How Long Should It Take to Launch My Consulting Business?

Before we get into the nitty gritty of this question, I want you to think about the way you define the word ‘Launch’ because launch can mean a bunch of different things to a bunch of different people. Some people consider their businesses ‘launched’ when they get their first client. Others consider their businesses ‘launched’ when they register their business with the state or when they publish their website. 

So before you freak out about a timeline, clarify what launch means to you and give yourself some open space to define the word loosely. Personally, for me, I believe that the moment you decide your service and who exactly you’ll be serving through your business is when you ‘launch’. Even if you decided on that information 5 years before you actually contact your first client, I’d still define your launch as five years ago when you came up with the concept for your business. 

I say all this to encourage you to broaden your definition of ‘launch’ because oftentimes, we can self-impose barriers for ourselves. Sometimes we put so much emphasis on having certain boxes checked before we ‘launch’ that we actually put off bringing in revenue in our business because we think we can’t talk to clients because we don’t have a website, or haven’t perfected our LinkedIn profile. 

So, if you go with my definition of ‘launch’ (the moment you have the idea of your consulting business you've launched), you’re in a position to be able to go after your first contract right away! I got my first consulting contract within two weeks of deciding I wanted to start my own education consulting business. I didn't have a website and I think I had just filed an LLC. 

So technically, I was able to launch my business within 2 weeks of creating the idea and clarifying my service and customer. 

I really encourage you to keep your definition of ‘launch’ open and that you put yourself in a mindset of already having launched your business so you have no reason not to go after your clients! I’m 99.9% sure that if you’re reading this, you are in a position to get your first (or next) client within the next two to four weeks. So embrace your launch and get started! 

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