Consulting Business

16 Tips For Starting A Successful Consulting Business (2024)

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Updated: January 19th, 2023

Want to start your own consulting business? Here are some tips you should know:

Learn more about starting a consulting business:

Where to start?

-> Consulting business plan
-> How to finance a consulting business?
-> How much does it cost to start a consulting business?
-> Pros and cons of a consulting business

Need inspiration?

-> Other consulting business success stories
-> Marketing ideas for a consulting business
-> Consulting business names

Other resources

-> Profitability of a consulting business

We've interviewed thousands of successful founders at Starter Story and asked what advice they would give to entrepreneurs who are just getting started.

Here's the best advice we discovered for starting a consulting business:

#1: Paul Minors, founder of Minor Workshop:

We chatted with with Paul, founder of Minor Workshop ($120K/month). In our interview, Paul says:

I can’t tell you how much time was wasted on styling buttons and email opt-in forms. But these things really don’t matter.

Additionally:

Get to revenue, fast! The fastest way to validate your idea is to convince people to pay you money for your product or service.

Read the full interview ➜

#2: Liz Illg, founder of Legendary Ideas Group:

We chatted with with Liz, founder of Legendary Ideas Group ($0/month). In our interview, Liz says:

Industries change. Times are constantly changing. Relationships, if built regularly, can last forever!

Additionally:

Delegating is everything. As a business owner, you can’t do it all on your own. When you rely on your business genius and abilities, you can only go so far.

Read the full interview ➜

#3: Michael Zipursky, founder of Consulting Success:

We chatted with with Michael, founder of Consulting Success ($240K/month). In our interview, Michael says:

By sharing content, we built an audience. And that audience wanted more help.

Additionally:

We’ve made the mistake of investing tens of thousands of dollars in an idea before asking if the market wants it.

Further:

Partnership has also been a big part of our success. No matter what type of business you’re in, cultivating relationships is important.

Read the full interview ➜

#4: Akhil Suresh Nair, founder of Xena Intelligence:

We chatted with with Akhil, founder of Xena Intelligence ($25K/month). In our interview, Akhil says:

We were at a crossroads at that time – filled with constant self-doubt about the career path we wanted to take. We could have easily applied for corporate jobs in the US or in India, but we chose to follow our hearts by continuing to work in our consulting business.

Additionally:

One of the things that make me sad is when I see wonderful young entrepreneurs with brilliant ideas who don’t take steps to make that dream a reality out of fear of failure.

Read the full interview ➜

#5: Kalaboukis, founder of Think Future:

We chatted with with Kalaboukis, founder of Think Future ($293K/month). In our interview, Kalaboukis says:

Do the Disney thing of repackaging your content in as many different forms as you can - if you wrote a book, turn that into a lead magnet, and a series of videos, and an online course, and a video blog and a podcast, etc.

Read the full interview ➜

#6: Andrei Zinkevich, founder of Fullfunnel:

We chatted with with Andrei, founder of Fullfunnel ($50K/month). In our interview, Andrei says:

Forget about quick wins and focus on long-term results. Like in the gym (or football) you don’t see huge changes after one training, the same is in marketing. Growth hacks are like junk food, you get immediate satisfaction but destroy your health in the long term.

Additionally:

Focus on your niche. Your specialization and experience will be your core differentiator in the future.

Read the full interview ➜

#7: Michael Zipursky, founder of Consulting Success:

We chatted with with Michael, founder of Consulting Success ($240K/month). In our interview, Michael says:

The fastest way to grow your business is by investing in coaches or mentorship.

Read the full interview ➜

#8: Bradley Jacobs, founder of Mylance:

We chatted with with Bradley, founder of Mylance ($18K/month). In our interview, Bradley says:

Find a way to get started. Find a way to get that first-paying customer. You might not serve them the best. That’s okay.

Additionally:

Build the actual smallest, least sophisticated product you possibly can, get feedback, and build what you’re hearing from customers.

Read the full interview ➜

#9: David Arroyo, founder of DigitalCollars:

We chatted with with David, founder of DigitalCollars ($1.7K/month). In our interview, David says:

It’s incredible how easy it is to code nowadays with tools like ChatGPT or GitHub Copilot. It’s like having five employees way cleverer than me, giving me support 24/7.