Those who can, consult Part 1: What do I offer?

Another area where would-be consultants typically need to gain experience is basic business issues. You may find yourself with a great deal of educational or life experience, but you may not have spent much time being responsible for the management of a business. If you don’t have business experience, it can be challenging and unnerving to jump into consulting. Some ways to gain business experience include taking a short-course in small-business management or finance; talking with friends and family who may own or run a small business; regularly reading key business periodicals, to keep abreast of issues that may affect your business; and seeking the help of a lawyer or accountant during the groundwork phase of your business to make sure you get off on the right foot.

One last example of skill development might be training and running meetings. If you’ve ever been a teacher (at any level), you’ve gained valuable experience training others. You can draw on those experiences as a consultant. However, another great way to gain experience with training, running meetings and many other skill areas is to volunteer for a non-profit organisation of some sort. Such groups typically need help, and you stand a good chance of being asked to do a number of different things while working there. In addition, you may find that serving as an officer for or participating in community organisations and clubs can provide you with the kind of experience you’re looking for.

So, although consulting demands a number of skills and traits, you don’t have to have all of those elements when you begin. Periodically review the list of skills and interests that you develop in this and ask yourself which traits and skills you have, which you are developing and which you need to learn.