Why Business Consulting Might Be For You

If you’ve ever wanted to start an online business, be it for part time income, or to replace your current job, you’ve probably noticed one thing above all else: there are literally a million different ways you can go. From affiliate marketing, to MLM, to business consulting, there are a myriad of options.

What do I mean? Well, you could do affiliate marketing, which is selling other people’s product for a commission. Should you decide to go that route, you need to pick a niche, pick a product, and then how will you promote it? PPC? A blog? Article writing?

Or you could decide that an MLM company is for you. MLM stands for Multi-Level Marketing (aka Network Marketing). In this model you will ideally have a retail product to sell to potential customers. But you have the additional option of building a business by recruiting people into the company as well.

Finally, you could also opt to build your company from the ground up either by offering services such as writing, web design or hosting, or catering. But one thing that you might not have considered is starting a business consulting firm.

But that is such a broad term it might be best to qualify it first. As an example, if you’ve been in business before (it doesn’t really matter WHAT business at this point), there were certain steps that you took that everyone who wants to start a business must take. For instance, you first need to register your business, then you need to decide what kind of business it is (LLC, partnership, etc.), and whether you should incorporate. If you need funding, you will have to have a solid business plan on paper. You need to decide how you will take profits from the business as well. You will need to have stationary printed up as well as either hire an accountant or get a bookkeeping package if you plan to do it yourself. And let’s not forget writing the copy for your promotional items, designing the graphics and getting setup online.

What I’ve briefly described above can cause some people to have absolute fits of panic, thinking that everything needs to be done at once and not being at all sure where to start.

This is where you could come in. Having gone through the above “baptism of fire” you could conceivably help people with getting the basics of business set up right the first time and be paid well for it.

Another option would be to help with the technical side of things. From setting up a new computer, getting your clients online, to consulting on their existing web site, there are many ways you can go when it comes to business consulting.

Before you do that however, you need to take some time and assess both your skills and your weaknesses so you can offer potential clients the best service possible. This is key and is not something to be glossed over quickly as it can mean the difference between a successful consulting practice and a mediocre “jack of all trades” one.

One final piece of advice: be sure you’re setting up consulting for the right reasons. If you solely setup a consulting service for the money it can generate, people will see that and respond accordingly. Make sure that you genuinely want to help people and then start. Done this way, you will find that the work might not feel like work. You will have eager, happy clients and more fun that you may think is proper!