Over the past 3 years I’ve spoken with 500+ consulting business owners (most of them between $200k – 1MM in revenue). Here’s why I think consulting growth is broken, in no particular order 👇
Taking a moment to note: everyone experiences some (or all) of these problems, including myself. There is nothing “set and forget” about business; all of these issues need to be revisited periodically.
I may be ahead of you on most of them, but I can’t rely on my current level of awareness of these issues for too long, and neither should you.
So here it is. Why I believe consulting growth is broken:
⚠️ You are unable to articulate your market’s most critical problem.
⚠️ You don’t know when to be a generalist and when to transition to a specialist.
⚠️ Your business model ties most of your time to client work.
⚠️ Your fees do not reflect true value delivered.
⚠️ Your value proposition is not obvious or easy to understand.
⚠️ You lack curiosity about marketing and sales; you prefer to outsource.
⚠️ You don’t leverage your network or your team’s network often enough.
⚠️ You hesitate to share your unique worldview; no one outside your network knows you.
⚠️ You “wing it” during sales conversations and don’t have a process for discovery.
⚠️ You do not dedicate time in your week for growth-related activities.
⚠️ You don’t have the right people to support your growth.
⚠️ You don’t have a clear, reliable path or process to go from where you are to where you want to be.
Should you be overwhelmed by reading this list? No. Everyone’s going through this at some level. Even the experts.
Should you be slightly uncomfortable if you can relate to this? Yes. Because awareness of pain is this first step to change…and growth.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll share my thoughts on these issues and create new learning experiences to address them in the Consulting Growth Hour community (see comments or my profile if you’re interested in joining 👇).
—
Ready to add $100k-$500k revenue to your consulting business in 12 months or less without burning out? Schedule a call and let me show you how.
Image credit: Michelle Calkins
