You’re a consultant a.k.a a professional who’s always on-the-go, so you need access to your projects, client data, and team communications from wherever, whenever. Whatever sales you decide on, make sure it’s mobile ready with a fully integrated app. That way, you can access your work at any time, get more done, and lock in more billable hours.
It sounds trivial, but you have to make sure you’re actually charging for all of the time you put into completing tasks and projects for clients. You can’t turn a profit for work you’re not charging for, so make sure you’re using a platform that automatically logs all of your billable time so that you can easily track it—and get paid for it.
Making your consulting business more profitable means finding the inefficiencies in your workflow and streamlining them. You need to build repeatable processes and then automate them, so that you can focus on solving complex problems for your clients (which bring in revenue), instead of spending your time on busywork (like dealing with admin work).
Part of the tediousness of admin work is invoicing. Time is money, but you can’t get paid for your time until you invoice your clients. Still, invoicing is a huge time drain. Instead, find a smart platform that can cut the administrative burden of invoices and deliver them to clients automatically. Cut 80% the time you spend on invoicing and direct it towards more important things.
Keeping expenses under control is what will make or break your return on your time. Do some research into some smart technology options that’ll let you watch your projects progress in real-time so that you can easily see if they’re exceeding their scope. Interactive Gantt charts, automatic time tracking, and easy team collaboration are some of the features you’ll want to look for.
What are some of your best practices for running a consulting business successfully? Let us know in the comments below. Also, if you found this helpful, please share it with your fellow consultants!
