Over early coffee in Munich, a former COO slid a notebook across the table.
Fourteen ideas: Strategy. Pricing. Transformation. M&A. Culture.
“I can do all of this,” she said.
She wasn’t wrong.
Then she exhaled.
“I just don’t know where to start.”
Her problem wasn’t lack of skill. It was too much of it.
Twenty years of experience, packed into one offer.
Every door open. None walked through with conviction.
So I asked:
“What kind of life do you want to build?”
She paused. “Less travel. Deep work. Time for my kids. Meaningful money.”
That shifted everything — from what can you do? to what should you do?
Three months later: one clear offer, one ideal buyer, and a calendar that reflected her values.
She didn’t need more services.
She needed a spine for the business and a filter for the rest.
The Hidden Barrier
Every week I meet leaders who are “consulting curious.”
They’ve seen peers leave corporate life and most of them never look back.
But when it’s time to pick a lane, they freeze!
“If I narrow, I’ll miss opportunities.”
“If I stay broad, I’ll be safer.”
“I help companies with strategy and transformation” sounds polished — and means nothing.
No urgency. No buyer. No price.
Why the Usual Approach Fails
Most new consultants build a menu.
A greatest hits album from their last 15 years.
They pitch it to everyone. Chase logos. Say yes to anything adjacent.
It looks like hustle.
It feels like progress.
It’s neither.
The menu fails for three reasons:
-
Buyers buy solutions to real problems, not theoretical capabilities
or "nice-to-have" improvements.
-
Broad positioning hides your best proof.
-
You waste time with people who can’t say “yes.”
I made that mistake too.
Landed one big project. Great success — but not a life I wanted to repeat.
So I stopped.
I built Smart Business Consulting.
Call it headhunting, call it alignment — it fit my life and scaled my business.
A Better Way
Start with life.
Then make your business serve it.
It’s not philosophy. It’s design.
When you know how much travel you’ll tolerate, what work energizes you, and what revenue model fits your goals — you stop building a business that fights you.
Use the 2-of-3 Rule:
- Credibility – Have you solved this before?
- Urgent pain – Are they paying for this now?
- Access – Can you reach the decision-maker?
If you hit two, start.
If you hit all three, you win.
4 Steps to Sharpen Your Consulting Focus
1. Define non-negotiables: Set your life plan first. Travel, project size, energy drain—write it down. Clear limits spark creativity.
2. Run the 2-of-3 niche test: Credibility, urgent pain, accessible decision-makers. Yes to two? That’s your lane.
3. Package a sharp offer: Who it’s for, the painful problem, promised outcome, proof, delivery. Move from vague services to a plan.
4. Build access lines, not content: List decision-makers, get introductions, show up where they are. Publish useful, specific tools—not quotes.
Make this actionable for your consulting business with a private worksheet: 👉 Access the worksheet here
Evidence or Experiment
When I applied this, I stopped selling “transformation.”
I built Smart Business Consulting — a system that aligns companies with the right leaders to deliver real change.
Less noise. More impact. Better life.
And the ex-COO with fourteen ideas?
She picked one:
"Retail presence revitalization for FMCG non-food brands with diminishing shelf impact."
Ten discovery calls. One pilot in a month. Backlog by quarter’s end.
The difference wasn’t a viral post or fancy brand.
It was a sharp promise aimed at real pain — delivered to reachable buyers.
What This Means For You
Stop trying to be the consultant for everyone.
Choose the few who value your specific scar tissue.
Use the 2-of-3 Rule.
Don’t wait for perfect — just move when it’s probable.
Turn your services into a clear promise.
Buyers pay for clarity.
Build access lines, not impressions.
Conversations beat content.
Let your life set the constraints. Then let your offer do the heavy lifting.
Action Step for This Week
-> Write a one-page offer for a niche that passes the 2-of-3 test.
-> Send it to 10 decision-makers you can reach.
-> Aim for: 5 conversations → 2 proposals → 1 paid pilot.
Seven days.
No website work.
No logo work.
Just offers and calls.
Final Thought
You’re not choosing a new job.
You’re designing a new life.
Build accordingly.
PS: Which of the three is hardest right now — credibility, pain, or access?
Hit reply and tell me.
If this helped, forward it to one leader who needs the nudge.
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