A Business Development Process Model for Independent Consulting Firms

Abstract

The prevalence of small consulting firms and independent consultants in various fields is continually increasing, but does just having an industry expertise or business specialization guarantee success when managing your own consulting firm? This research uses a mixed- methods approach comprising of in-depth interviews of 12 expert consultants and a survey with a sample size 168 to understand effective business development processes for building a successful independent consultant practice. Through analysis of the research results, a process model evolved which highlighted five propositions which are intended to help independent consultants of all types launch and grow successful consulting businesses. These propositions are: 1) Lead generation activities that independent consultants typically undertake, typically yield the lowest results; 2) Selling follow-on work to existing and former clients is the best source of lead generation; 3) Successful independent consultants create a profile of their perfect client and target those clients who fit their expertise and business model; 4) Successful independent consultants learn what works for their business and are able to define their core capabilities through a continual, iterative process; 5) Successful independent consultants need sufficient resources to survive the lean times, and they need to be persistent through several, long learning iterations. Interviews with experts confirmed and expanded these findings.