeed, you need to be someone who gets things done, and this generally takes a positive or aggressive attitude. For example, I know two brothers, both of whom are very smart. When presented with a challenge, the first brother thinks, “If anyone can do it, I can. And if I don’t know something that’s required to do the job, I can find out.” The second brother’s mind automatically goes to the problems with a project: “What about the possibility of getting sued? What if I fail? What if things take too long?” And so on. Unless you are a risk consultant, a lawyer, an insurance consultant or possibly an accountant, this attitude will not make you a successful consultant. (And, in fact, the first brother is an entrepreneur while the second brother has worked successfully for nonprofits and is a great employee.)

You must have a can-do attitude and project quiet confidence to prospects and clients, even when you’re not sure how you’ll solve a problem. Your skill should be in finding solutions, not in having all the answers. The key is having the confidence to know you will find a solution.

Here are some key facts to consider that show the benefits of acting like Haw (the decisive mouse in Who Moved My Cheese?), and not Hem.

• In a recent USA Today survey of 27 prominent economists, 23 believed that unemployment will return to 5%, but only three think it will be before 2015! Some economists believe unemployment won’t get lower than 6% before 2020.

• In January 2011, the US Department of Labor statistics changed its process for recording how long people have been unemployed. The old norm was two years, and now it is five years.

•    As already mentioned, in January 2011, the first Baby-Boomers turned 65, and many will retire from their current positions. This will create a “knowledge vacuum” that can be filled by independent consultants.

•    Many unemployed professionals are accepting underemployment in jobs that use their knowledge capital for significantly lower annual salaries.

•    A survey conducted by MBO Partners in 2011 found that 80% of independent workers are satisfied with their situation. This number includes 58% who are highly satisfied. 
The nature and makeup of the workforce has changed forever. In 1942, economist Joseph Schumpeter coined the phrase “creative destruction.” He believed that capitalism, by its very nature, reinvents itself constantly. This often involves the destruction of old technologies by new ones. If we were to just think about the past 10 years, we would see his point. Who would have thought about Google, text messaging, “Skyping,” smart phones and so on just a few short years ago? The nature of employment in our capitalist, free-market economy is reinventing itself...again.

This article is an excerpt from Buddy’s latest book, "Experience Matters: How to Succeed as a Consultant in Today’s World." To download your free copy of the full version CLICK HERE.