The Expert Shift by Dieter Brandt
Starting Your Consulting Business at 50+
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A beautiful website will not save an unclear offer
When you move from executive to entrepreneur, visibility is not the first problem. Relevance is.Â
I hear this sentence quite often from senior executives who are preparing their next chapter: “I need to become more visible first. I have invested in my own website. It is almost ready.”
I understan...
Jun 20, 2026
Going independent is not the risk. Building without a system is.
Dear Reader,
In almost every conversation I have with senior executives considering the move into independence, the same fear surfaces. Usually late. Usually quietly.
It sounds like this:
"And what happens when, after a good start, there are suddenly three months with nothing?"
I understand that ...
Jun 13, 2026
Use this summer to set up your business?
What if you used this summer to set up your future consulting business?That way, when the “back-to-business energy” returns in September, you have already done the important groundwork.
Not everything.But enough to stop thinking in circles.Enough to move from vague ideas to a first structure.
Eno...
Jun 10, 2026
Where Are You in Your Expert Shift Today?
Not every executive who reads this newsletter is at the same point.Most of my readers are still fully in corporate life.
They enjoy their role.They carry responsibility.They have no immediate plan to leave.
But somewhere in the background, a question has started:
What could my next chapter look ...
Jun 06, 2026
Your First Customers Decide Your Second Career
Many executives reach the end of their corporate career and feel ready for a new chapter.
Not another internal role.Not another political environment.Not another title.
But their own business.
Based on experience.Based on judgment.
Based on 25+ years of seeing what really happens in companies.
Th...
May 30, 2026
Your Corporate Year Were Not Wasted
Many executives reach a point where they start thinking about their next chapter.nAnd when they look back, they see many years of corporate life.
Years of responsibility.Years of growth.Years of learning.Years of leading people.Years of building markets.Years of working with customers, teams, and...
May 23, 2026
The Three Decisions That Change Everything
Why mindset is not a soft topic, it is the hardest chapter of the transition
I remember a conversation with a senior executive who had led organizations for nearly three decades. He was clear, structured, strategic. He knew exactly what he was capable of. And he was close to making the move into...
May 20, 2026
The Door You Choose Changes Everything
From Executive to Entrepreneur
At some point in every executive career, the question changes.
It is no longer: “Can I do the job?”
You already know you can.
After 20, 25, or 30 years in leadership, you have led teams, managed budgets, entered markets, solved problems, and made difficult decisions...
May 16, 2026
I don't usually write on Wednesday. But this couldn't wait.
If you’re in a senior role and you can feel that your “next chapter” is getting closer, this matters—because the jump from experience to a real consulting business isn’t about motivation. It’s about doubts and fear, and especially missing structure.
Remember those four questions I asked on Saturd...
May 13, 2026
At 54, I chose the unknown
In corporate life, you can be well positoioned and highly experienced — and still feel how quickly the ground can shift: priorities and management changes, restructurings happen, roles get redefined, and “security” becomes a yearly negotiation.
That’s why more executives quietly ask themselves a ...
May 09, 2026
Everybody wants the new tool and the secret sauce for success.
The AI prompt.The hidden workflow.The customers list ready to buy.The shortcut that turns experience into clients.
Let me reflect first on how I use AI today.
It's about evaluating faster, structure insights, prep client work, and create assets that would’ve been out of reach 2–3 years ago.
Espec...
May 02, 2026
Reduced variance. Higher trust. Better clients.
Why many senior executives struggle when they star consulting?Over the years I clearly saw that most senior executives do not struggle in consulting because they lack expertise.Â
It is also not about missing effort or energy they put in to start their next professional chapter.
They usually strug...
Apr 25, 2026
The Expert Shift by Dieter Brandt
