When addressing the question who hires consultants?, the definition of being a consultant needs to be settled first. It is simple enough. It is generally accepted to be a person who gives expert advice professionally (Oxford Concise English Dictionary).

In my view it is also someone who is determined to become a successful independent consultant and who approaches their search for clients with the knowledge that they will be able to establish solid business relationships with enough people who will want hire them for expert advice.

There are then two further questions to be tested: who hires established consultants who have built-up a solid reputation for themselves in their field over several years and who already have a contact book of regular clients? And who might be likely to hire a newcomer?

Assuming established consultants have been newcomers to their market at some stage, the reality will be that they will have established a reputation and will have proven themselves to be very valuable to the clients they have served since they set-up their consulting business. They will be hired because of these attributes: the services they provide will have become reliable and well-suited to their client base; they will have developed an understanding of the businesses and have a mature professional relationship with the individuals they communicate with.

The consultant will provide them with on-call access to his expertise, but only when they need it. They do not need to employ an expert member of staff (with all the attendant liabilities) and find other work for the staff-member to do to fill-up time. Nor will the client need to pay for holiday time or time-off-sick. All these savings are likely to matter particularly to smaller businesses interested in economies wherever they can be found.

Equally importantly, a consultant is likely to be especially-valued if he is known to reinforce his existing expertise continuously by buying the journals and keeping-up his memberships of the professional bodies that will ensure he stays fully up-to-date on professional matters, and even to spend money on essential training courses, sparing clients the need to include any of these often substantial annual training costs in their own budgets.

However the most fundamental reason why a well established independent consultant will be regularly hired is because of reliability. He will be going out of his way to make sure that his clients can feel comfortable that he will always be there for them, ready to help them meet challenges. Very often they cannot feel confident that their own staff would be so diligent.

It is worth noting that an aspiring independent consultant looking to establish himself in any type of consultancy will have a tough job ahead. At the same time as there is more awareness among business managers of the valuable role that consultants play, and many more employees are being exposed to the work that the consultants are doing for their bosses and think to themselves, “perhaps I could do that and do a lot better for myself.”

If they do take the risk of breaking away from employment, the majority of them survive for a time on work passed to them by former managers who thought well-enough of them when they were employees. But today – especially – it needs a very clear-minded and determined would-be entrepreneur to find and set himself up in a consultancy business niche where he will survive and, in due course, prosper.

Thorough market research is an important part of any consultant’s business planning. It will be during such carefully planned and well performed market research that the would be consultant should be asking for meetings with business managers who do not yet use consultancy services – planting a seed that can be nurtured in the months to come so that a portfolio of prospective clients can be developed.

Who will actually hire him? In largest part it will depend on how good a salesman he is and what expertise he has to offer. “Mr CEO, we have met before and you have explained why your company doesn’t employ consultants. I have been thinking about our discussion and it occurred to me …