What it Takes to Start a Consulting Business Online – Lessons Learned After 5 years of Self-Employment

by Sep 28, 2020

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It’s November 2017, and I’m sitting in the Milk & Madu cafe in Canggu, Bali, with my housemate Alice, sweating our asses off in the tropical heat. 

The fans slowly turn overhead, plates clatter, and keyboards clack as 100’s of nomads dig into their healthy breakfasts of avocado toast, gluten-free waffles, and acai bowls before starting their workday. 

God, I miss the days when we could go out in public, don’t you?

Anyway, Alice is an event planner based out of Dubai, but she’s taken a sabbatical because she’s burnt out.  She’s tired of working for a crazy boss, sitting in meetings, and dealing with corporate BS. 

Alice thinks she wants to start a consulting business, but she’s overwhelmed AF.

I’d been traveling full-time for about a year at this point and running a business for 3, so she’s quizzing me about how I find clients, how I work remotely, how I got over the horrible fear of starting my own business…

And as we’re talking and I’m guiding her into a potential path forward with her own business, I realize there are many more people out there like Alice. 

People out there who hate working in corporate America. 

People who are tired of endless meetings and walking through miles of cubicle farms to get their coffee.

People who are sick of eating lunch at their desk, feeling under-appreciated… and trapped.

They want more freedom. 

They might want to start a consulting business, or go freelance, or build an agency – and they have ALL the skills they need – but they’re scared shitless of giving up that paycheck and benefits.

And I’m in a unique position to help – because I’ve done it.

So we finish up breakfast, and we go to work – Alice on homework I give her, me on an idea that would change my whole business.

I think about what I wish I’d known back when I was trapped in corporate and dying to get out. 

I think about what I wish I’d known earlier on in my business journey – the strategies and little hacks that had allowed me to drastically change my life.

I think about what I would do if I wanted to start a business and make money FAST because I NEEDED to quit my soul-sucking job. 

I sit down and write the outline for what would later become my ebook, Secrets of a Six-Figure Freelancer.

Then I write and write and write, and wrote the entire book in a day. 

And then I had the idea to make it an online program. 

So, within a month, I created a sales page and reached out to everyone in my network who might be interested. 

Every freelancer I knew, everyone who had mentioned wanting to start a business, everyone I knew on Remote Year, everyone I was connected with on LinkedIn…

I invited them to enroll, and I asked people to share. 

And I somehow got 30 people to sign up! 

So, in the early months of 2019, in my rented Airbnb room in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, I used my 4-year-old laptop to create a course that would change my life – and thousands of others. 

I had no idea at the time what this would become.

This little idea I’d had at a cafe in Bali has led to a totally different business model (I was coaching startup clients at the time) and took me from consultant to coach, author, course creator, and entrepreneur.

That single idea – and some fast action – has led to a lot more freedom and fulfillment.

Because a plan doesn’t need to be a big, complicated thing.

All I knew was that I had a desire to help people skip the struggle that I experienced when I started my business; I didn’t know what that looked like or how I’d do it – I simply took the next logical step.

Two years later, we’ve made some enhancements, and more than 1500 people have gone through the Six Figure Framework™.

And I know we’re onto something here because I keep seeing results like these: 

What it Takes to Start a Consulting Business Online - Lessons Learned After 5 years of Self-Employment 1

Dan San Sales Strategist Testimonial

The program works because my clients don’t waste time chasing trends, getting overwhelmed by free advice, or focusing on the number of likes or follows they get.

They get real, strategic, PROVEN, timeless business strategy from an MBA with 10 years of experience in branding, marketing, and starting businesses.

  • They learn to simplify, prioritize, and stop trying to do everything.
  • They learn to build a brand instead of hunting for gigs. 
  • They learn to get focused on the clients they want and how they can serve them best.
  • They learn to be consistent in their marketing, messaging, and promotions to attract more leads.
  • They learn to have sales conversations without feeling like a “salesman.”
  • They learn to price based on value instead of time spent.

And probably most importantly, they get mindset training for becoming resilient, thinking like a business owner, and shifting their beliefs around money.

They create confidence, stop second-guessing themselves, and start taking action.

Every.Single.Day.

I’m SO proud of this program. 

So, starting in 2021, I’ll be going all-in on Six Figure Freelancers & exiting the one-on-one coaching business*.

We’ll be pivoting to a membership model, re-doing all the videos, and adding monthly training, mastermind calls, and more.

But in the meantime, if you’d like to lock in lifetime access to the current program, I’ve opened up enrollment. 

You’ll get the same step-by-step strategies my private and group coaching clients have used to land $5,000 & $10,000 (or even $80,000!) client contracts in their first 6-months in business.

And you can get started today for just a couple hundred bucks. 🙂

Click here to save your seat!

*I’ll still be offering private sessions, but only as an upgrade to active members of Six-Figure Freelancers. If you’ve wanted to work with me in a private business coaching program, NOW is the time to apply – these programs will be discontinued to the public in 2022.

Not ready for the course? Grab my Ebook today and get my top secrets!

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Hi, I’m Kate

Hey, I’m Kate! I’m a designer, digital nomad and founder of Six Figure Freelancers – I love to help talented tech pros start businesses.

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