I say this because, if I go looking for independent business consultant on the US Government’s Department of Labor site and there is no SIC code (Standard Industrial Classification Code) for Business Consultant. If I’m searching for support services to help me grow my practice, not much luck.

If I look for things like Human Resources or Coaching, however, I find support and services galore. If I’m in just my speaker mode, there is a wealth of resources, training, materials, etc. As a trainer I have no end to the people seeking to support or sell to me. But, when it comes to the number and quality of resources out there for guys and gals like myself (i.e., self-employed consultants providing value to the small to medium sized business world) the pickings are slim. Heck, there aren’t even many providers selling services or materials to this market, and nothing screams lack of respect more than not
even being seen as a viable target market.

Yes, I like most others I know in my profession, are members of professional organizations, but these are ancillary, indirect organizations built for other professions like speakers, trainers, HR professionals or coaches. While these may be roles an Independent Business Consultant plays in part, the profession spans all of them so any of these organizations only address a single aspect of my practice.

It’s not like I’m alone in what I do as a profession. According to the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics, there are over 300,000 “independent” business consultants out there in just the US alone. It is the 5th fastest growing market segment in the country and is predicted to grow as much as 60% by the year 2014. Given these kind of stats one would assume the “independent business consultant” market would be treated very much like any other industry; but I’m just not feeling the love.

I guess I can’t complain too much, however, because I think I’m just as much to blame as anything else. The very title of our profession just might provide us with the best hint at why this problem exists. As ”independent” business consultants, we’re just that…independent. By our very nature we work alone or in very small partnerships at best. It’s this relative isolation that I would argue has created a general lack of cohesion, or sense of community. And if the profession itself doesn’t have any cohesion, how can
the rest of the world see it clearly, or treat it accordingly?

So what are we to do to change things, bring about some cohesion in our industry and start getting a little respect if you will? Well, there I don’t have a solution and so I’m going to ask you my readers to help.

I’ve created a short survey where you can share your thoughts on what can be done to create a more cohesive market, bring more dedicated support to our family and garner more credibility as a real industry, Basically, what can we do to start getting more respect.

I guess the good news is that this problem exists among a group of professional that get paid to solve problems. We may just be suffering from the old “doctor heal thyself” adage, but that can change by refocusing, organizing our thoughts and pooling our resources.

To complete this short survey simply visits the URL below. I’ll let it run for a couple of weeks and then I’ll share the findings with everyone.

Who knows what we’ll find among ourselves, but at a minimum perhaps this in and of itself will be a good exercise in decreasing the isolation.

Thanks,
Jay Niblick

Independent Business Consultant Survey: