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Writer's pictureHarshal

Insights In Top 3 Functions For Solo Consultants

Marketing, Sales, And Operational Insights From My Last 2 Year Trials

A Twilio ex-colleague and mentor recently asked about my takeaways from consulting.

Q: What are your top 2-3 insights from your solo consulting experience?

In 2024, I transitioned from solo marketing consulting to a startup Product Manager. Here are my insights on making a solo consulting business feasible—or determining if it's unlikely to succeed.

I spend 1 hour 39 minutes writing this blog. You need 3 minutes to read this.

Reflecting on business.
Reflecting on business.

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Challenges: What Was Missing In My Product-Market Fit?

Given my background, establishing a consulting business presented challenges.

My situation:

  1. 10 years of total experience,

  2. 4 years in a full-time PM, all in 1 company, 

  3. No people management roles,

  4. No senior roles across companies.

Uphill business challenge.
Uphill business challenge.

Many professionals advised me that these weren’t deal-breakers for consulting. I enjoyed my time as a consultant talking to dozens of businesses. However, I found the market generally values consultants with:

  1. 20+ years of experience

  2. People leadership (VP/Director roles)

  3. Demonstrated impact at 2+ companies

Businesses prefer consultants who have led significant projects, managed teams, and driven impact across multiple organizations.

Examples of successful consultant profiles:

  • Leadership in expanding 2 U.S.-based SaaS B2B companies into Europe, specifically in marketing or product roles.

  • Growth leadership at 2 B2B SaaS companies. The person is featured in podcasts/blogs or taught Growth courses.

  • Director of Product Management experience at 2 companies, contributing to recognizable products.

If you meet these criteria, the next sections share what you should prioritize in Sales, Marketing, and Operations.

Sales Insights

1 - Sales Pipeline and Referrals

Track pipeline metrics thoroughly and actively seek referrals. If you don’t to use a full CRM (Salesforce, Zoho, Hubspot), use a mini-CRM or spreadsheet to stay organized.

Track outreach:

  • How many people did you contact this week?

  • How many responded?

  • What were the outcomes?

  • How many action items from calls did you get? And complete?

  • How long does it take you for each outreach message?

2 - Track your action items

Create a process to manage referrals efficiently. For instance, if an ex-colleague suggests contacting B, C, and D, ensure you reach out to each person—even if some feel less relevant.

3 - Target Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

Define your ideal customer profile (ICP).

4 - Optimize Outreach Time and Quantity

Start with 20 minutes per message but aim to reduce it to 5 minutes.

If you’re not working on a current project, aim to connect with 2-3 ICP contacts daily, which may mean reaching out to 10-15 people weekly.

Marketing Insights

1 - Online Presence

How can clients find your case studies? Build your online presence. This helps you share your resources and case studies to demonstrate expertise to a prospective client. Use a Wix or Squarespace website or a blog platform like Substack or YouTube.

2 - LinkedIn posts

Stay top of mind with your network. Begin with a weekly 150-word post on LinkedIn.

Consider:

  • Which other social networks to post on publicly?

  • How frequently to post?

  • What content to share?

3 - Case Studies

To build a strong portfolio, consider starting with low-cost or pro-bono projects for case studies, which will help convert future prospects into clients. I wrote more here: Free Consulting Projects For “Exposure”.

Introspect your time to improve your business operations.
Introspect your time to improve your business operations.

Operational Insights

1 - Reflect on Client Questions

Note down questions from prospective clients or allies. Set aside time to review these and prepare your answers. Brainstorm responses with a friend, mentor, or AI assistant.

This helps refine your approach and prepares you for FAQs.

2 - Reflection Process

  • Step 1 - Note down questions from Zoom or coffee chats. Note down during or immediately after the conversation (Keep 30 mins buffer after meeting).

  • Step 2 - Review those questions when you send your thank you message.

  • Step 3 - Brainstorm responses.

3 - Write down your answers

For example, I wrote down answers to why I moved out of California or why I started consulting. This approach helps in creating an "objection-handling" document.

4 - Operational retrospection

Efficacy: Did I do my best to set clear goals today? 

OR What helped me prioritize the right tasks this week?

Efficiency: Did I do my best to make progress toward my goals today? 

OR What kept me focused and fast in completing my work?

For daily retrospection tips, see: Three Daily Journaling Experiments.

Macro Trend Insights

Speaking with other consultants revealed a shift – Companies are less willing to pay for product, marketing, engineering, or go-to-market consulting. Much of this shift is due to decreased funding, especially outside AI. More solo consultants are now considering returning to full-time roles after seeking consulting for flexibility.

See this post on consulting learnings for further insights on why people start consulting.

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