Consulting FAQs
Last updated: March 25, 2024
Since starting my business in October 2021, I’ve received many requests to share how I landed my first client and grew the business to more than cover my corporate salary in the first year. These FAQs are my attempt to share my experience with more people than I can in one-on-one convos.
If you have a question that’s not answered below OR these FAQs helped you strike out on your own, send me a message on LinkedIn.
When did you know it was time to quit your job?
I’ve always wanted to run my own business. A couple factors caused me to finally take the leap:
- I had enough unique work experience to be valuable
- I had been successful in enough projects to know I could do the work
- I had validated my abilities with world-class marketing leaders
In short, I had the experience, track record, and confidence to finally do it.
I also try to be upfront about how my personal situation eases some challenges of starting a business.
My husband has a stable job that provides me with health insurance. We’ve also established our careers enough to have a head start on retirement savings and don't have kids or a mortgage.
Life only gets more complicated, so it seemed wise to take on this opportunity as soon as I felt remotely ready.
Were you scared?
Definitely.
Did you set up an LLC? An S-Corp?
I set up an LLC to protect myself from legal liabilities. I’d had this for a couple of years since I’d done some freelance work on the side before quitting my 9-to-5.
I designated the business as an S-Corp when I started working in it full-time. This has some tax advantages and allows me to pay myself a salary. The second piece is important because it lets me see how profitable the business is–not just how much revenue it generates.
How did you get your first client?
I reached out to people in my network who were marketing leaders at interesting companies and explained my situation. I used this email:
Hi NAME! How are you?
PERSON mentioned that you're hiring for key product marketing roles at BUSINESS NAME. I wanted to see if you need project-based support while you find the right hires.
Even if there's not an immediate opportunity to work together again, I'd love to catch up.
I'm free DAYS TIMES. What works best for you?
Talk to you soon,
Sarah
Nearly half of the 5-6 people I emailed had project work available. I got my choice of work and ultimately decided to support Upwork corporate with their Enterprise release marketing strategy.
This is the tactic I recommend to folks who are interested in trying consulting. People you’ve worked with can vouch for your skills. You can be upfront with them about any boundaries you have (e.g. only wanting to work part-time). They’re also less intimidating than cold leads. And there’s so much to think about when you’re just starting out that eliminating any unnecessary stress is valuable.
At 2.5 years in, 90% of my business (and many of my favorite projects) still comes from warm leads. I think that’s just fine.
How many clients have you had?
I’ve worked with 11 clients in 2.5 years of business. My average contract length is 6 months.
I recommend that people interested in consulting find longer engagements to start. It’s possible to do quick-turn, project-based work, but shorter engagements mean you spend more time selling. Again, you’re trying to eliminate unnecessary stress in the beginning.
What types of projects do you do?
I regularly experiment with different types of projects, including parental leave fill-ins where I’m an embedded, part-time resource (“fractional headcount”) and project-based work where teams share inputs with me (ex. 30 win-loss documents) and I share back a completed deliverable (ex. 1 summary deck).
My advice to someone trying to find their first client is to be open to a variety of opportunities. Try anything fun that comes your way, and make adjustments over time.
Your entire first year is developing confidence and not quitting.
What support did you hire and when?
The first person I hired on a contract basis was Bree Ward, my tax professional. This was for my husband’s sake. He’s historically done our taxes but refused to go near them once I started my own business for fear of committing accidental tax fraud.
When I started considering hiring additional Product Marketing support for the business, Bree referred me to Jennifer Ward, a lawyer, to draw up the employment contract. Jennifer was the second person I hired on a contract basis.
Cheyenne is my first employee on payroll. I hired her to scale the experience of working with a strong product marketer so I could have more than 2 clients at a time and run the business. She works with me part-time when she’s not making art. Follow her comics on Patreon.
Why did you hire someone as an employee instead of a subcontractor?
I hired an employee instead of working with subcontractors for legal purposes. I wanted more control over my hire's work than would legally allow me to classify them as a contractor. Misclassifying an employee as a contractor or subcontractor can be ruinously expensive if you’re ever audited. (Caveat to the above: I am not a lawyer.)
How do you invoice clients?
Most of my clients have a vendor payment portal where I submit invoices. I generate PDF invoices using a Google Sheets template. I also have a Square account to invoice smaller clients.
Do you have a website?
Yes! You're on it!
After 2.5 years, I've finally purchased saraheadieconsulting.com and set up a website to host long-form content like this.
I used LinkedIn as my website for a couple years. It’s easier to meet my potential clients on a platform they already visit semi-regularly than to drive them to my website. (Marketing genius over here!)
How do you do your videos?
The hot takes are mine, but I don’t do the videos myself. I work with Kevin Dubose who supports my TikTok-ification of LinkedIn.