Have you ever considered being a virtual consultant? Do you like the idea of starting a virtual consulting business?
Okay, maybe you’re not sure what virtual consulting is. We will eventually get to that. But do you like the idea of working remotely and at your own pace? Would you rather be your own boss rather than answering to people? And most importantly, will you like to increase your earnings while doing less work?
Okay, enough of the questions. If you said yes to any of that, then you want to be a virtual consultant (you just may not realize it yet).
So, let’s see what it means to be a virtual consultant.
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Who is a Virtual Consultant?
A virtual consultant is you when you decide to make money from selling your expertise via 1-on-1 consulting over the internet. Your job as a virtual consultant has nothing to do with location, time and money.
All you do is stay in the comfort of your home (or co-working space if you like) and respond to clients based on appointment and schedule. Better still, you can do your work when travelling or on vacation without feeling as much as you’re working.
What you consult in as a virtual consultant varies from person to person, depending on skills and experience. Hence, one of the first steps to starting a virtual consulting job is to ask – what am I good at? More details on that shortly.
You work as a language coach, graphic designer, software trainer, social media expert, personal trainer, language coach or nutrition experts virtual consultant. The list is inexhaustible.
Virtual consulting is a form of entrepreneurship, and you should run it like a business.
Benefits of Virtual Consulting Business
There are several benefits of working as a virtual consultant. However, the most prominent and exciting benefit is the fact that you are more efficient with your time.
This can be further broken down as follows:
- You eliminate wasted time commuting
If you have to resume at an office every day, you know how much of your time that gets wasted. The “virtual” in this consulting means you can work from anywhere and don’t have to bother about traffic. Lagos residents in Nigeria will sure love this considering the traffic jam experienced on the road daily.
- Clients get more value for their money, so they will keep coming back
As a virtual consultant, you are more efficient with your time having gotten rid of the time wasted on the road. Hence, clients ultimately get results and value from your service. They are happy and will make you happy too by coming back. Win-win for everyone.
- You can do more and earn more
Working as a virtual consultant gives you the flexibility to take on as many jobs as you have time for. This may not be easy if you are somebody’s employee.
This flexibility that comes with this line of career can help you make more money, save more and generally improve your life.
- Work when you want, with whoever you want
This is a practical demonstration of having your own life in your hands. Working as an employee with an organization means you don’t get to choose your colleagues and clients. You work with whoever the company assigns with you.
In this case, however, you decide who to work with and when you want.
And location has nothing on you. You can be in Nigeria and have clients in Canada or Finland.
So, you want to start a Virtual Consulting business?
How to Start a Virtual Consulting Business
Navigating your way through this business may not be easy, especially for a starter. People will have to trust you first before deciding to work with you.
But not to worry, this guide will help you get started and find your feet as a virtual consultant. Without further ado, here is how to create a virtual consulting business
- Explore and test an Idea
What problem can you solve for people? What can you effortlessly teach? These are the questions to get you started in your journey to becoming a consultant (virtual or not).
Begin by taking a close look at your current skills set and identify the one with this balance – you enjoy + there is a high demand for it.
You need to enjoy it so work can be fun. Imagine getting paid for doing what you enjoy doing. Cool right?
There should also be demand for it as that’s the only way you can remain in business.
The summary here is the same as with starting most businesses – seek to solve problems and make sure you have fun while at it.
After identifying the skill, next is to start getting opinions of individuals and businesses who may need your service to see if they won’t mind paying for it.
- Put yourself out there
Yes, it’s remote work. But no one will come to look for you in your room.
Put yourself out there but begin with the people closest to you. Your friends and contacts should know what you do. It will be easier to get jobs from people that already know you than from total strangers.
And you build your portfolio from the jobs you get from friends and associates to get even more jobs from outsiders.
How you go about promoting yourself to the public may differ, depending on the services you offer and where you can find your target audience online.
For some, it can be on social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Others may have to resort to freelancing platforms such as Fiverr and Upwork. And the bigger consultants create their websites and run paid ads for visibility.
- Offer high value with low risk
Offering high value means you would convince the potential client that your service will help solve their needs beyond expectation. But well, those are just words. They may still be reluctant to work with you.
That’s why you have the next move, which is giving them low risk. This is usually in the form of financial commitment. Some go as far as providing the complete service and only get paid when the client gets the desired result.
Another way to do this is to provide convincing guarantee and after-sales support. In other words, even after you have delivered a project, the client should still have free access to you in case any issue arises.
- Deliver
Now you have the job; it’s time to provide the excellent service you promised.
Note that the way you deliver your service depends on the industry and the type of agreement you have with the client. What matters, however, is to deliver.
As you work with clients, there are some rules you should not forget
1. Keep communication going
Always furnish your clients with information on updates and all they need to know. They should never be in the dark or have to ask before getting the information they need.
This also helps you to maintain the needed momentum so you can deliver the project on time.
2. Make the client happy, whatever it takes
Nothing else should matter to you than having happy clients. They will not just keep coming back; they will also bring their friends along. That’s why you should be ready to go the extra mile just so your clients can be happy.
3. Make everybody’s life easy
Make your life and that of your clients easy while the job is ongoing. Take advantage of various tools that will make workflow and communication easy for both parties.
For booking phone calls, tools like Calendly can come in handy, instead of doing back and forth on mail.
Google Doc will help make provision of live updates possible.
And Zapier will be useful in the automation of processes.
These are just some of the tools that will make your life and that of your client easy while the job is ongoing. Please take advantage of them.
Conclusion
So, there you have the blueprint to starting a virtual consulting business.
As with most businesses, it’s only challenging when starting out. However, from the moment you get your first client, it starts getting easier.
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