* To help others solve their problems;



* To take control of their time and lifestyle;

* To gain financial security and a great income; and

* To be respected as a trusted advisor.

Great consultants are problem solvers. They enjoy being faced with problems, sorting out the issues and helping the client find a solution. They relish the role of an advisor. (Some consultants even participate in implementation and finding and hiring team members for implementation.)

Along with this comes the consultant's craving for freedom and independence. Although they can “fit in” when they have to, many just don't like being an employee and taking orders from others. If you're

in a job right now, and find it simply too limiting and confining, then the consultant's freedom and independence may be for you. Of course, consultants work hard when needed by the client – but they put in the hours to achieve results for the client, not to be a warm body doing make-work to fill a chair.

Consultants don't "take orders." They must be able to work at almost any level in a client company, large or small. This often means giving frank advice to senior business people and executives.

Starting your own business is a well-known path to riches, and being a consultant is one of the easiest businesses to start. As a consultant, you need very little capital or investment. The investment is in yourself, plus a modest amount of office equipment. Of course, consultants need to spend time on marketing their practice and developing new clients, but many enjoy this as a social part of their business.

Most people think of independent consulting as riskier than holding a job and getting a steady paycheck. But that is wrong. If you build your consulting business correctly, you'll have many clients with continuing problems and ongoing work for you, plus a systematic and repeatable way to get and keep new clients. The more clients you have, the less risk you face. When employees lose their jobs, their one “client” is gone, and they must start a long and frustrating job hunt. When an advisor loses one of twenty clients, it's just a bump in the road.

Consultants get paid in different ways. Some are paid an hourly rate, like attorneys. Others collect flat fees for their projects. Some are even paid in whole or in part on a contingent fee basis, similar to a commission. And generally all get reimbursed for their travel and other expenses, because many consultants must work on-site at their clients' offices.

It's just a fact of life that independent advisors get more respect than ordinary employees. If it's R-E-S-P-E-C-T that you crave, you'll find more of it as an independent advisor than as Employee X down in Department Y.

Are you ready to help others, take control of your life and gain the prestige and respect of being an independent consultant?