By: Dr. Chris Downs

People open consulting practices for many reasons. While some of those reasons are sound, others are not.

I believe that it’s important to know why you want to, or already did, open a consulting practice. Why? Because there may be factors in those reasons that support or detract from your consulting success.

This is the first in a series of blogs on the reasons why most people open consultancies.

#1 - Consulting to Escape the Traditional Workplace

Many people spend years in workplaces they grow to hate. When asked why they no longer want to work there, they usually point to these 4 issues:

1. The Boss. If you stay at one workplace long enough, it’s likely that your boss will change at some point. Perhaps your good boss got “kicked upstairs” and was replaced with a lousy new one. Lousy or not, new bosses tend to change routines, issue greater (energy, productivity, hours, or workflow) demands of employees, and use different evaluation criteria. Then, there’s the bad boss. If you’ve ever had a really bad boss, no matter how you define that, you understand what a toll it takes on employees. New solo consultants who point to bad bosses as a primary reason they started consulting tend to like the idea of reporting to themselves as their own boss.

2. The Environment. Some workplaces are toxic. They are filled with gossip, backbiting, petty grievances, harassment, and/or interpersonal drama. Perhaps the workload, or the work itself, is excessive, uninteresting, or too repetitive. Sometimes the workplace feels cool or even cold. Most employees fly out the door at quitting time, not necessarily because they dislike the work, but because the working conditions are miserable. In some instances, the work environment may be just fine, but the job is located so far from home, the commute isn’t worth it. Consultants who work for themselves often remark on how nice it is to work from home in an environment they’ve created for themselves.

3. Lack of Advancement. Some employees find that while they make an adequate income, they get few, if any raises or promotions. Sometimes the lack of advancement seems rooted in racism, sexism or other discriminatory practices. I know many professionals of color and women who’ve left workplaces to become very successful independent consultants because they knew they would rarely, if ever receive the same recognition as others in the traditional workplace.

4. Lack of Job Satisfaction. Let’s face it, most of us do not want to do the same job we did when we entered the workforce. We want progressively more interesting and important challenges that help us grow professionally. When job satisfaction fails to grow for a sustained period of time, employees think about leaving and opening a consultancy. I’ve known many consultants who pointed to job satisfaction as their #1 reason for going into a solo consulting.

If you are considering consulting or are a consultant now, do any of these reasons about the traditional workplace resonate for you? At what point was your dissatisfaction so great that you finally made a significant career change?

In “Solo Consulting: Insider Tips for Success!” I go into depth on the many reasons why people go into consulting practices in the first place and how those reasons can support or hinder one’s consulting business. You’ll find the book here.

Notice: This blog wholly reflects the views and suggestions of Dr. Chris Downs. Readers’ use of his views or suggestions are wholly the responsibility of the reader as reflected by their actions, reactions thoughts, statements, and behaviors. Dr. Downs accepts no responsibility for readers’ use of his words. Further, this blog contains no intentional or structured therapeutic intent nor is the content designed to harm or improve the psychological state of the reader. Readers are responsible for their own reactions to and/or use of any and all suggestions or advice.