It’s the cream of the crop, the dreamy queen of all self employment, and the golden ring on the merry-go-round of computer services companies. Running a computer consulting business is the ultimate goal of nearly 50% of all IT professionals. Computer consulting businesses, especially those which can be cultivated around your schedule, your time, and your pace, are the white puffs on the puffy clouds of dreams. So how do you get there and what do you need to know?

Rule number one is all about the cash. There will be times when business is very lean. While most new consultants expect this to happen in the beginning, the majority of new businesses go under after they’ve been around for a few years, created a reasonable name for themselves, and then hit a dry period. It’s a painful lesson to learn, but no matter how good you are or how experienced you’ve become, dry seasons are bound to happen. This means that you need to be a professional and handle your money with confidence and extreme frugal caution, even after you got your feet up off of the ground.

Rule number two is learn to be flexible. When the dry seasons are over, there will most likely be multiple clients banging on your door for multiple services. That means that your skills need to be honed as sharply as your ability to switch gears as often as necessary in order to perform the jobs presented to you and to do it well. If you find yourself overwhelmed, and unable to perform, it’s going to hurt your business not only immediately with the loss of income but overall, as word of mouth can be a powerful advertising statement, especially when the word is negative.

Consulting is a business of opinion. You are there to offer your expertise and to complete a job as it has been specified by the client. This means that rule number three, know what you’re talking about before you open your mouth, and rule number four, back up your opinion with proven facts, can each be combined into rule number six, learn to delegate, negotiate, and mediate. These three skills will come in handy more often than your computer network skills. Whether you have employees or are a one man or woman show, your ability to come through for your own business is in part about understanding the clients’ needs as well as know when the client needs a lot more direction in order to accomplish their goals.

Computer knowledge is obviously the strong basis of any consulting business that you are considering, however, business skills are vital regardless of whether you are running a hot dog stand or a computer consulting business. The skills you can develop that enable you to deal more effectively with clients and potential clients are about the relational aspects of business than the technical aspects of business. You can’t have a consulting business without the technical skill. You can’t have a consulting business without the personable skills.

-Zachary M. Morvik