I finally figured it out now how do I make it a reality?

amother

Sun, Dec 16 2012, 4:29 am

I have posted here a few times, looking for ideas for a job and I kept getting advice to find my niche and then make something of it, either a career or a business.

After many long discussions with DH and a few with a relative who is a life coach, it has become clear. I am excellent at problem solving, listening, trouble shooting, clarifying issues and empowering people. I should be what they call a consultant. I briefly looked into life coaching but a)it is a flooded field b)it involves a lot of listening and psychology and personal issues and I want to help businesses or institutions maximize their potential c)it's hard to actually make money with it (also an issue with consultants).

I see that this is an ideal field for me because it uses my talents 100%, it allows for a flexible schedule, it has a small investment or start up costs. I am prepared to do what it takes to make it happen.

The question is - what do I need to do to make it happen? I have no official experience in the field and no degree of any sort. I have years of teaching experience but the after school work, preparation, and burn out have gotten to me and after 4 years of leave from the work force I am ready to go back into it. I know that I have used consulting in my teaching, I see how the skills are similar but on a resume or whatever it doesn't match officially. Do I need to go to school for this? What would I need to study? How would I gain experience or whatever I need? I don't know much about business per se but I can listen to people or watch them work and trouble shoot impressively and find practical solutions to these problems. I am confident in my abilities but I have no idea what the next step is or how to get people to believe in me.

Also does one go into specific consulting fields? I had a brief thought to be an educational consultant but I think that frum schools are so much about hashkafa and politics that it would be hard to help. Also there are so many chinuch experts out there that it would be hard to be the one. Also can our schools afford to hire outside objective help or do they just hold meetings between themselves to figure things out? And lastly, that would mean that I would need to be constantly on top of the new techniques and teaching methods in order to advise appropriately. I'm not sure that is worth the continuous investment of time.

OK, that's all.

Any thoughts? Advice?

amother

Sun, Dec 16 2012, 5:12 am

Culturedpearls wrote:

I'm in business & I would only shell out money (and have) to someone who actually ran a business themselves , started from nothing & built it up.
I'd recommend you do just that. Once you have a proven track record & maybe a marketing/business degree then you are a more lucrative product.
Teaching is not like running a business.

Wow, that was encouraging. I did not say that teaching was like a business, I said that I have had to use troubleshooting and pinpointing problems and solutions etc in those years of experience. I know that people would ask me if I had any experience so I answered that question in my OP.
I feel slighted by your attitude. I don't want to run a business of selling products, I want to sell my services so to speak, and I believe I have a lot to offer perhaps mostly in the human resources, communications, and managerial departments and not so much in the business business aspect of it. I am not thinking about going into a company and teaching them to redo their finances and help them make more money off each business deal or transaction, I want to help them run their business more efficiently and effectively. I am willing to put in time, money and effort for this but I am asking for practical guidance. HOW?
I have no desire to run a business, I have the desire and talent to consult. Taking the many years to build up a business and investing the capital in one is not something I am willing to do. I really think that is is 2 different things. Do people only see therapists who have been through abuse or depression themselves? Again I am willing to take the steps to make this work but starting up a business is not the route I am looking to go.
If I am seeking the impossible so tell me.

Culturedpearls

Sun, Dec 16 2012, 5:22 am

amother wrote:

Culturedpearls wrote:

I'm speaking from a business perspective. You could be amazing but you will have a hard time convincing any business owner to use your services without actual business experience.
I do not mean to slight you & maybe others running business will have a different take.
But from my experience business owners will want to see past business experience & a proven successful business record.

freidasima

Sun, Dec 16 2012, 5:29 am

why would anyone pay for your services? Do you have a track record? Do you have proof that you have succeeded in a business and not only a home environment? Do you have professional training and recommendations both from your teachers and from clients that you worked with while doing an internship? Lots of women think that because they give good advice to friends and the like that they are natural "whatevers".

They usually are not. It is a rare person who is so good at these things "naturally" and without any professional training courses that they can succeed professionally and financially at these things.

My advice is to take a professional training course, do an internship with someone working in the field, for free even or for a very low wage, in order to get the experience and then to try and branch out and get your own clients.

That way you can show them 1) a professional degree course 2) experience and success 3) recommendations and 4) a mentor who might be willing to help you (one of your teachers, someone from the internship).

That's how it is usually done. If you really do have the knack for it, it will come out during your studies and internship. Better to devote a year to the preparations and then have success rather than just jumping in with no preparations other than your gut feeling that you are good and a few friends and family who are cheering you on.

shalhevet

Sun, Dec 16 2012, 5:31 am

This is my personal opinion FWIW:

Consulting/ advising/ coaching is basically in two general fields: one is medical/ emotional/ psychological/ marital etc. I would only go to someone who is highly qualified in that field - eg. if I wanted dieting advice, I'd go to a qualified dietician, not someone who'd taken a coaching course, if I needed psychological help, I'd go to a qualified psychologist or counsellor, not someone who'd taken a quicky course etc.

The other is for specific skills e.g. advice setting up a business, advice organizing an office, time management, investment advice etc. - for that, like CP said, I'd only pay someone with extensive experience in that field themselves.

The life coaching or similar courses are ten a penny (at least in Israel). IMHO they are only valuable in conjunction and as added value with something else - e.g. a qualified dietician may be able to use life coaching to help someone succeed at dieting.

imasinger

Sun, Dec 16 2012, 7:38 am

I agree with everyone else. A consultant is usually someone with years of experience and a track record of expertise. You have to be able to convince strangers that you have something to offer them.

With your skill set, I wonder if you might want to consider fund raising. You can find places to intern and see if you like it. People may be more willing to hire someone who has a good recent track record even if they don't have an advanced degree or years of experience.

For a less lucrative choice, private tutoring gives you more control of your hours and is based in your field.

If you haven't yet spent time evaluating these results with a really good career counselor, I would highly recommend it. It isn't too expensive to meet once or twice, considering what you can gain in salary in the right field.

asm712

Sun, Dec 16 2012, 10:40 am

I agree with all the posters above. To be viable as a consultant you must have some first hand experience - something that you bring to the table other than your personal skills.

If this is the field of your dreams there are ways to pursue it. There are many organizations that support small businesses - helping them figure out business plans, offering coaching, etc. In Israel, one such organization is MATI. I know the OU offers similar services as do many chambers of commerce. This is where you should look for a job so you can get some official training and hands on experience. You can also offer your services pro-bono to small business owners or charity organizations to help them grow their business and income. Once you have a roster of satisfied clients and testimonials, you will be able to prove your value and take on paying clients.

Good luck!

ewa-jo

Sun, Dec 16 2012, 11:50 am

I will have to agree with what everyone else said... you will need credentials and/or experience before you can convince someone to pay you money for your advice.

If you have contacts in the business world (or maybe if you're one of those outgoing can-sell-ice-to-eskimos people) then I would suggest that you approach organizations or business people and offer them several hours of your services for FREE and then if they are happy with you, they could continue the relationship and pay you $x/hour. If you can offer some valuable advice or insights, then people won't care if you have some certificate or degree or whatnot, but you have to get your foot in the door somehow.

I just don't think someone would be willing to take a risk on such an unknown, that's all.

Last edited by ewa-jo on Sun, Dec 16 2012, 12:05 pm; edited 1 time in total

TranquilityAndPeace

Sun, Dec 16 2012, 12:43 pm

amother wrote:

I have no desire to run a business, I have the desire and talent to consult. Taking the many years to build up a business and investing the capital in one is not something I am willing to do.

That attitude will kill your dreams before you even get started.

There are few self-employed professions (maybe none?) these days where marketing oneself and one's business is not required. New dentists, lawyers, everyone, have to pound the pavement to build up a successful reputation, which takes years. Unless you go the route of taking a job in an already established firm, where your earning power will be much less than if you'd be in business for yourself.

I taught marketing to a class of life coaches. They were all pretty surprised regarding how much work marketing entails. They were under the naive impression that once they graduated and placed a few ads in publications, clients would flock to their doorstep.

IOW, having the skills to pursue your dream is just one piece of the puzzle that leads to success.

amother

Sun, Dec 16 2012, 1:24 pm

op

Thanks for all your advice and opinions. I will try and separate my feelings from the facts you are all presenting. I appreciate that you are being realistic with me and I appreciate even more the positive and kind way some of you chose to spell it out for me.

It's hard. What can I say? I'm trying to increase our income. I was brought up with a distorted view of reality, went into a field that was acceptable and now a few kids later and with the realization that the grind of teaching is not for me, I want to try another field.

I come on here and discuss my desire to make my life and my family's better and everyone shouts get a job, assess your talents and go for it. I get this huge push to push myself, that I can go back to school if need be, I can take risks and make this work for my family's future. I thought about it for so long. I thought through and talked through what my talents are, what skills I have, what experience I have and what is it that people have been telling me to that I am good at and should make a career out of. I figured it out. I know what I want to do. I'm not here saying what is the quickest way to make a few bucks, I'm not asking for a 2 year college program doing just anything because I want to make some money. I want to this right for me and for my family.

Do I know if I'll be successful at it long term? no. Am I nervous about all of it? Heck yes! I need support and the practical steps on how to make this work. I cannot be experienced without getting experience.

Can you help?

amother

Sun, Dec 16 2012, 2:00 pm

TranquilityAndPeace wrote:

amother wrote:

I have no desire to run a business, I have the desire and talent to consult. Taking the many years to build up a business and investing the capital in one is not something I am willing to do.

That was not me saying that I wasn't willing to work on marketing myself or doing what it takes to give this the best chance of working. You were quoting my response to whomever was telling me that first I shoukd go into business for x amount of years and then once I am successful I can start consulting. I was explaining that I don't want to start a business stam, I have thought of going that route but I chose not to sell things. I want to go into the business of selling me services and I have been asking for advice on how to practically build a consulting business up.

I am not in dreamland I will do what it takes. But I am not 25 years old and I really don't want to invest time and capital in doing something that I don't want to in order to 10 years down the line be able to consult.

I an looking for support and advice.

TranquilityAndPeace

Sun, Dec 16 2012, 2:23 pm

You can get a degree in marketing; that will help you get started.

You can volunteer your time for non-profits and build up a reputation in that manner.

You definitely want to "niche down" your specialty -- being all things for all businesses will get you nowhere fast. It's like "he who chases two rabbits catches none." Are you a consultant for schools, charities, new businesses, etc???

To backtrack a bit, OP, before you go on any of these routes, have you done any business consulting in a formal sense? If I were you, I'd want to have a number of successful projects with positive feedback under my belt before I attempt to build up this venture. In that way, I'd know that I can 'deliver the goods' and not be surprised by how my dreams manifest themselves in real life... which is often very different than how you imagined your dreams to turn out.

I'm in full agreement with most of the posters above- you need to have experience before anyone will hire you for your expertise in any given area. Most people get that experience by working for themselves or a company in said field.

I do some consulting through my site http://OnlineGelt.com, and my clients pay me $147/hour because I have a proven track record of doing well in online marketing. If I had started offering consulting services before I had built up my successful portfolio of websites, then, 1) I would not have been able to offer 1/10 as valuable advice, since I would not have had firsthand experience, and 2) I probably would not have attracted 90%+ of my clients, because I wouldn't have had the track record to prove to them that I know my stuff and can help them be successful in this area.

Dolly Welsh

Sun, Dec 16 2012, 3:07 pm

What about starting your own in-home daycare center? You could look online about state requirements. You could think about needed alterations to your space and how much that would cost. You could pose as a customer and find out what people are paying for that, and what the various hours, requirements, are.

Child care is a basic human need sometimes. Success advice is certainly useful but not as bone-crushingly necessary. You want to sell people something they absolutely cannot do without, not something they could surely use, but, can in fact do without.

Yes, ANYTHING you do for money IS a business and you have to think that way. You will need to keep records. You will need some software. I am not sure what. Ask and ask and google and google.

If you do child care, don't just take anybody. Investigate the people thoroughly online before getting involved. You only want responsible customers who pay on time and come for the child on time, and, who have raised a normal child.

There are insurance issues. You would need a medical back up if needed, somebody to call.

There might be courses in how to do this.

There might be a number of children you could care for below which the regulations did not kick in. I know nothing about this, just suggesting.

amother

Sun, Dec 16 2012, 4:31 pm

I am so glad to hear that you have found something you are good at and enjoy! Thats incredible! Great problem solvers do make great consultants and consulting is a very interesting field. However, with that said, how much do you know about consulting? Is there someone you can speak with?

Many people use the word "consultant" interchangeably with "freelance" because calling someone a consultant is a nice way of saying that you use their services but you pay them by the hour or by the project, rather than on salary with benefits.

The kind of consulting you are talking about has many different areas and you would most likely work for a consulting firm and then either continue with that or start you own business. Its very hard to start your own business no matter what, but especially if you havent worked anywhere, dont have any credentials and have not build up a client base. No one will hire you.

Now that we have covered that, start thinking about what kind of consulting interests you-some ideas: 1) Management 2) Tech 3) Finance 4) Org Behavior/Human Capital/HR/Benefits 5)Marketing 6) Strategy 7) Healthcare .... and the list goes on. Consulting is a cost center for whatever the business is, so you will not just be a general consultant, but rather a consultant that is an expert in a specific area.

Now, how to get there? 1) You need a bachelors, preferably something that is a little quantitative (Econ, Math, Finance, Accounting etc..) Or in the field you want to go into (Org Behavior/IO Psych, Computer Science, Marketing ect...)

With a BA you may be able to get a job in consulting - a lot will depend on where you do your BA. It you go to Raizel Rite (SP?) no way, Touro or Brooklyn College - possible but hard-but you could get another kind of job to hep you get into consulting or that could lead to an internal consulting position, if you go to NYU/Columbia and do something quantitative very likely but you will still need to work very hard and get great grades. Consulting is one of the most in demand fields. Consultants can make a lot of money so its extremely competitive.

The problem with the big companies is that they are very into "Brand Name Schools" any of the top consulting firms want harvard/yale/columbia/Duke/northwestern/university of chicago/Penn/Cornell (etc) students. A firend of mine with top grades at brooklyn college could not even be considered for consulting with a 4.0 because brooklyn college is not a brand name school. After 2 years of working she may be able to break into it or else she will need to get another degree.

Another consideration -is do you actually know any consultants? This is not an easy job. Its extremely demanding. A friend of mine is a strategy consultant and she is often gone from home sunday through thursday in another state or country. This is the standard life of a consultant at a big consulting firm. Now if you work for a smaller company it will still be demanding, but most likely it will have a more local presence so the travel wont be as killer. I for one had an offer in consulting but just turned it down for a finance position because it meant I would be traveling Sunday through thursday, coming home for shabbos and then leaving again. Other areas of consulting aren't as bad, like marketing. There is travel involved but a lot of the bigger companies make it possible to work from your main office. You may get passed over for some promotions but its definitely doable. Marketing consulting is also a much easier field to get a job in then strategy/management/ or finance consultant.

You can definitely do it if you put your mind to it. Just do a little more research to find out what consulting is. Understand this is not going to be easy and talk to as many people as possible who are doing what you are interested in doing to find out how they got there.

*** This is coming from a very business perspective. I am in a graduate program that is completely geared towards finance and consulting so I know a lot about the field. I hope I didn't "type" your ear off Smile

JollyMommy

Sun, Dec 23 2012, 12:21 pm

When you are very good at your job/business and make a little effort to network people will naturally seek out your advice. After a while as your reputation grows you can start charging money for it using those you've helped as references. Get on LinkedIn and make some connections.

and you have to narrow down your skillset and get a few years in a field that you do well in. really, I have a similar personality to you and after teaching for a years people started to seek me out. I officially am a SAHM down but I get many calls to work on projects and do take on a couple a year. if I wanted it to be my full time job then I would advertise and network all the time. also, business wise DH bH gets many calls on what to do and how to start a business and if he was the type he could do it professionally, but he'd rather actually run his business.

so, find your skill, perform for a few amazing years, then seek consulting.

it's very hard for many to figure out what they want to do. when you have to pick your degree track at 18 years old it's hard to know what you'll be like when you are done in 5 years and even more so once you are in the field. that's why so many people I know get a different degree in their 30s and 40s. self knowledge increases as years go on.