How did you start consulting?

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I am a fully qualified (AAT & ACCA) accountant, like many trained in practice and left to work in industry.  I now have 10 years PQE and am at FD level in a medium sized business.

For a number of years I have had a desire to become a consultant on a day rate / retainer capacity.  I nearly took the leap 3 years ago when I was at FC level but was advised (righly so) to establish myself as a FD first and then make the move as I could attract better rates and work on the tasks adding real value to businesses.  (I appreciate that there is an argument to say that 3 years is not an established FD)

My ultimate business plan would be to become a portfolio FD having upto maybe 8 clients on a retainer basis, however, this will take time to establish.

I have considered marketing my services but unlikely to be able to accept any assignments whilst in full time work.  Given personal circumstances it would be irresponsible of me to just hand in my notice and hope for the best or take a contract role.  The obvious solutions would be:
1) evenings and weekends whilst starting off although that is unlikely to work given most businesses would require me during the working day OR
2) to reduce the working days in my current company but I am not sure they would allow me to do that. 
Obviously I would have to obtain permission from my current employer to go into this whilst still in employment.

How did you or would you go about setting up? 

Replies (8)

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By Mr_awol
14th Nov 2019 17:25

I suppose you could ask your employer - and if they refuse, look for a part time job elsewhere which would free up a day or two per week whilst still enabling you to secure something of a guaranteed income?

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By Richard Grant
14th Nov 2019 19:36

Networking is the key. Local business forums etc who you deal with and maybe via your auditors. See if they rate you enough to push you as a non exec with their clients.
There are various non exec services but watch out as most are expensive CV writing scams only.

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By Matrix
14th Nov 2019 19:38

I would determine if there is a market for the services you are offering. Consultants are less attractive due to the tax risk - which is passing to medium sized businesses from April.

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paddle steamer
By DJKL
14th Nov 2019 21:03

I think you may struggle to manage client expectations re your availability for maybe certain meetings etc if you are tied to an employment, if client wants you to say be with them meeting a bank/lender/investor at x time ,with no free days except a Saturday and Sunday , this does not sound ideal.

Even if you can shuffle to say three days a week with employer two free days is not ideal, a meeting say needing 4-5 people to coordinate their diaries is hard enough to arrange when each has 5 days available, it it going to be much more difficult when one party is only free to work during the working week on one or two days.

You may be able to get around this with super supportive employers but it does send a message to them which may damp your future prospects with them and would not have been something I would have wanted to do when younger if I valued my progression with my main employer.

I did go P/T with my employer 2.3 years ago but I was 57 , had held my employment with them since 1999 and had been in effect doing most of my role with them since 1997 (from 1997-1999 they were clients of the firm I was then with), in addition we had downsized the business by 2016 so there was less need for me to be around 5 days a week- your employer may be supportive but your asking may also spook them, only you can judge.

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By adf2410
15th Nov 2019 11:43

I took the plunge just over 4 years ago after running out of patience with my then employer, and handing my notice in without another job to go to. I was on 6 months' notice though, so had a lot of time in which to work out a plan of action and I made sure I had enough cash in the bank to live on for a year with no work.

In my sector there are a few specialist agencies which provide interim finance directors, so I registered with all of them and then waited. It took a while (4 or 5 months) for the first job to come in, but since then I've become more and more well known in my sector, have been busy all the time doing a wide variety of work and have even had to turn work down sometimes.

I wouldn't change the way that I took the leap, but equally I know that it could have gone wrong!

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By B Roberts
15th Nov 2019 15:51

In addition to the advice above, have you thought about getting a FD role in a P/E backed business?

Exposure to various investors and banks will increase your profile and may lead to future referrals.

Ps - sorry to ask you a question (it is just that you sound as though you were where I am a few years ago) - how did you make the transition to FD?

Was it a new job straight in as FD from being an FC elsewhere, or did you go in at FC/FD designate and get promoted?

I am finding it difficult to compete against established FD's and genuine "FD designate" roles are pretty rare.

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Replying to B Roberts:
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By LEFD
18th Nov 2019 13:17

I joined a family owned SME who had ambitions of growth (turnover has increased by 75% to over £20m during my time here) from a larger corporate.

My skillset gained in the larger corporate was very varied from budgets/forecasts, business partnering, stat accounts & returns, team management (20+), fx/hedging, working capital management and external relationships such as auditors, banks and HMRC. I now manage a much smaller team but am responsible for all of the above and more.

I initially joined as a FC (but was number 1 in Finance) and then promoted to FD taking on a few non finance functions. The promotion came as a result of what I offered to the business whilst becoming a trusted member.

Like yourself I was overlooked for straight FD roles and as you say genuine FD designate roles are quite rare. I therefore took a chance on going for a FC role but only on condition I was the genuine number 1 in Finance and the company had ambitions for both growth and profit optimisation. By being the number 1 in Finance you will place yourself in the best possible position to become FD once you have proven how valuable you are.

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By LEFD
18th Nov 2019 12:41

Many thanks for the replies so far.

It seems like the best option is to build my network and cash reserves before making the step. I fully agree that not being (able to be) fully committed will work against me in what is a very crowed market.

The PE option sounds very appealing as this will naturally build my network and profile whilst also adding to my skillset. If involved in a successful sale then a completion bonus / sale of equity is highly likely which will obviously help during the initial period when I am searching for clients. This option will also delay me becoming a consultant for a few years which is certainly a good thing when assessing how hard HMRC will push or refine rules on IR35 or what impact it will have on market rates.

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