Change in the Consulting Business
The consulting business is up and down. With clients coming in and out of the portfolio, it can feel like feast or famine. Add to that being "always on" for your clients and you can get a fairly disruptive lifestyle.
It doesn't have to be that way. Consultants are rolling out technology solutions to make the availability problem less. And mobility makes it easier for us to be available but also be more free.
But the most dramatic changes of all come through
product changes. When consultants shift their service offering to roll out low marginal cost products to a wider base, they see a huge improvement in their personal lives.
But all that change comes with a cost. It's work, for sure. But I find the most difficult change is the mindset.
The "Curse of the Expert"
The problem is,
the exact characteristics that make us such great consultants can often
make us horrible change agents of ourselves.
On my podcast,
Scale to Success, I had the chance to
interview Michael Miller, founder of The Vacation Never Ends, an entrepreneurial coach program that helps business leaders get "out of their own way." I asked Michael what some of the main issues are with consultants and coaches that refuse to make the changes necessary to create the lifestyle they want.
Of course,
fear of uncertainty is among them. We fear what we don't know. It's like being trapped on a ledge on the side of a cliff. We know we don't want to be there, but it feels safer than trying to climb up and off of it.
But beyond that, Michael says he sees the
need for control as a major block. "Entrepreneurs want to be in control," he says. "But to make the changes necessary to grow their business means giving up some of that control."
And whether that control is given up to automation or to new staff, an expert generally has a difficult time doing that. Call it the
"curse of the expert," if you will, but that fear of loss of control keeps us stuck in
bad business models.
Michael suggests a way to get past the loss of control is to spend some time every day truly
visualizing the impact of your decision to release control - as well as the decision not to. What does your business - and life - look like 6 months later? Or 3 years later if you make the decision today to change how you do things? What are the best and worst case scenarios? And how likely are they?
How does it feel to be earning money without being personally on the hook to delivery every dollar?
When you have that image sharply in your head, you are more likely to start making the changes necessary to create the business - and the life - you really want.
Change Doesn't Always Mean Loss of Income
Another common fear is that changing your business model means giving up money - even if just in the short term. Most consultants don't earn money unless they're personally delivering services, so switching out of that mode
can be scary. I mean, what value do we offer if not ourselves in person?
Planning the transition from an "active" income to passive can help address these concerns. You don't have to make a hard cut over. The first step is to
automate your sales and marketing processes which are probably today based solely on your personal network and referrals - as is the case with most successful consultants and coaches.
A
marketing system is a set of rules and automated components that generates leads, builds relationships, and closes sales
without your heavy personal involvement with each and every prospect. I
teach coaches and consultants how to create such a system. Once that system is in place, it can start generating business in a way that
saves you time and energy - giving you more time to invest in product creation and passive income generation.
Learn How to Get Unstuck
If you want more ideas from Michael about
how to get unstuck, check out my
podcast episode. I tell my
personal story here about how I realized I was stuck and needed to change.
Making the effort to scale is worth it. When you see it and want it badly enough, you will be able to
make it happen!
