Consulting 101: So You Want to Be a Consultant?

By: Professor Allison Friederichs Atkison, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Professor Allison Friederichs Atkison

Length: 5 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

Thinking of starting a consulting business? Knowing how to craft an effective business plan is the first step. What’s next? Finding clients and knowing how much to charge. Plus, the consultancy must be properly marketed. And don’t forget other aspects of consulting, from answering an RFP to knowing when to walk away from a problem client. This business course from The Teaching Company and lecturer Dr. Allison Friederichs delivers all this and more.

There’s a lot to think about and plan when it comes to being a consultant. In building her own successful consulting business, and in her teaching career, Dr. Allison Friederichs has learned many lessons and best practices—sometimes the hard way. In these 10 lectures, she’ll help spare listeners that trial-and-error anxiety and instead provide the essential tools and strategies required to start a successful independent consultancy.

Consulting 101: So You Want to Be a Consultant? guides listeners step by step through the process of turning dreams of consulting into a reality. Listeners will:

• Develop a solid understanding of what key differentiators are and what services to provide
• Learn how to connect past work experience and expertise to clients through communication and brand development
• Discover what it takes to find a great consulting gig, to rock it, and to learn from any mistakes that might happen along the way
• Tap into powerful tools and solid tips to ensure a win-win through the use of rewarding exercises and activities that can be easily modified to a particular industry.

Get ready to share learned skills and experience with the world…and get paid! Listeners will be fully prepared to launch their consultancy after taking this course.

©2020 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2020 Audible Originals, LLC.

Very helpful!

The step by step process of each chapter is so helpful. I listened to the full book and I’m now going back to do chapter by chapter note taking.

Thank you!

A Keeper!

I thoroughly enjoyed this primer on launching a consulting business. It is filled with invaluable pieces of information, and I’ll definitely be revisiting the chapters for steps and tips.

Now I might want to become a Consultant

I started listening to this book after audible automatically recommended and started playing it. Although it has never crossed my mind to look for this book I found it very enlightening and stuck to it till the end. Many parts could just be included into a book titled "How to be a better Professional/Person".

Great starting point

I really like the format of this book, and the way the author put everything into perspective. It's true sometimes you have a great idea in mind but you also have to be very realistic. She goes through and outlines all the steps one by one to make sure consulting is going to be a great fit for you, how to structure, feedback, client presentations everything. It really does give you a lot of food for thought. Was a great audible to listen to!

Covers all the Basics to be a Consultant

Some of the advice may seem basic. But if you're considering to be a consultant and don't know anyone who has done this, you'll need all the detailed step-by-step guidance on starting a consulting business. The author also provides good examples of how things can go wrong and explains why it is important to do your due diligence. A good example was when a client told her that they had audio/video capability and she could do team exercises with the participants. It turned out the equipment projected poorly against a wall. The windows along another wall and the small room meant there was not enough space to put up large post-it paper nor have discussions and be heard by the other team members.

Thorough advice from a Pro

Consulting 101 covers all the basics and then some! I have 10 years of consulting experience with thousands of clients and I learned several new tips and tricks which I’m certain will help me raise my performance level a notch or two. Highly recommended this book to anyone who works with people even if not as a consultant.

awesome chapter 1 notes

Cons for working for yourself: That's no steady paycheck it comes in waves. You do all the work and all the responsibility falls on you. All the complaints fall on you. This is if you work for yourself.

There are no company perks because you work for yourself. You have to commit to your work. It is like a marriage.

Think about what is your area of expertise in order to start a consulting firm

You need to define a niche, what do you have experience being successful at? What do you love to do?

What does the market tell you. What challenges do others have that you can help them solve? What can you offer your clients that nobody else can.?Find a field, seek resources in library.

Personal trainers , life coaches,

You need goals, if not your don't have a road map.

Examples of goals, how many clients? Would you like to have in the first year? How much revenue would you be wanting to make in 5 years? Would you like to seek full-time consulting? What type of clients are you looking for?
Create an action plan baby steps.
Like a To do lists.
Plan for obstacles, plan ahead.

Good start for those wanting to be consultants

Although it's hard to imagine that 5 hours is enough time to tell people what they need to know, this really seems geared at giving people a variety of solid tips for starting a consulting practice and getting corporate clients. It touches on networking, public speaking, professional dress, accounting, websites, business names and more. Best of all, it's created by someone that has consulting experience herself. I think for anyone wanting to offer consulting services to businesses, it would be good for them to go through this before getting further along.

High Recommend for New and Seasoned Consults

This book is definitely a page turner. When I started reading it, I did not want to stop. Each day I was ready to read more. It is written clear so that the average person can easily understand and be successful.

For the Aspiring Consultant!

This course is for you if you are just starting to explore the ins and outs of becoming a consultant. I found it particularly valuable as a discernment tool to examine my own motivations and skill sets and gauge my willingness to put forth the amount of effort necessary to be successful. Her advice is practical and straightforward, and she includes interactive exercises that help with self-exploration. Additionally, Dr. Friederichs provides just the right amount of guidance and prompting to begin working out the kinks in your planning process. Consulting can be a rewarding career, but it isn’t for everyone. This course gave me several opportunities along the way to consider consultancy in the context of my own goals and interests.

Overall, I feel this is a very valuable offering for those who are considering a consulting career. Experience is the best teacher, but it certainly helps to have a solid foundation upon which to grow. Dr. Friederichs provides that foundation so the learning curve isn’t quite so steep.

Finally, Dr. Friederichs is a born educator, and this comes through in her communication style. She is engaging and upbeat, which served to inspire me to take an honest look at what this field looks like for me. I highly recommend it!