Stop Solving Problems You Don't Have Yet

When you venture out as an independent consultant, it’s like jumping off the corporate cruise ship into unknown waters to build your own vessel while you’re swimming. There’s no lifeboat. There’s no coast guard. No one is coming to save you.

Waves of choppy saltwater hit you in the face, stinging your eyes, leaving a briny taste in your mouth. You’re struggling to assemble your boat and climb aboard before you drown.

Many have drowned before you. You see them putting up the green banner on LinkedIn. Sharing their “excited to announce” career update post. You vow that will never be you.

You’re treading water, raw materials floating all around you, trying to figure out how to build a personal watercraft. All your experience has been on those corporate vessels, with departments, teams, and resources beyond the meager boards you’ve gathered.

You turn your attention away from the corporate sailors, to the other people who’ve built their own little boats. Some are in rowboats, others in sailboats, some in fishing boats, and others piloting sleek little yachts. They’re calling out advice to you.

“You need a mast!” the sailboat captain yells. “You can’t hang your sail without a mast!”

“You need an anchor,” another calls. “Without an anchor, you’ll just drift aimlessly.”

“You need oars,” shouts a voice from the rowboat. “Start with oars, and then upgrade to an outboard motor.”

“Wrong!” says the yacht captain. “Skip the oars and go straight for the motor. You’ll thank me later.”

You feel overwhelmed and exposed. Another wave breaks on your face, and you surface, gasping for air.

With limited time, money, and energy, what do you do?

When you’re starting with nothing, it feels like you needed everything yesterday.

• A website that doesn’t look like you made it yourself in Microsoft FrontPage
• A lead magnet to attract potential clients (do those even work for B2B?)
• A blog with at least six articles to showcase your thought leadership
• An introductory offer, because someone said that’s how you get clients
• A signature offer, because someone said that’s how you actually make money
• An email list, with a welcome sequence that doesn’t sound like ChatGPT regurgitating bad advice from Reddit
• A keynote, book, headshot, media kit, testimonial page, YouTube channel, content calendar, 10,000 followers, a CRM, and a therapist for when you inevitably burnout

All of those are effective pieces of a boat. But not all boats are built the same way. The people shouting advice aren’t wrong, they’re just solving problems you haven’t encountered yet. The yacht captain is struggling with different problems than someone treading water.

And there are many ways to solve the same problem. The fishing boat captain may bring in business with keynote speeches. But the yacht captain may never get on stage. The rowboat owner might be brilliant at YouTube videos, but would sink if he had to write a blog.

But one thing that every single independent consultant must master? Conversations.

How to start them, how to lead them, when to leave them, and how to steer them to signed contracts.

Conversations create clients.

And there’s a hidden benefit. Every breakthrough in your ideal client profile, offer, positioning, and messaging starts with a conversation.

If you want to stay afloat, you must become just as good at winning the work as you are at doing the work.

Don’t copy someone else’s boat. Let your conversations show you what your boat really needs to sail off into the sunset.