How to Build a Consulting Business... #158
- Adrian Dionisio - business737 owner
- Jan 23
- 6 min read
Starting a consulting business is one of the most common goals I hear from founders, entrepreneurs, and small business owners.
They usually say something like:
“I’ve got years of experience, surely I can consult.”
“I know I can help businesses, I just don’t know how to package it.”
“I don’t want to quit my job and gamble everything.”
And under all of that, there’s usually one unspoken fear:
“What if I try this… and fail?”
That fear is not a sign you’re unqualified. It’s usually a sign you haven’t been shown how consulting actually works as a business, not just as an idea.
This guide walks through how to build a consulting business properly — step by step — using the same foundations I’ve seen work repeatedly for consultants selling knowledge, advice, and expertise into B2B and corporate markets.
No overnight success myths. No vague “follow your passion” advice. Just clear thinking, structure, and execution.
What Consulting Business Is (And What It Is Not)
Consulting is often overcomplicated. At its simplest:
Consulting is helping someone solve a problem they care about — and being paid for it.
That’s it.
Consulting is not:
Needing decades of experience
Having impressive credentials
Being the smartest person in the room
You don’t need to know everything. You just need to know enough to help someone move from problem to solution faster, better, or with less risk than doing it alone.
Over time, as you solve bigger and more complex problems, your expertise — and your fees — naturally increase.
I’ve worked with:
Younger consultants with limited experience but strong execution
Experienced operators pivoting into consulting later in life
Age is irrelevant.What matters is clarity, discipline, and the ability to translate expertise into outcomes.
Build a Consulting Business: The Offer Formula Most People Miss
One of the biggest reasons new consulting businesses stall is because people jump straight to “services.”
Instead, start with this formula:
Skill + Problem + Willing Buyers = Consulting Offer
Miss any one of these, and the business struggles.
Let’s break each part down properly.
Step 1: Extract What You Already Know (Your Real Skills)
Most first-time consultants underestimate what they have to sell.
They think skills only count if they came from:
A job title
A certification
A formal consulting role
That’s wrong.
Relevant consulting skills come from:
Projects you’ve led
Problems you’ve repeatedly fixed
Work others avoided but relied on you to handle
Areas people ask for your advice
Examples I see constantly:
Organising chaos in growing businesses
Fixing broken sales or delivery processes
Hiring, onboarding, and managing people
Improving operational efficiency
Translating technical work into business outcomes
One former client believed they “weren’t senior enough” to consult. Once we mapped their experience, it became obvious they had quietly been the go-to person for fixing workflow breakdowns across multiple teams. That became their consulting entry point.
This stage is not about credentials. It’s about what you can reliably help someone do better.
Step 2: Turn Skills Into Problems Businesses Will Pay to Solve
Here’s a critical shift:
Clients do not buy skills. They buy solutions.
Every consulting offer must answer three questions clearly:
What problem do you solve?
Why does it matter?
What changes after you help?
Examples:
Hiring experience → “I help businesses reduce bad hires and improve retention.”
IT experience → “I help companies reduce downtime and security risk.”
Process improvement → “I help founders remove operational bottlenecks that waste time and money.”
A strong consulting offer is simple and specific:
Here’s who I help. Here’s the problem. Here’s how I fix it.
If you can’t say it clearly, buyers won’t understand it — and they won’t buy.
Step 3: Validate Demand (Before You Build Anything)
This is where many consulting businesses quietly fail.
Instead of validating, people assume.
A simple, effective approach is what I call the 10 + 5 validation method:
Speak to 10 potential buyers
Analyse 5 competitors
Speak to Real People
Ask questions like:
What’s currently costing you time, money, or peace of mind?
Where have consultants or vendors disappointed you?
What outcomes matter most right now?
Listen more than you talk.
One consultant I worked with thought pricing was their biggest obstacle. After ten conversations, it became clear the real frustration was slow delivery and poor communication from existing providers. That insight shaped their positioning — and helped them win work quickly.
Study Competitors
Look at:
How they position their services
What they charge
Where clients complain or hesitate
What they overemphasise
You are rarely inventing demand. You’re identifying where demand is underserved.
Step 4: Define Your Ideal Client (So You Stop Wasting Time)
Trying to sell to everyone is one of the fastest ways to burn energy.
Your Ideal Client Profile (ICP) gives your consulting business direction.
For B2B and corporate consulting, clarity here matters even more.
Define:
Industry
Company size
Revenue band
Buyer role (founder, director, head of department)
Core problems they want solved
This clarity improves:
Messaging
Outreach
Sales conversations
Conversion rates
A common mistake is going too broad — or too narrow — too early.The goal is focus, not restriction. Let real conversations refine your niche over time.
Step 5: Choose a Consulting Business Model That Fits You
There is no single “right” consulting model.
But there is a wrong one for your situation.
Key decisions include:
Volume vs Value
Volume: lower price, more clients, more automation
Value: higher price, fewer clients, deeper engagement
Delivery Style
Advisory / DIY (you guide, they execute)
Done-with-you (collaborative)
Done-for-you (full delivery)
Who You Sell To
B2B / corporate: longer sales cycles, ROI-driven, higher deal values
B2C: faster decisions, emotional buying, lower price points
Most consultants I work with eventually move toward higher-value B2B and corporate engagements because they reward clarity, outcomes, and trust — not noise.
Step 6: Pricing Your Consulting Services Properly
Pricing creates more anxiety than almost any other decision.
Here’s the key principle:
Clients pay for outcomes, not hours.
Common pricing models include:
Hourly
Project-based
Value-based
Retainers
Tiered packages
Productised services
Early on, simplicity wins.
I once worked with a consultant who was significantly under pricing their work. We adjusted pricing gradually — not aggressively — and very few clients left. Revenue increased while workload decreased.
The priority early is not perfection. It’s selling, learning, and building confidence.
Step 7: Getting Your First Consulting Clients (Without Fancy Marketing)
You do not need ads, funnels, or a polished brand to start.
Your first consulting clients almost always come from:
Past colleagues
Former clients
Industry contacts
People already in your network
Start conversations. Reconnect. Be professional and human.
Keep outreach:
Short
Personal
Non-pushy
Consulting businesses grow through conversations, not campaigns.
Step 8: Sales Is a Process, Not a Personality Trait
Most founders don’t come from sales backgrounds.
That’s normal.
Sales is not manipulation. It’s diagnosing problems and proposing solutions.
When selling consulting:
Listen first
Understand priorities
Clarify budget and timelines
Propose outcomes, not tasks
Sales skills are learnable — and unavoidable. You don’t need to love them, but you do need to respect them.
Step 9: Deliver Like a Professional (This Is Where Businesses Are Made)
Your early clients matter more than your marketing.
Strong delivery creates:
Trust
Case studies
Referrals
Long-term contracts
Be disciplined:
Set expectations clearly
Communicate proactively
Solve problems thoroughly
This is how consultants become go-to partners, not replaceable vendors.
Step 10: Build the Back Office (So the Business Is Sustainable)
Behind every stable consulting business is unglamorous structure:
Legal setup
Business banking
Contracts and proposals
Accounting and tax planning
Insurance
You don’t need mastery — just awareness and steady implementation.
Ignoring this creates stress later, often when the business is already under pressure.
Using AI and Technology
AI can support:
Market research
Offer refinement
Proposal drafting
Outreach
Content creation
SOPs and internal systems
But it should support thinking, not replace it.
The strongest consultants combine:
Human judgment
Real experience
Clear systems
Smart tools
Why Most Consulting Businesses Never Get Off the Ground
It’s not lack of skill.
It’s waiting to feel “ready.”
You don’t need:
A perfect website
A 50-page business plan
Total certainty
You need:
Direction
Action
Feedback
Building a consulting business is one of the most effective ways to turn experience into leverage — especially for founders and small business owners selling expertise into B2B and corporate markets.
If you want to talk through how this applies to your situation, or you’re stuck translating what you know into a clear, sellable consulting offer, feel free to get in touch.
