Thinking About Becoming an Independent Consultant?
Lessons from the First Six Months
When Hannah Fine launched her consulting business earlier this year, she wasn't sure what to expect. After years of leading digital organizing and communications efforts at organizations like Senator Elizabeth Warren's presidential campaign, Everytown for Gun Safety, and Only One, she decided it was the right moment to take the jump into independent consulting – something she’d been interested in for a long time.
What followed was both exciting and nerve-racking – a leap into the unknown that brought growth, wins, and plenty of lessons for anyone thinking about striking out on their own. I had the pleasure of sitting down with Hannah to discuss her experiences.
Courtesy of Fine Strategies
Hannah's story is one that many in our community will find familiar. Those first anxious weeks wondering, “what have I done?!” The thrill of signing that first contract…and then the second, and the third. The delicate balance of valuing your work appropriately while building client relationships. Through it all, Hannah has stayed grounded in who she is — a throughline that she credits with helping her build strong, lasting client relationships.
"Authenticity isn’t a tactic – it’s how you build trust. I couldn’t pretend to be someone else if I tried!” Hannah shared. “Showing up as myself has strengthened the work and deepened the relationships behind it.” In the social impact space, authenticity matters. Your unique perspective and honest approach are among your greatest assets – and clients can feel it in the results.
Since launching Fine Strategies last March, Hannah has built a diverse portfolio of clients seeking her expertise in digital organizing, communications, and strategic advising. What began with a period of uncertainty has blossomed into a thriving practice – one that lets her work on issues she cares deeply about, collaborate with values-aligned teams, and keep a rhythm that supports her life beyond work.
In our newsletter, Hannah shares candid insights about the emotional rollercoaster of those early days, practical tips for setting up your business, and wisdom about finding joy in the daily practice of consulting work. Our conversation revealed some common threads in our journeys that I thought might be helpful to share.
Time moves differently when you're starting out
The first few weeks of independent consulting were some of the slowest of my life. True, I started in the beginning of the COVID pandemic in May 2020, but still I'd check my email constantly, refresh LinkedIn obsessively, and feel a mounting sense of panic with each passing hour without a new lead.
Hannah shared a similar experience:
At the very beginning, hours felt like days. I remember walking around my neighborhood at 2pm on a Tuesday, going back and forth between enjoying the freedom and worrying if I was making the right move.
What we wish we'd known: this slow period is normal and temporary. Instead of anxiously refreshing my inbox, I could have used that time to develop systems, take walks like Hannah did, or simply enjoy the flexibility that would become scarce once clients started rolling in.
Community member Jamie Cerretti had some good advice for those consultants just starting out:
I have a possibly controversial opinion that I keep putting out there which is that you should spend your first year just focused on getting clients. Don't worry as much about your branding/logo/inspiring name/headshots.
Launching doesn't need a complex strategy. With a laugh, Hannah remembers her launch: “As someone who writes campaign and marketing plans for a living, I definitely overthought the sequencing of announcement emails, posts, and messages. A friend and fellow consultant patiently listened to me walk through my plan, and then kindly and bluntly told me that it really didn’t matter – people just need to know that they can hire you!”
After that wake-up call, Hannah was off to the races: putting together her site (she was surprised by how quickly it came together!) and immediately letting her network know that she was taking clients.
Set up your systems early
Hannah and I both learned the hard way that administrative setup matters. "Research and compare software and subscription packages before purchasing," Hannah advised. “There are a bunch of different tools you may want to start with – like accounting software, a custom domain, and a CRM to help build your website. Look for bundled discounts before buying anything – I wish I’d realized that Squarespace offers free Google Workspace!”
Community member Salim Shariff emphasized: "Taxes/accounting/legal stuff that I am still not great about, but if you figure out well early, will save you sooooo much time down the line."
My big mistake was setting up my consulting LLC in New York. I live in Brooklyn, so you set your company up where you're based, right? Sure, if you want to pay hundreds of dollars to run a notice in the local newspaper about starting your company. (True story.) Learn from my error, and consider incorporating in Delaware or Wyoming regardless of where you live!
Save yourself $360 (and that was in 2020!)
Overall, the infrastructure of your business – from accounting software to contract templates – creates the foundation for everything else. Investing time here early saves countless headaches later. We've shared some tips on this already. Check them out here and here.
Test, Learn, Iterate: A Framework for Success
Both Hannah and I emphasized treating your consulting practice as an ongoing learning experience. Rather than expecting to get everything right immediately, adopt a "hypothesis, test, iterate" framework. This approach applies to everything from pricing strategies to contract terms to marketing.
This experimental mindset reduces pressure and creates valuable learning opportunities. Instead of viewing "mistakes" as failures, see them as data points that strengthen your practice. Perhaps you underpriced a project or included terms that created extra work. These aren't failures but valuable lessons that inform your next contract.
Hannah told me about agonizing over terms in an early contract negotiation – and realizing later that if she wasn’t thrilled with how it went in practice, then she could just try another approach in her next contract.
The beauty of consulting is that each engagement provides a fresh opportunity to apply what you've learned. Your business can evolve rapidly when you embrace this test-and-learn approach.
Leads Come From Unexpected Places
The best contracts can come from surprising places. Hannah’s current clients originated from a variety of sources: from direct networking and referrals to Facebook groups and LinkedIn posts.
Hannah’s advice is to cast a wide net and be open to opportunities from unexpected channels. This approach requires overcoming the discomfort of putting yourself out there, but it can yield significant results.
While your existing network will likely provide your first clients, sustainable growth requires expanding beyond those initial connections. Join industry-specific online communities, participate in relevant social media conversations, and make yourself visible in spaces where potential clients gather.
The key is consistency and authenticity. Brief daily engagement across multiple platforms often proves more effective than intensive but sporadic networking efforts.
Check out these guides for some helpful tips on growing your business.
The Consulting-to-Business Owner Spectrum
One of the most liberating aspects of independent consulting is the freedom to define success on your own terms. As you embark on this journey, you'll face an important question that many new consultants don't consider until they're well into their practice: What kind of business do you actually want to build?
There's a spectrum of possibilities between being a solo independent consultant and building a full-fledged agency with employees. Where you position yourself on this spectrum should align with what you want from your work.
Many consultants find greater fulfillment in remaining independent while deepening their expertise, raising their rates, or developing premium service offerings. In contrast, as one community member noted, "Building a company can become a black hole that demands more and more of your time and energy. There's nothing wrong with choosing to stay independent if that better serves your goals and lifestyle."
Consider what truly matters to you: Is it maximizing income? Creating the greatest possible impact? Having freedom over your schedule? Working exclusively on projects that align with your values? Your answers will guide whether you remain a solo practitioner or build a team, and there's no single "right" path.
This realization can be incredibly freeing, especially when people start asking about your growth plans or when you'll hire your first employee. Hannah has faced these questions, despite being just six months into her consulting journey. "I've already had friends ask when I'm going to start hiring," she mentioned, "and I've had to say, no, no, no – that's not the goal here."
Celebrate the Big Stuff – and the Small Stuff!
When you're building a consulting practice, it's easy to focus solely on the next client or the next project. But as Hannah shared, "really treasuring all of the victories along the way" can transform your experience. Every signed contract, every new lead, every successful engagement deserves recognition.
In the early days, Hannah's fiancé would celebrate each milestone with homemade ice cream sandwiches from their favorite bakery. Within a few weeks, as the successes became more frequent, Hannah had to gently suggest that, for health reasons, they might need to scale back. The point remains: acknowledging your wins, no matter how small, provides essential emotional fuel for the journey.
Celebrate your wins!
Create your own celebration rituals. Maybe it's treating yourself to something delicious after signing a contract, taking a moment of gratitude when receiving positive feedback, or simply pausing to acknowledge your progress. These moments of recognition help maintain perspective and motivation, especially during challenging periods.
Finding Balance Between Availability and Boundaries
One of the unexpected benefits Hannah found was how much more balanced her life became. The flexibility to fit in a midday workout, call family between meetings, or start dinner during a work break made a real difference for her wellbeing.
This is the most well-rounded and healthy my life has ever been.
Being able to design your day the way you want – whether that means working in focused bursts, taking breaks when you choose, or fitting in personal time – is one of consulting’s biggest perks, and something you really notice once you’re in it.
However, this flexibility requires intentionally creating boundaries. Without the structure of an office environment, you must define your own parameters for availability. Without a bank of PTO days I had to use or lose, I found myself taking *less* vacation in my first couple years as an independent consultant. The flexibility is there, but you’ll need to proactively take advantage of it. That might mean setting specific working hours, creating dedicated workspace, or establishing communication protocols with clients.
Many new consultants struggle with guilt about using the flexibility that consulting provides. Remember that this flexibility is a massive benefit. It's part of what makes consulting sustainable and rewarding.
Build your community intentionally
The isolation of independent work can hit hard. This has been the theme of a few recent newsletters like this one and this one.
Hannah emphasized how crucial peer connections became for her:
I was so grateful to join other communities of independent consultants doing mission-driven work – and regular check-ins with friends in this space have been both a total necessity and a complete joy.
Finding spaces to be vulnerable about challenges is as important as celebrating wins. Community building can take many forms, from formal mastermind groups to casual coffee dates with fellow consultants. Try starting out small with fifteen minutes of daily networking. Or look for easy opportunities like reaching out to folks who recently posted an update on LinkedIn, since you won't have to rack your brain for something to talk about.
The Joy of Practice: Embracing the Learning Process
Many of us enter consulting with perfectionist tendencies. I am definitely one of those people. For much of my life, I expected mastery from day one and couldn't get into something I wasn't great at from the start.
I had to learn how to find joy in the practice itself. The best place to be is when you start to like what you are doing every day. This can become one of the unlooked-for wonders of the consulting life, how you can design your work around activities that genuinely bring satisfaction.
For me, it was a true mindset shift from the nonprofit world – where the mission and the impact were all that mattered – to consulting, where that still mattered, but I also could appreciate the daily work.
This change in attitude has helped me elsewhere, too. My partner got me piano lessons for my birthday, and I've taken to it in a way I don't think I could have when I was younger. I'm not going to be a concert pianist, but I take joy in practicing. I just like to sit down and play. It brings me a lot of pleasure.
As you build your consulting practice, pay attention to which activities energize you and which drain you. Over time, you can shape your offerings to include more of what you love doing. When you find joy in the daily practice of your work, you build resilience against the inevitable challenges of independent consulting.
Give yourself a passion project
One of my biggest pieces of advice when starting out is to give yourself one passion project to do. In my first year, I wrote a 300-page memoir about my time in nonprofit work. I've never done anything with it, but it helped me to understand so much better what I wanted to work on, how I see the world, and what kind of impact I wanted to have. And I loved writing it! The space to explore ideas without client constraints would become essential to my growth and satisfaction as a consultant.
Hannah’s been able to devote more time to supporting candidates in local races as a volunteer, something that brings her tremendous joy. Her other passion project is – like her interest in independent consulting – one she’s thought about for years: training for a 10K. (And as her runs get longer and longer, she welcomes all music suggestions!)
Starting as an independent consultant in the social impact space comes with unique challenges but also incredible rewards. The flexibility to choose your projects, set your own schedule, and work with organizations you truly believe in makes the initial uncertainty worthwhile.
What do you wish you'd known when starting out? Reply to this email to share your thoughts – I'd love to hear from you.
Until next time,
Sam