Why I started consulting, why you should too, and why you need to be your own customer!
I’m building a new product: Timecraft - which is a super-cool 🛸, simple to use platform for everyone who does time-based services over the internet. For Timecrafters.
See, I’ve been meeting all kinds of awesome people doing all sorts of awesome stuff via Zoom, like clinical research consulting, holistic singing, fitness coaching, language learning, therapy, date finding etc.
I figured, those people need their own mini-”Shopfiy”, in order to be able to grow their side-hustles into a steady income generating machines 🚂 and be free ✨!
Or as my friends call it: “Onlyfans for Coaches and Consultants”
But how can I know what Timecrafters truly need?
Talking to customers is an option. Tracking metrics is an option. But the only way to really feel your customer’s pain is to become a customer yourself. And use your god damned product!
Back in the Checkout X and Vanga AI days, I couldn’t help but feel disconnected from my customers. I would talk to them, I would follow their metrics, pray for their success ( sometimes quite literally 🙏 ), but still, sometimes they would leave and I would feel that I don’t know the real reason why.
I would give them tips on how to take full advantage of the product, but they wouldn’t do it and I would wonder - WHY?!????
I knew why… Running an e-commerce store is a complex machine that has thousands of moving parts and you need to make sure the machine keeps going. Any individual part needs to fit with all the other parts. If it doesn’t - you’ll just swap it out - you won’t waste time & energy on handholding the part maker in order to fix it over the next iteration.
Unfortunately… you can’t “just” make a successful e-com store in order to be able to be your own customer, so as a Shopify App maker I had to rely on interviews & data, no first-person experience.
For Timecraft, I thought: “Fuck it, how hard can it be?” and I started my own consulting practice on the side.
From my experience founders that use their own product will always win. No amount of research can substitute the understanding you can experience by walking a mile in someone else’s shoes ( of course, one doesn’t exclude the other ). If you are a founder, find a way to use your product. You’ll learn so much more than just looking from the outside.
Why you should start your consulting practice too?
The moment I started consulting, I thought - wow - why didn’t I do that earlier? Turns out consulting brings much more than some extra dollars.
Here are some of the immediate benefits that you can get by starting a consulting practice on the side:
Lead generation for your business
Besides Timecraft, I’m looking to acquire Shopify apps as part of my investment portfolio.
And guess what, the majority of people booking consultations with me are building Shopify Apps. So not only that I’m getting paid to talk to people, I can tell them what I’m doing and potentially find a good acquisition opportunity.
My case is not unique. Other Timecrafters tell me the same thing. They would get on a consulting call with someone that has a specific industry problem and often times they would become leads for their other ventures.
People will talk to you because they want to fix or achieve something. And if you’re doing other things in the space - chances are they can become customers for it too. Especially if they got value from you already.
Paid consultation to a Product sale will become a mainstream conversion funnel, especially for founders that engage in thought leadership. Don’t miss out 🙃!
Talking to interesting people
We usually underestimate how big our social presence really is. You’ll be surprised by how many people follow your journey on social media and know what’s going on with you. But see, most people are shy, so they’ll never reach you out of the blue and ask you to give them your time.
If you start offering services however, you’re sending an invite to anyone that knows you to talk to you. And as you’re charging them for it, they won’t feel guilty for “wasting” your time.
—It’s weird, because all of the people that book a time with me, are people I would love to spend time to and talk with anyways, but they never reached out beforehand.
Learning new things
Whenever I consult someone, I need to learn how their business works ( at least on a surface level ), so every-time I get real world insights on what works, what doesn’t and what challenges other are facing. Ironically, people don’t usually talk about that on social media, so it’s a type of information I can’t get.
Additional income
Over the years, I’ve always tried to be open and available for others, because that’s how you learn things, make connections and sometimes have a positive impact. I’m doing those calls anyways. It feels good to have an additional income stream, no matter how small.
It’s also the sad reality that the value a person can bring isn’t always proportionate to their net worth, as most professionals are not paid in gold in diamonds, therefore Timecrafting as a side-hustle might make a difference in their bottom line.
🤙
If those benefits sound good and if you want open a consulting/coaching practice - you need to be on Timecraft! Ping me for a demo.
What if someone can’t pay / doesn’t want to pay to talk?
That’s up to you. For me personally, I don’t direct people to my consulting page when they ask me for advice - I’m generally open to talk. Also, most interactions aren’t about consulting, they are about connecting and exchanging which brings equal value to me and the other side. I ask other people for advice all the time. 🤷♂️
If anyone wants to book a consultation, that’s fine. If they want to ping me directly that’s also fine.
Conclusion
Use your own product!
Start your consulting practice!
If you wanna talk, reach out or book a consultation!
GGHF!
I also do consulting, so if you want talk, check out my Timecraft page.