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How to Start a Consulting Business in 30 Minutes with Free Software

Picture of Andrew Parkes

I bet you are really good at something that you could teach others.

In fact, there are probably a lot of people who would pay you to teach them what you know - whether that’s via a couple of Zoom calls or through asynchronous methods like an online course or PDF guide. 

Let’s call it your own private consulting business. 

And you shouldn’t do it for free. People generally don’t value things which they don’t pay for. 

Consulting might not be something you do full time but it could still work to help a couple of people per week with something you are already good at while making some side income for sharing your sought after skills. 

What stops people from starting a business like this are usually excuses like, ‘I don’t know where to start’ or ‘I don’t have a website’ or ‘I don’t think anyone would pay me to learn about something like this.’

These are all lies. 

I came up with a step-by-step plan for how you could start your own consulting business using free software in around 30 minutes. 

Here are the steps:

  • Step 1: Set up a new, free Gmail account (even if you already have a personal Gmail account, set up a separate one for this project) - something like andrew.consulting@gmail.com   

This new Gmail account comes with a Google Calendar which you will use later on.

  • Step 2: Set up a free Zoom account with your new Gmail account. This will give you your own dedicated Zoom meeting link.

Now, here’s the key piece software: 

Why Hubspot? Because it’s a super easy to use Contact Database AND offers two free, built in tools right out of the box: 

  • Calendar Scheduling Software (similar to Calendly)
  • Form Software (similar to Google Forms or Typeform)

(I know Hubspot’s free tools might not look as good as Calendly or Typeform BUT THEY ARE FREE! And, also, both tools are connected to a free Hubspot contact database with a communication timeline and the ability to send marketing emails like Mailchimp. Also, Hubspot is really easy software to learn - I could teach anyone to use it.)

  • Step 4: In Hubspot, first create a consultation form with 5 questions:
    • First Name
    • Email Address 
    • ‘What’s your biggest pain around _______?’ (the thing you are really good at)
    • ‘How have you tried to solve this pain in the past?’
    • ‘What worked / didn’t work when you tried these solutions in the past?’

You’ll send this form to people before you do a Zoom call with them. 

  • Step 5: Create your Hubspot scheduling link for a 30 or 60 min call which links to your new Google Calendar. Paste in your Zoom link and a link to your Hubspot consultation form in the Calendar Appointment Description. Set your availability in the scheduling link for times whenever you could do a call outside of business hours.
  • Step 6: Go on your most popular social media (maybe LinkedIn or Facebook) and say, “I’m giving away 3 free consulting sessions on ______ (the thing you are really good at.) If you don’t know me already, I am really good at _____ because _____. (It’s okay to humble brag a little bit here about things you excel in. Tell the truth but don’t go over the top as you’ll seem intimidating or untouchable.) Sign up for your free session here: (paste your Hubspot scheduling link)

(If a social media post is too public, you could send out an email instead to your contacts with the same message. This will probably have less reach but should still do the trick to book the sessions.)

Once the 3 sessions are booked (you will see a confirmation email come through in Gmail - probably pretty quickly if you truly are good), take down your Hubspot scheduling link so more people don’t schedule - unless you want to do more than 3 sessions.

Hubspot will send a calendar invite and a reminder email before the meeting to cut down on no shows. 

Before the call, check to see that the person filled out the Consultation form and review their answers. If they didn’t fill it out, send a gentle email reminder and say that the answers to this form will add way more value to the call. Most people will fill it out. 

  • Step 7: [Critical] - Deliver your 3 Zoom sessions and make sure you go over the top with providing value! Just help people. The skill they want consulting on comes naturally to you. You already know thousands of things about this skill that people want to know about - people who struggle with it want to know how they could improve.

For the first part of the call, go over the person’s answers from the Hubspot form submission. Ask really good questions to understand better their answers as people usually rush through forms and there will be a lot to clarify. Try to get to the root about where people are struggling in your area of expertise and what they’ve tried in the past to overcome that. 

Example:

You are really good at sticking to an exercise program and eating healthily over the long term. You’ve done it successfully for 10 years and barely missed a day. The person you’re consulting with really struggles. Ask them what specifically they struggle with and what trips them up? What have they tried in the past? When do they typically workout? What programs have they tried? Do they mainly train by themselves or with others? What kinds of diets have they tried? Have any diets worked for any period of time? 

Get curious and look for patterns. It will be easier for you to see them given your experience and mastery with the topic.

Then, aim to give them 2-3 ideas on how they could get better at the thing you are good at. Don’t give them more than 3 ideas. It’s overwhelming and they won't take action on  any of them.

Think of this call as simply sharing helpful tips you’ve learned along your journey to get really good at something which you ‘wish you knew’ when you were a beginner.

Don’t overthink these sessions or put too much pressure on yourself. After the initial awkwardness at the start of the call, you will be fine as the other person should really want your help. Why else would they sign up for a session if they weren't looking for ways to improve? Try to purposefully listen more than talk as you don’t want the other person thinking you’re lecturing or on your soapbox. 

Wrap up by saying thank you and ask them if they wouldn’t mind providing you with a testimonial if they loved the session (which will be coming via email afterwards.)

In the rare case that the person seems arrogant, un-coachable, stuck in their ways, argumentative, untrusting, moody, or negative, don’t sweat it. Some people are just like that - they think they want to be helped but they really just want to fight. Move on and forget about it. 

If, by chance, they ask to keep working with you, say, ‘No.’ You don’t have time to work with needy people who have dirty energy. 

  • Step 8: Create another form in Hubspot for collecting testimonials. It will ask for a rating out of 10, their major takeaway from the session, what could have been improved in the session, and whether they would be willing to refer you.
  • Step 9: Send the 3 people an email with a link to your testimonial form. On the testimonial form, if the person you spoke with got great value, ask them to introduce you to 3 other people you could talk to about coaching. Create a Hubspot task to follow up in 3 days if the person doesn’t respond. Remember, people are busy and they forget to do stuff. That’s what tasks are for!
  • Step 10: Repeat the same process but this time, at the end of the free consultation call, mention your offer (ongoing 1-on-1 coaching or an online course that’s coming.)
  • Step 11: From here, you could:
    • Sign someone up for ongoing coaching - maybe 2 sessions per month for $100 with a minimum 3 month commitment which can be renewed if both people agree.
    • Create a course on Udemy to teach what you are good at - use content/questions/issues/problems for the course from your coaching sessions.
    • Create an ebook/blog/Podcast/PDF to teach what you are good at.
    • Create a website to store your testimonials, seek out more, and create content about your skill.

That’s it - create a consulting business in around 30 minutes using free software like Gmail/Gcal, Zoom, and Hubspot. Eventually, turn it into a source of income.

Or, if you don’t like consulting or building courses, at least you gave up your excuses and tried - that’s a win. 

Next, maybe you could build a Small Business around something else you are interested in. At least now, you have a system (Gmail/Gcal/Zoom/Hubspot) to organize how you go about it. 

I’ve got more detail on how to do this, especially in Hubspot given it is a powerful, free tool. Would you be curious to learn more? If 'yes', check this out.

I’m really interested in how free or low cost software can easily start small businesses like this.