My field is Health Safety Environment and Quality. I plan on starting my own full time consulting business in the next 5 years and I would like to hear some feedback on your experiences and how you got started consulting in your field of expertise. Yes I have a degree, certifications in safety and quality such as the six sigma green belt, ISO 9001, OSHA and I'm working towards more credentials.
Does anyone do Consulting?
- Thread starter charliehustle99
- Start date
Hi,
I'm in the healthcare industry - on the administrative side. Prior, I was a management consultant for less than a year for a national firm. Our organization, amongst most healthcare organizations implment Lean methodoligues (Add value by decreasing inefficiencies).
With new legislation and a shift in focus from volumes to quality, I think you're in a priming stage for a potential great opportunity. Environment quality is paramount in the hosptial setting where the focus is on reducing nosocomial infections, a lot of this has to do with air transfer systems (and stuff that I know nothing about lol)
If I were you, I would find a consulting firm, work with it, learn the ins and outs and netowrk like a mad man. Two critical success factors for being a top gun consultant 1) relationship building skills and 2) Presentation ability, including personal presentation.
The most successful consulting companies I have come into contact with were started by individuals who were consultants for a firm themselves. Not people who just started up on their own (I am not saying you'll do this) Love him or hate him, but look at Mitt Romney. He was a consultant for BCG (So wasnt John Legend), then he went on to start Bain Capital which is still arguably one of the most successful constulting firms.
Once you've worked for a firm for a few years, you'll have everything you need to go off on your own. VS. Not having been a consultant, and starting a company. I'm not saying it can't be done, I'm just saying it will be MUCH harder.
Healthcare is brutal, especially to us. Give you self every possible edge you can. Your credentials are fine, but if you come into my organization I will ask you if you've ever championed a 5-10million dollar project, completed it under budget and completed early or on time. And what differentiates YOU from the other 50 environmental consulting firms that contacted us this month. I'll also ask for no less then 5-10 references from other firms. Organizations don't want to risk capital on unknowns, especially in this day and age with decreaseing medicare re-embursements, etc.
Anyway, that was a very long winded answer but hope it provides some insight.
I'm in the healthcare industry - on the administrative side. Prior, I was a management consultant for less than a year for a national firm. Our organization, amongst most healthcare organizations implment Lean methodoligues (Add value by decreasing inefficiencies).
With new legislation and a shift in focus from volumes to quality, I think you're in a priming stage for a potential great opportunity. Environment quality is paramount in the hosptial setting where the focus is on reducing nosocomial infections, a lot of this has to do with air transfer systems (and stuff that I know nothing about lol)
If I were you, I would find a consulting firm, work with it, learn the ins and outs and netowrk like a mad man. Two critical success factors for being a top gun consultant 1) relationship building skills and 2) Presentation ability, including personal presentation.
The most successful consulting companies I have come into contact with were started by individuals who were consultants for a firm themselves. Not people who just started up on their own (I am not saying you'll do this) Love him or hate him, but look at Mitt Romney. He was a consultant for BCG (So wasnt John Legend), then he went on to start Bain Capital which is still arguably one of the most successful constulting firms.
Once you've worked for a firm for a few years, you'll have everything you need to go off on your own. VS. Not having been a consultant, and starting a company. I'm not saying it can't be done, I'm just saying it will be MUCH harder.
Healthcare is brutal, especially to us. Give you self every possible edge you can. Your credentials are fine, but if you come into my organization I will ask you if you've ever championed a 5-10million dollar project, completed it under budget and completed early or on time. And what differentiates YOU from the other 50 environmental consulting firms that contacted us this month. I'll also ask for no less then 5-10 references from other firms. Organizations don't want to risk capital on unknowns, especially in this day and age with decreaseing medicare re-embursements, etc.
Anyway, that was a very long winded answer but hope it provides some insight.
Thanks for the feedback NC!
I'd have to charge you for my findings.
This is a good book to get to start you off.
I don't know much about Health Saftey, but I do know a little about Consulting... A lot of people who go into consulting DO have experiences with major firms, but I'm not sure you need that for what you do. Not even sure major consulting firms provide those services.
I am sure there are niche firms that already do the consulting you want to do, so they would be a big help, maybe even working for them for a short time (making sure you don't sign any real non-compete clauses) just to figure out exactly how they provide their services, setup deals for their SOWs (Statements of Work), and source new clients, etc... Skills/information you may need to grow a successful Health Safety consulting firm...
If you already have the certifications, may just be trial and error, going to whatever networking events you have for your industry, throwing up a website and getting business cards, and getting a few colleagues/friends in the industry to write you reviews or recommend you word of mouth just to get your feet wet and trying to grow your client base from there... maybe even partnering with another experienced professional...
Just a few ideas on ways to get started. Consulting is also something you can do part time, so maybe you don't have to wait 5 years to get it going.
Good luck!!!
As a healthcare management consultant this man speaks the truth. Most successful firms are started by former P/P/D (Partner/Principal/Director) By that time, they have sold and lead many successful engagements. Most importantly, they have the credibility and the relationships to start a boutique firm and undercut the big name firms while provided top tier value.
Now you can still have your own consulting business by picking up a contract; however, this makes you just an independent contractor. Until you start hiring other employees then you can become a real consulting firm. Healthcare is a tough place for consulting because experience is so important and it seems hard at times to garner that kind of executive respect until you are in your 40s. I'm 31 and you have to be on top of your shit to lead a meeting with the CFO, CIO, CEO, and other leadership who have kids your age telling them what to do and why they should approve for an additional 800k in consulting fees for the next fiscal year.
It can be done though, but maybe start out as an independent and build from there. If you can get those federal contracts and build a team of consultants might work. Also, most consulting firms have at least couple of partners. Partner up with another person if you can. They could focus on selling the work and you could focus on the delivery. WIN-WIN. Find someone whose strengths are your weaknesses. Some partners can close the deal, but lack the ability to deliver on an engagement. I wish you hard work, great timing, and taking advantages of great opportunities.
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As a healthcare management consultant this man speaks the truth. Most successful firms are started by former P/P/D (Partner/Principal/Director) By that time, they have sold and lead many successful engagements. Most importantly, they have the credibility and the relationships [/B]to start a boutique firm and undercut the big name firms while provided top tier value.
Now you can still have your own consulting business by picking up a contract; however, this makes you just an independent contractor. Until you start hiring other employees then you can become a real consulting firm. Healthcare is a tough place for consulting because experience is so important and it seems hard at times to garner that kind of executive respect until you are in your 40s. I'm 31 and you have to be on top of your shit to lead a meeting with the CFO, CIO, CEO, and other leadership who have kids your age telling them what to do and why they should approve for an additional 800k in consulting fees for the next fiscal year.
It can be done though, but maybe start out as an independent and build from there. If you can get those federal contracts and build a team of consultants might work. Also, most consulting firms have at least couple of partners. Partner up with another person if you can. They could focus on selling the work and you could focus on the delivery. WIN-WIN. Find someone whose strengths are your weaknesses. Some partners can close the deal, but lack the ability to deliver on an engagement. I wish you hard work, great timing, and taking advantages of great opportunities.
Great post... Consulting is difficult b/c it's so relationship driven. Being an independent contractor one can command some extremely high daily rates, however it is hard to guarantee longterm multi-year contracts. That's why most of the guys are older. They simply wait their turn, and when their 'crew' become Managing Directors, Executives at firms they can leverage their relationships to staff thier boutique consulting firms...
...i guess that's why many entrepreneurs focus on technology and service based companies--to overcome the ageism...