Creating a Consulting Business Plan

⚡️ Little known fact: the more specific you are about what you want, what you'll do, and what you won't do, the more likely you are to get it. When you niche contracts, your possibilities expand. Read more below 👇🏻 🚫 What most people do Most people are afraid to make declarative statements for fear of missing out. In their business, they try to cater to everyone, for fear of missing out on potential clients - and hamstring their profits by not defining a niche they can serve better than anyone. In their friendships, they try to keep too many relationships spinning, for fear of being left alone - and dilute the quality of their most important connections by not investing enough time and energy in those. ✅ What to do instead Set very specific objectives. Once you make that statement, it becomes a 'first domino' that clarifies your focus, shows you new opportunities, and takes care of many of your secondary goals. i.e. "I help mid-career women in the finance industry to move into executive positions' is more useful, marketable and profitable than 'I help people develop their careers.' When you define a niche like that, you create laser-focused content and offerings that attract your ideal client, build deep expertise, charge more and spend your marketing dollar more wisely. 'I call my best friend for an hour every Friday' is more impactful than 'I'm trying to keep up with 6 Whatsapp chats going' for developing a connection that will deepen and serve you throughout life. ➡️ Use narrowing for boundaries too "I put my family first' is a good start, but it will be unhelpful when it comes to making judgement calls and tricky trade-offs. 'I am always home for dinner and bedtime' is a more specific goal that requires a different level of commitment that will change the way you run your life. 'I don't waste time in meetings' is a nice intention that will be rapidly compromised. 'I only attend meetings with a clear agenda and at least three days notice' is a more specific boundary that will change how you interact with people and what you do with your time. The beautiful paradox of narrowing down your goals and focus to something clear and specific is that other things will fall into place. Your bravery will be rewarded - so go on... get specific. #ConsultantsOfChoice #Leadership #Strategy #PersonalDevelopment

Most professionals over 50 think launching a consulting practice means changing their LinkedIn headline and waiting for inquiries. That's why most consultants struggle to land paying clients. The ones actually generating revenue made themselves significantly easier to hire by building proof before asking for money. 10 portfolio career moves that make landing consulting clients 10x easier: 1. Create a one-page case study documenting a real problem you've solved with specific, measurable results - companies buy proven solutions, not impressive credentials 2. Build a micro-offer priced at $2-5K that clients can approve without lengthy committee processes - small initial wins consistently convert into larger retainers 3. Position yourself in a genuinely searchable niche - "supply chain optimization for mid-market manufacturing" generates qualified calls while "business consultant" creates noise 4. Leverage your previous employer network strategically - former colleagues now hold decision-making roles at other organizations and already trust your judgment 5. Publish weekly thought leadership content on LinkedIn addressing your clients' specific pain points - consistent visibility creates inbound opportunities 6. Offer a free 30-minute diagnostic consultation - let prospects experience your expertise and thinking before they commit budget 7. Join industry associations and attend conferences where your ideal clients actually gather - meaningful relationships happen before contracts get signed 8. Build referral partnerships with complementary consultants serving the same client base - strategic collaboration beats isolated competition 9. Create a simple one-page website clearly showcasing your specific expertise and documented client results - credibility matters when clients research you 10. Follow up systematically with every warm connection from your network - most consulting engagements originate from conversations, not cold outreach Your accumulated expertise is genuinely valuable. But organizations aren't hiring potential or years of experience - they're hiring demonstrated proof you can solve their specific problem starting immediately. Sign up to my newsletter for more corporate insights: https://vist.ly/4hcc6 #consultingcareer #portfoliocareer #careerafter50 #jobsover50 #freelanceconsulting #consultingbusiness #secondcareer #independentconsultant #businessconsulting #careeradvice

I haven’t done outreach in 2 years. We get 93% of our clients from referrals and are going to cross $2M in revenue this year. Here's how we get an endless supply of referrals for our business: 1. Make Clients More Money Than They Pay Us One thread we write can generate more revenue than a client's entire monthly retainer. When the ROI is that obvious for them, they’ll be more than happy to refer you to their network. 2. Build Real Relationships We don't just deliver results for our clients.. • We meet up at our yearly offsites. • We shoot the sh*t on calls and in slack. • We send them personal gifts When you build a great relationship with your clients, referrals happen naturally. They're not just recommending a service - they're connecting friends. 3. End on Good Terms No Matter What I always try to end client relations on good terms. Even if it didn’t work out. I’ve sent referrals to old clients. I’ve given advice to clients after our agreement ended. Burning bridges kills the power of compounding. Reciprocity > 4. Actively Connect People in Your Network I'm constantly introducing people who should know each other. Client needs a designer? I connect them with the best one I know. Someone's looking for a closer? I make the intro. Friend mentions they're hiring? I send them qualified people. Become the connector in your network. 5. Become “The Guy” In Your Industry When someone thinks "content marketing for info businesses," they think of us. Being known as "the guy "in your in industry is the best way to build a brand that attracts referrals. People will give you referrals, even if you don't even know them. The result of all this: I have sales calls lined up every week without me doing anything. • Clients from 2 years ago still send people. • People who've never hired us make referrals. • People I barely know connect others to us. Even doing a few of those consistently will make a huge difference for your referral rate. What's your best tip for getting more referrals? Let me know below.

I wrote a book called The Referral Engine to make the case that referrals should be your #1 lead source—but there’s a catch. Early in my career, I thought doing great work was enough to keep clients coming. And for a while, it worked. One happy client led to another, and I stayed busy. Then, one day, the referrals slowed down. And I found myself wondering: Where’s the next client coming from? That’s when I realized something many business owners eventually figure out: Referrals don’t just happen. They have to be built into your marketing system. Too many businesses think referrals are random. They do great work, cross their fingers, and hope happy clients will spread the word. Yes, that better be happening. But that’s not a strategy. I started asking myself some different questions. ~ How do I make referring me the easiest thing my clients can do? ~ How do I teach my best customers to tell the right story about me? ~ How do I bake referrals into every stage of my client experience? Just thinking this way changed everything. Instead of waiting for referrals, I created a system to generate them. Here’s what I figured out. First, people don’t refer businesses. They refer experiences. If your work is just “good,” no one is talking about it. If your process is clunky, no one is bringing their best contacts into it. The easiest way to get more referrals is to create something worth talking about. Second, most people would be happy to refer you, but they don’t know how. If you want more referrals, you have to make it easy. Give people the right language to use. Create a process that naturally encourages introductions. Make referring you feel like a win for them, not a favor to you. Finally, the best way to generate more referrals is to teach before you sell. Create content that positions you as the expert people want to send their friends to. Be the person people naturally think of when someone asks, “Who do you know that does great work in this space?” When someone tells me their lead generation is inconsistent, I don’t tell them to start cold calling. I tell them to make referrals a system, not an accident. So I’m curious—what’s one thing you do to make referrals a natural part of the customer journey?

Everyone says you need a niche. They're not wrong – but they're not right either. The most common advice for creators, entrepreneurs, and freelancers is:  "Niches are everything." "Narrow down or get left behind." We obsess with finding our niche – but most people think a niche is a category you squeeze into. Truth is – the best niches aren't boxes. They're mirrors. A reflection of what only you can bring. As a brand strategist, I see this confusion constantly. Business owners tie themselves in knots trying to fit into categories like "productivity coach" or "marketing consultant" – when what actually makes them valuable is way more specific. Like the consultant who combined 10 years in healthcare with a move to tech. She wasn't "a healthcare consultant" or "a tech consultant." She was the consultant who helped healthtech companies bridge clinical and commercial teams. That intersection became her positioning. And her pricing doubled. Or the coach who brought a finance background into creative businesses. She didn't call herself a "business coach." She became the person creative founders hired when they needed to stop being broke artists and start running profitable studios. Your niche isn't about limiting yourself. It's about crystallizing your unique combination of background, perspective, and approach – plus all the weird little twists that make you different A forced niche feels like a cage. An authentic one feels like coming home. If you niche down just to fit in, you'll burn out. If you niche down where your unique perspective thrives, you'll stand out effortlessly. Sometimes, the strongest positioning happens at intersections – where your story, experience, and perspective collide into something unmistakably yours. Your niche isn't your limit. It's your launchpad. I built a simple framework for this after watching too many talented people shrink themselves. If you're ready to find a niche that actually fits you, comment "Niche" and I'll send it over.

Over ten years running my consulting business, we had about 200 customers in total. Roughly 20 a year. And that was millions and millions of dollars of revenue. I share that because of the objection I hear every time niching comes up: "But the market's too small." Run the numbers. If your niche has 100,000 organisations in it and you need 200 of them over a decade, you need a fraction of a percent of the market. The problem is never that your niche is too small. It's almost always that it's too broad. I know because I got this wrong. One of my earlier businesses was a general technology consulting company. A bit of this, a bit of that, all your computers. Impossible to differentiate. It meant nothing to anyone. Then I became "the Power BI guy" and referrals started flowing. That one specific label did more than all my general marketing combined. Here's the part that still stings a little, though. I watched peers niche deeper than me. Power BI for the environment sector. Power BI for local government. They built faster than I did, and to this day, when vertical work like that comes up, I know exactly who it belongs to. That's what a real niche buys you: when your problem comes up, you're the name that surfaces. A quick test for yours: 1. Can you say it in one sentence? 2. Can someone refer you without thinking? 3. Can you rattle off ten specific things keeping your ideal client up at night? You can always take work outside your niche when it lands in your lap. But you can only be famous in one place at a time. I post weekly on turning tech skills into consulting income. Follow if that's the journey you're on. #consulting #data #AI

Your biggest champions never refer you. Your smallest customers generate most referrals. You're asking the wrong people. :) It's perfectly natural to source referrals from the marquee names you work with. That said, it's important to realize that ENT buyers can't afford to be wrong about referrals. Their reputation is on the line with every introduction they make. Small business owners? They love sharing what works. ENT champions think: - "What if this vendor screws up their implementation?" - "What if their product doesn't scale like ours did?" - "What if the CEO traces a bad experience back to my recommendation?" SMB champions think: "This tool saved my ass. Maybe it'll save theirs too." I know which one I'd prefer to hear. Hubspot did a bunch of research last year that said small businesses are 3x more likely to provide referrals than ENT accounts, despite representing smaller individual deal values. Even with that data being out there, most revenue teams optimize referral programs for their largest customers because they mistake deal size for referral potential. But referral behavior isn't about deal value. It's about personal risk tolerance and relationship dynamics. ENT buyers operate in political environments where a bad vendor recommendation can damage their career trajectory. They're conservative by necessity. SMB buyers operate in survival mode where sharing resources that work is part of the community fabric. They're generous by nature. So, instead of chasing big name drops, try to build referral systems around behavioral psychology: 1. Segment referral strategies by risk profile. ENT: Peer introductions at industry events, executive advisory boards. SMB: Direct warm intros, case study participation, online reviews. 2. Design referral timing around confidence curves. ENT: After 12+ months of proven ROI and executive-level success metrics. SMB: After first quick win or measurable outcome (often 30-90 days). 3. Match referral incentives to motivations. ENT: Thought leadership opportunities, exclusive access, strategic value. SMB: Cash rewards, public recognition, reciprocal introductions. 4. Create referral-safe environments. ENT: Private peer groups where sharing vendor intel feels strategic. SMB: Open communities where success stories get celebrated. SMB referrals also move faster through decision cycles. ENT referrals can take 6-18 months to convert. SMB referrals convert in weeks. At the end of the day, your ENT logos might impress prospects, but your SMB advocates create pipeline velocity. Stop overlooking your smallest customers. They might be your biggest growth engine.

I am a big fan of referral programs, as long as they are structured properly. The reality is that most "reseller" partners are glorified referral partners that are getting a margin that exceeds the contribution they are making, and in many cases a vendor is better off with pure referral partners. The key considerations include: ✅ Defining what qualifies as a referral - it should include a company name; the name and title of a decision maker or champion; a defined need or project; and at least a rough idea of the opportunity size ✅ The duration of the agreement - is it a one-off opportunity or an on-going relationship? If it is on-going we prefer to structure it as a one-year term that automatically expires unless renewed in writing by both parties ✅ Deal registration - make sure the referral partner is protected and gets paid ✅ Compensation - the typical rate is 10%, but this can be tiered based on a number of factors: 🔸 How involved the partner is in the sales process - is it just a hand-off, or do they help manage the sales process? 🔸 The number of referrals per year. For example, 10% for fewer than 5; 15% for 6-10; 20% for more than 11 🔸 The close rate - pay a higher referral fee to partners that send you deals that you close more often and/or faster. 🔸 One-time fee, or do they get paid on renewals? Referral partners come in different flavors: ☑ Traditional channel partners (SIs, VARS, MSPs, etc.) that do not want to take responsibility for the sales and support ☑ Industry consultants that have great customer relationships for their core service, but are not resellers ☑ Your existing customers - offer them a discount of 10% on their own subscription for every related entity or other companies they refer and that become your customer (closed sales, not intros) ☑ Other vendors with complementary solutions. Referral partners are a great way to drive a pipeline of qualified prospects at a very low Customer Acquisition Cost. For many vendors they will be more productive, less frustrating and easier to manage than a traditional channel program. Book an appointment for no-nonsense advice on building a productive channel. #Channelprograms; #P2P; #ISV

Want to be the SAP consultant clients call first? Become known for the problems you solve for employers and customers. Here’s how to lay the foundations for that: 🤔👇 🌍 Define your niche. Specialists are remembered. Clients don’t look for generalists: they look for someone who knows how to fix a specific problem. 📌 Solve one problem repeatedly. While adaptability is great, if you’re always the person who fixes issues like invoice delays, you become the go-to person for that problem. Mastering a common pain point gives you repeatable value. 🛠 Learn and use diagnostic frameworks. Tools like root cause analysis, Fishbone diagrams, and the “5 Why’s” help consultants isolate the real issue, not just the symptom. Structured thinking earns trust. 🤖 Use SAP innovations to solve problems faster. AI, automation, and analytics can cut delays, eliminate manual tasks, and uncover insights. Turn innovations into successful solutions for business problems. 🧐 Understand post-implementation issues Many SAP pain points surface after go-live. Specializing in post-go-live problem resolution makes you the person clients call when the system starts misbehaving. 📈 Track KPIs before and after your work. Use simple metrics: speed, accuracy, downtime. Even informal tracking shows clients you care about results. 📊 Quantify your results. Don’t just say “I improved a process.” Say “Cut month-end close time by 60%.” Numbers stick in people’s minds and make your impact easy to understand and trust. 🎤 Speak in business language. Translate technical wins into business impact: “Improved SQL efficiency” becomes “freed up 2 days of analyst time monthly.” Executives care more about business performance. 🗂️ Build a personal case study bank. Keep records of the problems you’ve solved. Even quick fixes can become points in interviews, proposals, or posts. 🧠 Use the STAR framework. Structure your experience: Situation, Task, Action, Result. It keeps your storytelling sharp, and it’s the format hiring managers and decision-makers know best. 🔧 Engage in SAP Community and LinkedIn groups. Share fixes, answer questions, and publish how-to posts. People notice consistent contributors: and it builds reputation over time. 💬 Get feedback and referrals. After resolving an issue, ask stakeholders for a recommendation. Their validation of your value is worth more than your own. 🚀 Always follow up post-fix. Check if the issue stayed fixed. This small act turns one-time problem-solvers into long-term trusted partners. Your SAP career is built on the problems you solved. Show people exactly how you make SAP systems, teams, and businesses better. What other SAP problems can be the basis for an SAP career? Share your thoughts in the comments ⬇️ #IgniteSAP #SAPCareers #SAPCommunity

Referrals might be the most underused growth lever in B2B! Everyone talks about them. Few actually operationalize them. At Sendspark, we’ve made referrals a core part of our GTM motion—and it’s driving real revenue. Here are 3 ways we’re turning referrals into pipeline (and closed deals): 1. Offer Free Access in Exchange for an intro We don’t have a free plan. So when an SDR signs up and drops off before payment, we don’t just lose the lead. Instead, we offer them a free Sendspark seat—if they are open to making an exec level intro. It’s a win-win: They get value. We get a high-leverage referral. This simple play helped us close two enterprise deals last quarter. 2. Operationalize Referrals with Tech Referrals don’t have to be manual, there are plenty of tools out there that can help you automate the referral process. Here’s what we use internally. FirstPromoter– An easy affiliate tool where our fans get a link to share Sendspark and earn $ when someone signs up. Product- Embedded Referral Links – We let users include referral links in the videos they send. When someone loves the video and signs up → the sender gets paid. Commsor 🦕 – Shows us overlaps between customers, investors, and influencers. Perfect for uncovering warm intro paths we wouldn’t have seen otherwise. 3. Just Ask If you’re a CSM doing a QBR... Or an AE who just closed a deal... Ask: “Is there anyone else in your network who could use something like this?” Worst case? They say no. Best case? Warm, qualified lead! Creating a scalable referral motion is something that add incredible growth to your business! If you don't currently have a referral program in place, why not? #saas #sales #growth