The Big Six Decisions
Don't expect instant results, but you should be able to spot signals along the journey that you're on the right path.
Hi, I’m Rich. Welcome to my weekly newsletter, where I share systems and frameworks for scaling your consulting practice from $0 to $1m+ in revenue.
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Recently, someone sent me this message about their consulting career.
I am going to be taking an indefinite break from this venture. I haven’t really seen the level of indication from the market that there is sufficient demand for this niche.
My instant reaction was this:
No, of course you’re not going to see sufficient demand yet. You’ve only undertaken a small number of research calls and a tiny amount of research. That was never going to happen!
But there are three key misunderstandings about success in consulting here:
YOU generate the demand. There will never be a situation where there is a surplus of clients struggling to find consultants. Those kinds of unearthed niches don’t exist. It’s up to you to identify the problem and develop unique ways to solve it. Then you have to promote those unique solutions to generate the demand.
Generating demand takes time. The work I do today might pay off in 6 to 12 months. It takes time to build a reputation, establish trust, attract the first few clients, and get going. Quick-hit wins simply aren’t going to achieve that. The vast majority of people give up too soon - which is great - because it clears the path for the most committed of you.
Prospects are terrible at explaining if they would hire you. The people you speak to in the research phase are fantastic at articulating their problems, but pretty bad at articulating the solutions or whether they would buy the solution. Most people don’t know whether they would hire a consultant until they stumble across one whose work and writing they really admire.
I can’t stress enough that the odds of you getting things right the first time are minuscule.
The odds of you getting things right over time are a lot, lot, higher.
Take a look at the major decisions you have to make.
This includes:
What niche should you serve?
What problems will you solve?
What service will you offer to solve those problems?
What to charge for that service?
Which client acquisition process to use?
What messaging to use to attract clients?
Even if you give yourself an insane 90% odds on getting each of the above right the first time(!), your odds of success are still around 50% (0.9^6).
The more research you do, the more you increase those odds. But, fundamentally, success comes from iterations. You test, get market feedback, and adjust. Test, get feedback, and adapt.
1. Have You Selected The Right Niche?
There are some indicators that you’ve chosen a viable niche:
You can easily find 50–200 organisations that fit your criteria (industry, size, problem environment).
There is already spending behaviour around the problem (tools, consultants, internal hires, agencies).
You can identify specific job titles who feel the pain (not “anyone in operations”).
People in the niche cluster (events, Slack groups, associations, conferences).
You can consistently book research calls without heroic effort (this is by far the most important).
Suppose you’re seeing a combination of the above, especially the last one. In that case, you have probably, at the very least, found the goldilocks niche you can serve (not too big it attracts the major consultancies, but not too small it can’t support a handful of good consultants).
You can zero in more as time goes by, but this niche is enough to get started with for now.
I can’t stress enough, though, that you should only change your niche as a last resort. Changing the niche is essentially starting from scratch. You leave all your past connections behind. It’s not a decision you want to make lightly.
2. What problems will you solve?
Indicators that your chosen problems are real and painful:
One of the biggest challenges is ensuring you’re solving the right problems. Some signs that you’re solving the right problem include:
Prospects spontaneously mention the problem without you prompting.
They use emotionally charged language (“we’re drowning…”, “it’s a disaster…”, “we lose weeks because of this…”).
They can describe how they currently attempt to solve it (which means they see it as real).
They can quantify the problem in time lost, cost, or opportunity cost.
The same problem appears across many interviews (pattern repetition).
While it is possible to raise awareness of unseen problems, it’s often much easier to solve existing ones.
Again, you shouldn’t change the problem you solve unless you really have to. Solving a particular kind of problem is what you will be known for.
3. What service will you offer to solve those problems?
This is the place where the service is the ultimate proof of success. But sometimes it’s hard to distinguish between a service which doesn’t sell well because it’s the wrong service or because it’s the wrong price or hasn’t been poorly marketed etc…
You will usually iterate more at this point than at any other time. However, there are some signs your service might be resonating. These includes:
When you describe the service, prospects ask clarifying questions, not polite “okay cool.”
People naturally say “How would that work?”, “Could you do that for us?”, or “What would something like that cost?”
The service is concrete and different, not generic (e.g., “AI Readiness Audit” vs. “strategy consulting”).
You can outline a repeatable, step-by-step process (proof you can deliver it).
You can name 3–5 proof points or precedents (case studies, comparable offerings).
4. What to charge for that service?
Pricing falls into the fast iteration batch. You should be able to test and get feedback on your pricing quickly.
Indicators you’re in the right pricing range:
No one says it’s “too cheap.”
Some proportion (20–40%) push back on price but still stay in the conversation.
You can explain the value in a way that feels plausible even to you (ROI, risk reduction, acceleration).
Your pricing matches industry benchmarks for similar services.
You can deliver the service profitably without resentment.
A significant challenge here is not overreacting to tiny sample sizes (i.e. if one person says your service is too expensive).
If you go through the sales process properly, you should be able to get an early read on whether the pricing makes sense.
Logically, this belongs here. But in practice, you won’t be able to tackle the process until you’ve been able to attract clients to you.
5. Which client acquisition process to use?
Now we get into the process of attracting clients. It’s going to be tricky here separating the medium from the message. But there are some signals you can rely on to guide if you’re on the right track or not. These include:
You can perform the acquisition tasks consistently every week without dread.
You are getting measurable leading indicators (not clients yet, but: replies, DMs, invitations, conversations, followers, speaking requests).
Your content or outreach produces inbound questions, even small ones.
You can run the process for 90–180 days and see visible improvement.
You don’t rely on luck; the process is under your control.
A big part of selecting the right medium is one that you enjoy and can deploy consistently. You might not get instant results yet (that’s a messaging problem), but you should feel you’re enjoying and getting better at the medium.
6. What messaging to use to attract clients?
The messaging (perhaps along with pricing) is the easiest thing to shift and adjust. But you should thoroughly test your marketing campaigns and observe the results. There are some signs you should be looking out for:
People repeat your phrasing back to you (“I remember you saying X…”).
You see saves, forwards, and replies on content instead of passive likes.
Prospects say, “This is exactly what we’re dealing with.”
Your positioning creates contrast with alternatives (not interchangeable with other consultants).
People explain your niche accurately to others without your help.
New leads come in with messages like “I think we need exactly what you do.”
One thing to avoid here is audience capture. Just because you’re getting a lot of engagement doesn’t necessarily mean the messaging is right. You can get a lot of engagement by saying silly or controversial things, which reduces your likelihood of attracting clients.
Summary
Finding success in consulting is a little like finding your way out of a maze. You often have to go down a few dead ends to get to the right destination.
The ultimate indicator of success, obviously, is attracting high-quality clients. But there are some signals along the way that you might be on the right track.
Good luck!
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