How Do You Know Your Expertise Has a Market?

THE EXPERT SHIFT
Executive Reinvention for Experienced Leaders

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Yesterday, I was speaking with an experienced executive about what he could do after corporate life.

His direction was actually quite clear.
He knew the industries he understood.
He knew the problems he had solved.

And he had 25+ years of leadership experience to draw from.

The came the question that mattered: "But how do I know whether companies would actually pay me for this?

That is a much better question than it may sound.

Because there is a big difference between having valuable experience — and having experience the market is ready to buy.

Now, let’s start.

THIS WEEK

How do you know your expertise has a market?

Most senior executives don’t start from zero.

Quite the opposite.
They have led transformations.
Built businesses.

Turned around underperforming operations.
Entered new markets.
Managed crises.
Built teams.
Negotiated with customers, suppliers and investors.

There is usually no shortage of expertise.
“The difficult part is deciding which part of that expertise can become a business.”

And you cannot answer that question by looking at your CV.
You have to look at the market.
Let’s look at this differently.

THE EXPERT BRIEF

When people start thinking about consulting, they often begin with themselves.

What am I good at?
What would I like to offer?
What else could I offer?
What should my positioning be?

Useful questions.
But only half of the equation.

The other half is outside.

“What problems are companies trying to solve right now?”

Where are they struggling?
Where are they losing money?
Where are they losing market share?
What are they already spending money on?
Where are existing solutions not working well enough?

And where does your particular experience give you an unusual advantage?

This is also where AI has changed the game.
You can now research industries, competitors, customer frustrations and emerging problems much faster than even a few years ago.

Not by asking AI:
“Give me ten consulting business ideas.”

But to investigate something much more useful:
Is there evidence that this problem actually exists — and is important enough that companies will pay to solve it?

Then take that research into the real world.
Talk to former customers.
Talk to potential customers.
Talk to industry contacts.
Talk to decision-makers who understand the problem.

Don’t sell them anything.
Ask questions.
Listen.
Test your assumptions.

The objective is not to prove that your idea is right.
The objective is to discover whether the market agrees with you.

WHY THIS MATTERS

Experienced executives can easily fall into one trap.
You know that you are good at what you do.
Other people know it too.

You need to accept that customers don’t buy 30 years of experience.
They buy an answer to a problem they have now.

The good news?
You don’t have to resign to find out whether that match exists.

You can research.

Talk.
Test.

Sharpen your hypothesis.

And gradually replace:

“I think companies would buy this.”

with:

“I have evidence that they might.”

That is a much safer place from which to build your next professional chapter.

ONE NEXT STEP

This is exactly the kind of question we explore in the Executive Reinvention Club.

Not:

“How do I become a consultant?”

But first:

“Which part of my experience could actually become a business — and how can I test that before making a big decision?”

The Club is a working room for experienced leaders who want to explore their next professional chapter while they still have the time and security to do it properly.

Compare different paths.

Challenge assumptions.

Learn from executives who have already made the transition.

And gradually replace uncertainty with evidence.

If you are beginning to ask whether companies would actually pay for your expertise, I invite you to join us.

 Explore the Executive Reinvention Club

And if you know another experienced leader who is beginning to ask similar questions about what comes next, simply forward this newsletter to them.

Or point them to The Expert Shift.

Sometimes the most useful thing you can do is help someone start asking the right questions a little earlier.

Experienced leaders deserve another great chapter.

Dieter