Eight Unique Challenges Facing Consulting Businesses (and How to Overcome Them)
If you're in the consulting business, you know that it comes with its own unique set of challenges. From developing new clients to gaining project efficiency, it's easy to feel like you're constantly battling an uphill battle. But don't despair—you're not alone. In this blog post, we'll take a look at eight common challenges faced by consulting businesses and offer some tips on how to overcome them.
1. Developing New Clients
One of the most common challenges facing consulting businesses is developing new clients. In a competitive market, it can be difficult to stand out from the crowd and attract the attention of potential clients. To overcome this challenge, it's important to focus on creating a strong value proposition and marketing your business effectively. Learning how to network online and offline and nurture long-term relationships is a great way to build up your business over time.
2. Attracting and Retaining the Right Talent.
Another common challenge faced by consulting businesses is attracting and retaining the right talent. Similar to the client space, having a strong “employee value proposition,” in other words, what employees get for what they give is key. If your "employee value proposition" is truly stronger than the competition’s, you will attract and retain the best talent. Consulting is a field where the best and brightest often move between companies frequently, so it's important to focus on creating a strong culture and providing opportunities for employees to grow within your company.
3. Maintaining High Utilization Rates
Maintaining high utilization rates—the amount of time consultants are actively working on projects divided by the total time they are available to work—is another common challenge for consulting businesses. High utilization rates are important because they directly impact your bottom line. To increase utilization rates, it's important to focus on sales and marketing efforts to ensure a steady pipeline of new projects and do demand planning not to overhire.
4. Gaining Project Efficiency
A fourth challenge often faced by consulting businesses is gaining project efficiency. This can be difficult to do when you're working with multiple clients with different needs and deadlines. To overcome this challenge, it's important to establish clear communication channels and project management processes. By setting expectations up front and maintaining open communication throughout the project, you can keep your team on track and ensure that everyone is working towards the right goals.
5. Innovating to Stay Competitive
In today's competitive marketplace, it's important for businesses to continuously innovate in order to stay ahead of the curve. This can be a challenge for consulting businesses, which must balance the need for innovation with the need to maintain a high level of quality control. To overcome this challenge, it's important to set aside time for brainstorming sessions and encouraging creativity among your team members. By maintaining a focus on innovation, you can ensure that your business stays one step ahead of the competition.
6. Keeping Up With Shifting Client Demands
As client demands shift over time, consulting businesses must adapt to stay relevant. This can be a challenge, as it can be difficult to predict which way the market will shift next. To overcome this challenge, it's important to stay abreast of industry trends and changes in client needs. By remaining flexible and adapting your offerings as needed, you can ensure that your business is always meeting the demands of your clients.
7. Staying Profitable
Profit margins in the consulting industry can be good, however businesses need to keep track of project overruns and keep an eye on costs without sacrificing quality or service levels. It is important to have a good sense of profitability of projects during the sales cycle and track against it during delivery. By taking a proactive approach to cost management, you can keep your business profitable without compromising on quality.
8. Increasing Project Complexity
As projects become more complex, consulting businesses face the challenge of ensuring that they are completed on time and within budget. To overcome this challenge, it's important to maintain clear communication with all stakeholders, as well as have effective project management processes in place. By keeping everyone aligned on the project goals and staying organized throughout the project, you can successfully navigate the complexities of even the most challenging projects.
While managing a consulting business comes with its share of challenges, there are steps you can take to overcome them and thrive.
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Hello, I'm Marco.
I help Consulting Business Owners gain grounded perspective, think and execute strategically, developing and implementing systems so they can grow their business to multiple 6-figures without losing their health, relationships and their mind in the process.
Here are a few example areas I can help you with:
Finding clients, developing winner proposals contracts.
Smart marketing, offer and product development, pricing.
Identifying strengths and weaknesses, building on points of leverage and delegating strategically.
Finding and making new hires.
Transitioning from solopreneur to business owner.
Making strategic decisions with confidence.
Building and nurturing relationships. Developing strong partnerships.
Adopting a Sustainable Performance + Business Owner + Executive Mindset.
Successfully managing clients and client expectations
Building recurring revenue for growth.
Feeling secure and reducing anxiety while being self-employed.
We’ll follow a 3-step process to get clarity and achieve your goals:
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Dive directly into the key pain points such as costs, revenue or burnout and implement any urgent measures necessary.
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Fuel: Business: Cashflow + Personal: Energy and Vitality.
Vision: Get clear on a business vision that aligns with personal priorities. Review business and personal SWOTs. Mitigate cognitive dissonance and benefit from the alignment of having a clear True North.
Systems: Sales and Marketing, Delivery and Fulfillment, Product Development, People, Organization and Productivity, Operations, Stakeholder Management.
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Get clarity on the key points of leverage available and act on them strategically.
Transition from playing reactive whack-a-mole to more predictable, productive and energizing weeks as systems are gradually implemented. Compounding is a powerful force of positive change.
Implement business and personal changes that stack the cards in favor of the desired behaviors and outcomes, so the river current you're in is taking you where you want to go, rather than requiring you to constantly fight it.
Learn from benchmarking, optimize market positioning and differentiation.
Make space to breathe and properly celebrate progress in support of sustainable high performance, so the journey can be enjoyable.
Explore product development and sales channels opportunities for growth.
Consolidate business operations and delegate wisely towards more personal freedom and a business that doesn't depend on the owner to run.
Learn about my journey.
An experienced consultant and coach, I have spent the last 20 years working in Tech, Digital Business, Consulting, Coaching, and Entrepreneurship, from working for Fortune 500 Companies – Nestlé, BASF, TEREX – to leading an 8-figure portfolio of accounts - Expedia, Gates Foundation, Alaska Airlines - for Avanade/Accenture, and taking leading growth roles in software product development companies like ThoughtWorks, while running my coaching practice.
My passion for coaching began over 15 years ago with my own evolution with the support of coaches, leading me to take ICF accredited coaching training in 2007, establish my coaching practice, and continuing learning and developing in the space. Among numerous programs, tools and coaching – to the tune of $250K over the years – I have recently completed the Optimize Mastery and Coach program (also an investor), which applies insights from ancient wisdom and modern science in support of leading a high performance and fulfilling life. I truly love coaching.
As a driven and ambitious (for life) person I continue to play Strategy & Growth related roles at professional services firms such as the leadership development company Potential Project and the startup studio UltraHaus, while coaching. I lead an engaging business, family and individual life and embrace sustainable performance along with work-life integration for my self and in the support of my clients.
On a more personal note, I am an avid reader and student of business, tech, personal finances, innovation, and cutting edge personal development. When I’m not working you can find me learning, having deep conversations, traveling, hiking, spending time in nature, and with my family, our dog, and friends. Originally from Brazil, and after 20 years in the US, I'm now based in Lisbon, Portugal.
Kind words from clients.
“…You help me to see the bigger picture of where I want my business to go. No just focusing on the day-to-day. You seem to always be thinking about my options. You consider multiple ways that I can solve the same problem. You keep me on track. Knowing I have a meeting coming up with you ensures that I get things done. You’re not afraid to disagree with me. Or point out when I’m being short sighted or doing something that I’ve said I didn’t want to do…”
Kristen M.
Company Culture
“…Largely thanks to his coaching, I have grown in my skills, confidence and ability to influence in new and unexpected ways. It’s not often you find someone who helps you align your inner and outer world, is both relentlessly optimistic and relentlessly honest, is generous with his own insights without being directive. He always helps you to get to a position where you can choose from various options, and coaches you to see your choice through. I would really recommend working with him if you have the chance!”
Annemarie P.
Innovation
“I am a new business owner with no formal business training so having someone like him to help me focus my energy on tasks that will help grow the business is incredibly valuable. He has a wealth of knowledge and has been eager to help me grow my business by tapping into his professional and personal experience. He has also been very good at meeting me where I’m at by digging in to understand what I want my business to look like so he can help me get there, rather than just telling me how he thinks it should grow. I highly recommend Marco and look forward to continuing to work with him!”
Chris G.
Wellness
“Everybody needs a coach.”
— Eric Schmidt, Chairman of Alphabet and former CEO of Google