Finding Your Consulting Sweet Spot
Why Narrowing Your Focus Expands Your Opportunities
Last week, I caught up with independent consultant Jamie Cerretti. I've known Jamie for nearly two decades. In addition to being a dear friend, she is a brilliant changemaker whom I've admired as much for her lightspeed ability to navigate labyrinthine operations challenges as her compassion for animals and generosity to friends and colleagues.
Get to know Jamie better here, and check out her services if you need help with internal systems and operations. You won't find anyone better!
But between stories about her July 4th pool float adventures and a bizarre tale involving poodles and a bat (don't ask), we found ourselves deep in conversation about something that's been on both our minds lately: the tension between being a generalist versus a specialist as independent consultants.
This shift from generalization to specialization marks one of the most significant transitions when moving from nonprofit employment to consulting. It's a journey I've been navigating, too.
Jamie's Consulting Journey
Jamie's path to finding her consulting niche exemplifies the journey many independent consultants experience when transitioning from nonprofit employment to entrepreneurship. After nearly 20 years in leadership roles across nonprofit operations, finance, and HR, Jamie felt pulled toward a way of working that would allow her to maintain her values while escaping the burnout that had become all too familiar.
When Jamie first launched her consulting practice, she approached it as many do, by creating a comprehensive list of everything she could potentially offer clients. With her extensive background in nonprofit operations, she had a wealth of skills to draw from. However, she soon discovered that casting such a wide net wasn't the most effective approach.
A turning point came when Jamie decided to focus on state charity registration filings, a compliance area she had mastered during her in-house career.
"I knew I could do these compliance filings because I had done it in-house for a long time and found myself weirdly fascinated with the whole process," Jamie explains. She recognized this as a definite need in the nonprofit sector, where many organizations struggle with complex regulatory requirements.
Despite identifying this niche, Jamie initially struggled to secure clients. After several unsuccessful pitches, even to people within her network, she realized she needed to differentiate herself more specifically. The breakthrough came when she connected with Detention Watch Network, an organization whose abolitionist values aligned perfectly with her approach. This experience helped Jamie understand that her true niche wasn't just "compliance for nonprofits" but specifically serving organizations with particular values and ways of operating that preferred working with an individual who shared their perspective rather than a corporate firm.
Today, Jamie has found her consulting sweet spot at the intersection of what she's good at, what organizations need, and what she genuinely enjoys doing. Her practice now focuses on providing fractional operations support, state charity registration services, and other specialized operational assistance to mission-driven organizations that share her values. By narrowing her focus and clearly articulating what differentiates her from larger firms, Jamie has built a sustainable consulting practice that allows her to do meaningful work while maintaining the autonomy and work-life balance she sought when leaving traditional employment.
The Nonprofit Generalist Trap
Working inside nonprofits, I noticed how the system pushed me toward becoming more of a generalist. The smaller the organization, the more hats everyone wears. This happens for practical reasons. Limited resources mean everyone needs to pitch in across functions.
Jamie pointed out how most organizations start programmatically. A group of people care deeply about an issue, they build a program around it, and only later think about infrastructure and capacity.
"Most organizations focus on what’s right in front of them," Jamie noted. "They start out programmatically. There's an issue they care about, they get together around that, and then they start thinking longer term about building infrastructure."
I've noticed that in the for-profit world, specialization makes obvious sense. Your product or service is the thing you sell to make money. It's simple and involves fewer dimensions. But nonprofits operate with multi-dimensional stakeholders – program beneficiaries and funders – creating complexity that coupled with resource scarcity then requires generalization.
This creates a pattern where even as organizations grow, they often maintain this generalist approach rather than developing true specialization. By the time they reach 20-25 people, they should ideally have built redundancies so no single person props up the entire operation. Many don't get there.
The Consulting Specialization Shift
I initially approached consulting the same way I had thought about my work in the nonprofit world. I had done almost every job or function, so that's what I advertised as my services. My website became a catalog of every skill I'd ever used. But that didn't work. The breakthrough came when I realized I needed to differentiate myself. Just like Jamie found her niche, it's important for each independent consultant to get narrow and precise.
Clients seeking consultants are typically looking for specific expertise to solve particular problems. They aren't searching for generalists who can do a bit of everything -- that's who they have on staff!
The path to effective specialization involves recognizing that differentiation is essential, values alignment matters, and narrowing focus actually expands opportunity.
This specialization journey requires courage. It means saying no to work outside your focus area, and cultivating the confidence to position yourself as an expert in something specific and the patience to allow your reputation in that area to grow over time.
I've found the sweet spot in consulting emerges when three circles overlap: what you're good at, what people need, and what you enjoy doing.
This last part – enjoyment – often gets lost. Many of us left nonprofit jobs partly because we were miserable. I spent years trying to make it work, pushing through burnout and frustration.
The freedom to specialize in consulting creates space to focus on work that brings satisfaction. I've discovered I'm particularly good at helping organizations start new things: programs, products, initiatives. This specificity has actually made it easier to find the right clients. The hard part was narrowing it down in the first place. I wasn't used to it, having come from a world that emphasized doing everything. I certainly wasn't comfortable calling myself an expert in anything. But that's what independent consulting calls for.
Finding Your Specialization Path
The path from generalist to specialist isn't straightforward. But narrowing our focus doesn't mean abandoning our broad knowledge base. That context remains valuable. It means identifying where our unique combination of skills, interests, and market needs intersect.
I had more professional growth in five years of consulting than in all my years at my previous organization. The opportunity to go deep rather than wide has been transformative.
Here's an approach to help you find and develop your unique specialization:
Self-Assessment Checklist: Are You Properly Specialized?
Can you describe your specialty in a single, clear sentence that a stranger would understand?
Do you regularly turn down work that falls outside your specialty?
Are you recognized by peers and clients as an expert in your specific area?
Can you name at least 3-5 competitors who operate in the same specialized space? And what differentiates you from these competitors? Note you don't necessarily have to tell the whole world about the answer, but it's good to know it for yourself so you can play it up with potential clients if appropriate.
Do you have case studies or testimonials that specifically highlight your specialized expertise?
Have you developed unique methodologies, frameworks, or tools specific to your niche?
Do clients seek you out specifically for your specialty rather than through general searches?
If you answered "no" to many of these questions, you may benefit from further specialization.
Questions to Guide Your Specialization Journey
Reflect on these questions to help identify your potential specialization areas:
What problems do you solve better than 90% of consultants you know?
Which parts of your past work gave you the most energy and satisfaction?
What unique combination of experiences, skills, and perspectives do you bring?
What patterns do you notice in the clients who have been most satisfied with your work?
Which problems in the social impact space are underserved by existing consultants?
What work would you do even if you weren't being paid for it?
What specialized knowledge have you developed that others frequently ask you about? Another way to get at this: what kind of advice do people in your life ask you for?
Which client challenges make you think, "I know exactly how to solve this"?
Practical Steps to Develop Your Specialization
Conduct a skills inventory: List everything you can do, then highlight the skills that sit at the intersection of what you enjoy, what you excel at, and what clients value.
Analyze your past successes: Review your most successful projects and identify common elements or approaches that contributed to those successes.
Research market gaps: Identify underserved needs in your sector where your unique skills could provide significant value.
Develop specialized intellectual property: Create frameworks, methodologies, or tools that demonstrate your unique approach to solving problems in your specialty area.
Build proof points: Collect case studies, testimonials, and results that specifically highlight your specialized expertise.
Refine your messaging: Craft language that clearly communicates your specialization to potential clients, focusing on specific problems you solve and outcomes you deliver.
Connect with complementary specialists: Build relationships with consultants who offer complementary specialties for potential referrals and collaborations.
Overcoming Common Specialization Challenges
Fear of missing opportunities: Remember that specialization often leads to more opportunities, not fewer, as you become known for specific expertise.
Difficulty saying no: Develop clear criteria for the projects you accept and decline, based on your specialization strategy.
Identity concerns: If your identity has been tied to being a generalist, recognize that your broad knowledge remains valuable even as you specialize.
Evolving interests: Allow your specialization to evolve as your interests and the market change, but do so intentionally rather than reactively.
Signs Your Specialization Strategy Is Working
Clients seek you out specifically for your expertise rather than through general searches
You're able to command higher rates for your specialized services
You spend less time explaining your value proposition to potential clients
You receive referrals specifically for your area of expertise
You're invited to speak or write about your specialty area
You feel more confident and energized in your client engagements
Your work process becomes more efficient as you develop deeper expertise
What's your experience with the generalist-specialist spectrum? I'd love to hear how you're navigating this balance in your own consulting practice.