As a professional, are you thinking of starting a consulting business after you retire in Nigeria? If so, you are in good company. People who retire from the military, teachers, and medical professionals form a large proportion of retirees who make this choice.
However, because of the low barrier to starting a consulting business, the industry is very competitive.
If you choose to start a consultancy, you have the advantage of your years of experience and qualifications. This advantage will help you get established quicker than other newbies in the industry.
You also have one major disadvantage, which is your lack of experience in the consulting industry.
Although many things make a consulting business succeed, I will discuss only three of them in this blog.
Table of content
- Choose an area of specialization for your consultancy.
- You have to learn the know-how of consulting.
- Learn how to market your consultancy business.
Choose an area of specialization for your consultancy.
If you choose to specialize in one area or a niche, you have a higher chance of succeeding as a consultant. A lot of people jump from sector to sector because of the few consulting jobs available in Nigeria. It does not turn out well because they become a jack of all trade and master of none.
Your choice may be security, education, or you may know a lot about getting something done with government agencies, e.g., NAFDAC. Then, you can set up a consultancy to help people solve that problem.
You should also increase your knowledge in your area of specialization by attending courses, reading books, and joining associations.
Recommended Reading: List of 52 businesses you can start for 2 million Naira or less when you retire in Nigeria.
Learn the know-how of consulting.
The second thing to note is that the consulting profession, like other professions, has its technical aspect. Although you have the qualifications and experience from paid employment, you still have to learn how to operate a consulting firm.
Things like approaching clients with confidence and how to start and complete consulting assignments are essential. When you were in service, you did not have to beg anyone to use your service. Now, you are the one now approaching them for jobs. 😊
The technical aspects of your consulting firm will include:
- Managing the firm. Managing a consulting business is quite different from your paid job. When you start the business, you are the human resources, marketing, and finance department all rolled into one. Therefore, it would help if you learned how to recruit staff and manage your money. You also have to learn how to write proposals, prepare and negotiate contracts. It would help if you also learned to set fees for consulting assignments.
- You Should also learn how to carry out consulting assignments. For example, when you get a job, you need to satisfy your client. Some of the skills you need to do this are data collection, decision-making, and developing action plans.
Other skills you need to are communication and leadership. Again, if you are lucky, you would have learned all this while you were in service. If you did not, you should look for courses for consultants. They may be a bit pricey, but they are usually worth it.
Learn how to market your consultancy business
The third thing to put in place is a system to advertise your services. When you were working for the government, people came to you for help. You did not have to advertise your ability to solve their problem.
It’s a different ball game now that you have your own business. There are many of you providing the same service. So, you have to look for people that need your assistance and advertise how you can help them.
To advertise your consulting service, you can:
- Maintain contact with your colleagues in your former office. It would help if you did so because some of the consulting jobs you will get will be from them.
- Use Social media ads. Look for where your potential and existing customers get their information from and put adverts for your business. One of the ways you can do this is through Facebook ads.
- You can also publish articles and white papers on your area of specialization. Essays and white papers in your area of specialization show people what you know on the topic and establish you as an expert.
- Joining professional associations will help you learn about current events and opportunities in your industry.
- Another way to sell yourself is to attend conferences related to your expertise. You will learn a lot from other experts and build new networks.
Recommended Reading: Top 3 benefits you get when you register your retirement business with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) in Nigeria.
Final thoughts
I still remember sitting in front of my department head a few years ago when he suggested becoming a consultant. I laughed so hard that I nearly fell out of the chair. Me? A lecturer? What do I know about consulting?
It’s ten years since we had that conversation, and It’s not an easy road. However, I have consulted on several international projects since that first conversation.
Since then, I have attended several courses and practiced what I shared in this article. My thoughts about consulting? It’s a learnable skill.
To succeed as a consultant, you have to be persistent. So don’t give up if things don’t go your way at first. Good luck.
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