Issa Asad Explains How to Turn Business Expertise into a Consulting Company

Do you have extensive experience in a specific industry? If yes, it might be time to convert your business expertise and start your own consulting company. Having your own consulting company will ensure that rather than just helping others for free, you will be able to utilize your time better and make money by advising others.

“Many professionals reach that pinnacle of knowledge and experience, but seldom do they monetize their expertise,” explained Issa Asad Florida entrepreneur and businessman since 1996. Mr. Asad is the CEO of Q Link Wireless, Hello Mobile, and Quadrant Holdings, all located in South Florida. He is also the author of 4 e-commerce and marketing e-books that can be purchased on Amazon.

It is a good idea to use your knowledge and expertise to make some money. “Creating a consulting business out of your current business is not too much of a difficult task,” said Asad.

Here, Issa Asad Explains How to Turn Business Expertise into a Consulting Company:

1. Start by providing your expertise for free

The first obstacle which you will face is getting your first few clients. How do you convince your first clients that your advice is worth their money and time?

The answer to that is to provide your consultation services for free initially. During this time, your consulting company will be your side business rather than your primary source of income. It will allow you to attract clients. It will also help you provide them with additional up sales and cross-sales, which can generate some revenue for you.

It would be best if you kept in mind that during this phase, you’re working to build the relationships rather than working to build an income stream. Once you work with this model, it will be easy to get your first 2 to 3 clients.

2. Offer paid consultation once you gain your first clients

“Once you get some experience as a consultant to your name, it is now time to offer paid consultations,” said Issa Asad.

There are, however, a few guidelines that you have to follow when determining the cost of your consulting services.

These include:

• Take a look at the benefits that you can provide to your clients. Once you do so, it will be easier for you to put a value on your consulting services. You can also include the same numbers in your marketing pitch as well, which will allow you to convert clients at a faster pace.
• Create different plans for your customer to pay you. Instead of selling multi-month consultation contracts, it is a good idea to offer them the choice to choose between smaller contracts or even a single session and longer-term contracts as well. It will ensure that you can convert a higher number of clients.
• Make sure you keep your beginning consultation fees on the lower side to get more paying clients. It will allow you to sustain your consulting business during those initial couple of years.

Once you follow these three guidelines while determining your consultation fees, it will become easy for you to start and sustain your budding consulting company.

3. Promote your consultation business as much as you can

Whether you’re starting a consulting company or any other business, it is essential to promote your business as much as possible. Some of the avenues you have for promoting your consultation business include:

• Set up a prominent online presence.
• Create a social media sales funnel to get those crucial first few leads.
• Try contacting businesses through cold calling, email campaigns, and so on to get clients.
• Once you have some cash flow rolling, you can think about paid advertising on search engines or social media as well. If you’re short on cash, it is a good idea to start a blog or a newsletter to do your work and convert clients.

These few marketing methods will ensure that you can expand your consultation business at a rapid pace during the first couple of years itself.

4. Use content marketing to your advantage

Content marketing is one of the most lucrative marketing methods which you can try to gain new clients for your consulting company. It will allow you to showcase your knowledge and industry experience online. As a result, you will have higher chances of gaining leads which you can later convert into paying clients.

The best thing about content marketing is that you can easily find blogs, authority sites, and influencers in the area in which you have experience. It will allow you to tap into the targeted audience to spread the word out about your consulting company.

5. Use the power of networking

Up until now, the ideas which we have covered above focused mainly on online and digital marketing.

“If you want to spread the word out about your consulting company and gain more clients, you need to indulge in off-line networking as well,” said Issa Asad. There are some ways to do so, which include:

1. Attend industry conferences.
2. Pay attention to previous industry exhibitions.
3. Ask for reviews and references from your current clients.

The above 3 steps will allow you to reach out to prospective clients and harness the power of networking to gain more clients for your consulting business. It will enable you to build a flourishing consulting company.

So, instead of just building up your business expertise, it is now time to monitor the same as well by starting a consulting company. Using Issa Asad’s above guide, you can not only kick start your consulting company but also make it flourish as well. Since you already have expertise in the vertical or industry in which you are in, the difficult task of gaining knowledge is already done. Now is the time to enjoy the fruits of your labor by starting a consulting business.