Earlier this year, CADRE Consultant Resources, the Florida based company that coaches consultants nationwide, conducted a survey of independent consultants selected at random from among attendees at the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC) USA conference in Kansas City.
The respondents came from throughout the US and Canada. Their answers paint a dramatic picture of the consultant lifestyle, its rewards and its challenges. What Cadre learned may surprise you.
The majority of independent consultants who responded are self-proclaimed extroverts who work long hours alone or with just 1 or 2 associates. Most work more than 40 hours a week however nearly one third claim fewer than 100 billable days a year.
The biggest challenges they face?
o Staying focused on priorities
o Managing their time effectively
o Gaining access to prospective clients
o Juggling all they have to do.
The one thing they all agree on? They like to learn by doing rather than thinking.
Orlando, Florida (PRWEB) November 10, 2005 -- Earlier this year, CADRE Consultant Resources, the Florida based company that coaches consultants nationwide, conducted a survey of independent consultants selected at random from among attendees at the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC) USA conference in Kansas City.
The respondents came from throughout the US and Canada. Their answers paint a dramatic picture of the consultant lifestyle, its rewards and its challenges. What Cadre learned may surprise you.
The majority of independent consultants who responded are self-proclaimed extroverts who work long hours alone or with just 1 or 2 associates. Most work more than 40 hours a week however nearly one third claim fewer than 100 billable days a year.
The biggest challenges they face?
o Staying focused on priorities
o Managing their time effectively
o Gaining access to prospective clients
o Juggling all they have to do.
The one thing they all agree on? They like to learn by doing rather than thinking.
Most Consultants Work More Than 40 Hours a Week
The perception among members of the general public is that consulting is part-time work and that consultants are on Easy Street. The CADRE survey indicates this is clearly not the case. Consultants say they work long hours, with over 85% putting in more than 40 hours per week. (Table 1)
Table 1
Response Work hours per week
29% 50+ hours per week
57% 41-50 hours per week
11% 31-40 hours per week
Despite Long Work Hours, 31% of Respondents are Billing Fewer Than 100 Days per Year.
It seems that long hours spent working in a consulting practice does not always equate to significant compensation for that work. Almost one-third of respondents indicated they bill fewer than 100 days per year. (Table 2). Yet, some 57% of respondents claim annual revenue goals for their firms of between $100K and $350K.(Table 3). How can this be? CADRE co-founder Paul DePalma says, “The possibility is that one third of the consultants responding are making a wage that would be considered relatively low considering their experience.” The data however is too limited to draw that conclusion and CADRE intends to remedy this in future industry surveys to make a greater delineation at the lower end of the scale. Says DePalma, “There is clearly a big difference between the individual income of a two-person $100K organization and that of a one-person $350K firm.”
Table 2
Response Billable Days Per Year
31% Under 100
35% 100-150
23% 151 to 200
11% 200+
Table 3
Response Consultants’ Annual Sales Goal
7% Under $100,000
57% $100,000 to $350,000
25% $1,000,000
11% Over $4,000,000
The Vast Majority of Consulting Firms Have Two or Fewer Employees
Another key learning from the CADRE study indicated a large dichotomy regarding the number of employees in each respondent’s firm. Most respondents are working on their own or with only one partner. “This supports the idea that consulting, despite its opportunity for diverse client interaction, can be a very isolated business environment to work in.,” says CADRE co-founder John Ward. On the other end of the scale, more than one in ten respondents indicates that he/she works in a firm with more than 8 employees. (Table 4)
Table 4
Response Number of Employees
68% 2 or fewer
18% 3 to 5
4% 6 to 8
11% 8+
Nearly 40% Do Not Target Specific Industries to Serve
Many books and articles about consulting discuss the importance of finding a niche or specialty by focusing expertise on one industry. However, almost 40% of the survey respondents indicate that they target no specific industry. Explains Ward, “This could be because they have consciously chosen to be generalists or they get referred into various industries, or possibly because they have no specific plan or strategy for the type of client they should be focusing on. “(Table 5.)
Table 5
Response Target Industry
39% No specific industry
14% Manufacturing, Service & Distribution
14% Technical or Telecommunications
7% Public Sector
7% Non-profits
More than 1/3 Identify Small Businesses as Ideal Market
Over one-third of the respondents indicate that their ideal clients are organizations with fewer than 100 employees. (Table 6.) At the same time, almost 40% say they target organizations with revenues in excess of 50 million dollars. (Table 7.) “This might be a representation of the Moby Dick syndrome in consulting, “ says DePalma. “That is, although the meat and potatoes of many consultants’ businesses are small clients, many still seek out the whales.”
Table 6
Response Ideal target client by # of employees
36% 50 to 100 employees
32% 100 to 1000 employees
7% 1000 to 5000 employees
7% 5000+ employees
Table 7
Response Ideal target client by total revenue
18% Under 1 million $
10% 1 to 5 million $$
18% 10 million $$$
18% 50 million $$$$
21% 10 to 500 million $$$$$
Respondents identified a number of key challenges they face in running a successful, sustainable consulting practice. The results in Table 8 show that nearly 40% site Management of Time & Priorities as their leading challenge.
Key Challenges to Running a Successful Consulting Practice
Table8
Response Key Challenge
10% Marketing, Image & Awareness
“Positive & broad exposure plus
marketing skills and focus”
24% Gaining Access to Clients
“Getting in to see decision makers.”
38% Managing Time & Priorities
“Balancing my restheces to devote
to marketing while delivering my services.”
12% Selling Process
“Establishing credibility and closing sales.”
16% Other
“The economy.”
The last two questions CADRE asked were about personality and learning styles. Here are the results. (Tables 9 & 10)
Self-Assessed Dominant Personality Style of Consultants
Table 9
Response Personality Style
61% Extrovert
39% Introvert
Self-assessed Learning Style
Table 10
Response Learning Style
100% Learn by doing
-0- Learn by thinking
Interesting that every single respondent indicated that he/she prefers to learn by doing rather than thinking. So does this mean that most consultants don’t like to think? Wouldn’t corporate America be surprised by such findings! “Or perhaps there is a simpler explanation,” says DePalma. “That is, of the people who were randomly asked to complete the survey, the ones who actually did were---the doers.” And the others? Perhaps they are still thinking about it. We’ll let you decide.
One thing is certain. As more and more professionals leave corporate America and embark on a consulting career, the need for consultant skill training and specifcially, training on how to run a successful consulting business, is growing. DePalma noted "Many of the challenges identified by the survey respondents are the same challenges we coach our consultant clients everyday. We teach them how to overcome their limitations so they can make more money consulting and achieve sustainable success." For more information about the surve or Cadre Consultant Resources, contact Paul DePalma or John Ward at 1-866-302-2373 or go to www.CadreConsultantRestheces.com.
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