What is better to be a Consultant or Entrepreneur?

Making the decision to leave my comfortable and well-paid employee life demanded more than thinking about how I would secure my income, which would become not only difficult, but also scarce. In a very personal and subjective way, I see important differences between being a consultant or a businessman, without wanting to say that one decision is better than the other.

Being a consultant allows one to have responsibility over oneself and not over others, that is, each project generates responsibilities with my work and with the people who support me; at the end of this process, any labour and contractual relationship that has been generated is terminated.

Initially it is much more economical and profitable to be a consultant, since part of the income is used to cover my expenses and save for difficult times; However, although it seems to me that creating an experience around a name is valuable, it limits you when you want to win big projects, because many companies prefer to hire other companies for projects of great magnitude than people without a backup; I also worry about not having support when health and youth are missing.

For that reason, I think that being an entrepreneur is much more expensive due to office expenses, salary of collaborators and the emotional cost caused by stress. However, from my experience it is more profitable in the long term because, although it is a slow process, you position your company over time and not you as a person.

What it takes to Become a Business Consultant?

Being a business consultant like Bradley Fauteux can be stimulating and ideal for those who appreciate constant change. What’s more, payment can be excellent.

The position of consultant also seems to be the dream position of those who do not like to delve into the workings of a company and, instead, appreciate solving problems from a broader perspective. And it is this perspective of a larger plan that makes the consultants important in the role they play.

The necessary skills

It is likely that most successful business consultants have paid their debts in some way: they have developed a trajectory of success in various companies – perhaps even in the company itself – before they become experts who can help other entrepreneurs. The greatest asset of professional like Brad Fauteux is, therefore, the ability to leverage their experience and intellectual capital to generate new solutions, ideas and success stories in other aspects.

But to do this, basic skills are essential to diagnose problems, articulate them, and solve them. And that involves a lot of human interaction. So if you value more of the human interaction side of a company than the technical problem solution, you can do well in positions as a business consultant, but you may not enjoy the work itself that a consultant does.

Personal skills are as important as professionals

Apart from the required experience, there are some personal and lifestyle issues that make a person be able to perform the position of consultant.