What Could You Earn By Becoming A Business Consultant?
Business Consulting, Coaching, and Advisory are lucrative professions, however, the income levels are often misunderstood thanks to the disparity between employed and self-employed professionals.
This article will break down the facts on what you could earn across a wide range of situations, and how this income is generated.
Take me straight to the information on becoming a high-earning Self Employed Consultant.
Employed Business Consultant
Large Firm Consultant
Large consulting firms, serving large-scale corporate and government entities are where the majority of consultants are employed. These firms are essentially factories for consulting projects and deliverables, using salaried staff as a means for production.
Unsurprisingly, this does mean that the majority of consultants in this sector are offered mediocre financial rewards for their expertise and efforts.
Income
Income is typically generated on an hourly-rate or project-rate basis, with employees being remunerated with an annual salary. Some firms offer a bonus structure, typically based on the number of hours charged.
See our complete article on Business Consultant Salaries that breaks down the potential earnings of this type of Consultant in different regions. We’ve included the International average below.
Entry Level Consultant: $34,060.15 (USD)
Average: $49,629.75 (USD)
Senior: $60,223.21 (USD)
Information found using Salary Expert.
Self Employed Consultants
The Independent Consultant
Operating as an Independent Business Consultant, Coach or Advisor with the correct systems and processes will allow you to leverage your time and knowledge, helping deliver huge value to clients in-order to reap significant financial returns.
Income
There are a range of differing fee methods a Consultant can use. Our preferred ConsultX Fee Structure allows you to leverage your time and be rewarded for the value you’re delivering.
Summary of the ConsultX Fee Structure
The fee structure depends on how much time is required to work with the client and their management team. (Typically 5-10 hours/month, size dependant)
The fee system is based on a fixed fee for the first 2-3 months and then reverts to a monthly percentage of revenue. Occasionally it is a fixed retainer that is negotiated annually.
As the revenue increases so does the monthly fee, however it never drops below the initial monthly fee.
Your target is to create a 10-to-1 return for your clients, where they pay you one dollar and you give them ten in return.
Fees are paid in advance, so you carry no debtors.
New ConsultX Sole Consultant (6 months – 1 Year): $60,000–$200,000 (USD)
Part Time ConsultX Sole Consultant: $70,000–$150,000 (USD)
Average ConsultX Sole Consultant: $160,000–$230,000 (USD)
High Performing (Top 20%): $390,000+ (USD)
Consulting Firm Owner
Building and operating a Business Consulting firm, with contracted or employed consultants offers an opportunity to scale beyond that of an independent or sole operator.
This is typically done by an established Consultant, who is experienced and has a network of clients, prospects, and leads to springboard the success of new associates.
Each branch of a Consulting Firm will be run by one or more senior partners with a larger number of associates.
Income
The income from a Consulting Firm comes from the fees that each Consultant charges their clients. We recommend using the same fee structure of an Independent Consultant.
An associate firm member who is working on a contract basis would typically be paid a percentage of the fees they charge to a client.
An associate firm member who is working on a salaried basis would typically be paid a retainer and be offered a reward structure to encourage high performance.
Partner in a Small Firm (1 Partner and 4-6 Associates): $245,000–$500,000 (USD)
Partner in a Medium Firm (1 Partner and 15-20 Associates): $377,000–$800,000 (USD)
Senior Partner in a Larger Firm with 4 Branches (1 Senior Partner, 4 Partners with and 30-40 Associates): $600,000–$1,200,000++ (USD)
Increasing your earnings
The aim of ConsultX is to help Business Consultants, Coaches and Advisors to become successful - and a large part of that is helping to grow and sustain income.
We’d love to show you more about ConsultX and how we can help.