 Hello everyone. So today we're trying something a bit different. We're going to try and interview. Today I'm going to be interviewing Rebecca Breezy and she is a freelance business consultant. She is also my sister. She works for herself as a freelancer but as a business consultant and I thought that this could be of interest to people who are interested in the freelancing world. At least for me, this was something that I hadn't even thought of before being a freelance consultant, being a freelance business consultant. And so I thought it might be interesting to talk to Rebecca a little bit about it and explore the world of freelance business consulting. Hello. Hello. Thank you for having me. So first of all, let's start off with what is a freelance business consultant? Good question. One I get very, very often. And we use the word consultant. It's one of those words that is that kind of gets applied to everything. So if a person does kind of knowledge work, then they're a consultant. So the way I describe it is really advisory work. So I work with business owners or unit managers or business managers in managing their business. And a consultant really sits with their person of interest, so to speak, and helps make good decisions, helps plan and helps maintain sort of consistency throughout the operations. In my case, I am specifically a strategic consultant. And so what I do, my role within my client companies is in a sense that of a generalist that understands how all the business parts work together and helps the business owner or manager once again make good decisions, set up systems for operational sort of smooth operational running and grow the business. So set their business up in a way that it's constantly growing. So what I can add to that is also to help describe what a consultant is not. And that is a coach for one thing. Again, these are titles that we can all apply to ourselves. So there's no direct definition, but I think the simplest way to define the difference is a business coach helps you understand what business you want to be in as well. And sort of it's kind of a step before, if you will, helps you say, okay, this is what you're good at. This is what you're passionate about. And then build out your business from there. Whereas a strategic consultant, I need to come in once those decisions are already made, you know what you're, what you want to be doing and what you want to be delivering. And I help you make that happen. I'm not so much working on you, the person I'm working on you, your business. What type of person would like to become or what person, what type of person could become a freelance business consultant? The main key where there is freelance, of course, so and that's true of all freelancers. So so there are the things there that are common to all freelancers, which are, you know, you have to obviously be a self-starter, be entrepreneurial, do all those things. You have to understand working at your business and in your business and be prepared to do both. So working without the resources of a big company. So all those things, as I say, which are universal to freelancers that you run into and a lot of people who watch these videos run into. The consulting side specifically, you need to know, you need to be able to productize something intangible. So the point is, a freelance translator delivers a specific tangible, which is a translated document and it is either done or it's not done. It either makes sense in the target language or it doesn't. There's kind of very much a right or wrong. For consultants, there is a right or wrong and it does need to be tangible. But it's not so much like this defined product that I can build and hold on to. It's certainly, you know, for me, it's more of a process that I'm putting in place. And so you see the results a little bit over time. So you have to know how to define what those results are and then explain them in the immediate as well. Because it's not enough to say, just work for me and then trust me, it's going to work. So making that, you know, knowing what you're good at, but also being able to productize that is very important. To be a business consultant, you need to know the value of what you're doing, not just know what you're good at, that sort of thing. So that's really the type of person. It's the type of person who can create tangibles from knowledge work and deliver those. And then, as I say, universal tool freelancers, keep the balance between delivering and growing your business. So if I understand correctly, someone who is A, good at something and B, knows what they're good at and then C, knows how to explain or how to translate their knowledge into something that's useful for someone else, for someone else's company or someone else's business. Okay. Absolutely. And how would someone, so say someone watching this video feels, well, I'm good at something and I can, I can do something like that. How would they go about setting up and becoming a freelance business consultant? Yeah. Excellent question. First of all, articulate what you're good at. And the reason I say that's an excellent question is because sometimes we say, well, this is my experience, so I can keep doing that or I'm, it's a somewhat superficial approach of I'm good at this or I've been through this and so this is what I can do. Don't think so much about your experience, but think more about the outcome of your experience. What have you achieved? So not just what I've been through in life, but really what has been the result of my specific effort? Because some of the things that you achieved were aided by other people or by circumstance. So knowing how to actually hone in on, I am good at this. I personally and through my specific efforts have achieved this. That's how you really start to define what it is that you are good at and what that value is that you can then bring to other people. So being able to isolate that is not very simple. And so that's the other side of this. You need to be able to do that, but also don't be afraid to get started. And you've talked about this in your videos. Anything that's worth doing is worth doing badly. That's true for your consultants as well. So start getting out there and selling your services, understand how that resonates with people and what kind of questions they're asking you, and use that to continuously refine your offering. So you need to always find that balance. And this is true for business consultants and it's true for all businesses. This is actually something that I preach to my clients. Always to find that balance between what you are good at and what the market needs. And make sure that you're always connecting those two things. Right. Well, first of all, just for the record, I didn't come up with that. Everything worth doing is worth doing badly. I think it was Zig Ziglar. But anyway, it was someone else who came up with that. But yeah, I have repeated it because it's, I think it's a good mantra. And so just to specify a bit more, it seems to me that this is someone, so someone maybe who has experience, even who doesn't have any entrepreneurial experience, but maybe has experience in a company working in a certain industry or something along those lines, could then say, well, I have experience, I have attained certain results with this. And so I know how it should be done. And could then look into becoming a freelance business consultant using that experience. Right. Correct. And let me give my background as an example. I worked in a tech startup for 11 years. So I joined a company two years, barely two years into that, we pivoted to enter the tech space. So we really started up all over again in a whole new product, whole new product offering, whole new method of sales, et cetera. So at that point, I was the second person in and we needed to build this up out of nothing. We were a startup at that point. We did get financing. We did end up doing several rounds of financing that I also was involved in. But at that point, we were still bootstrapped. So how do you do customer research without resources to employing customer research? Well, you just do it yourself and you speak to your customers. So that's really where I started. As we built the business up, we needed to place people in all the different roles within a company as you scale up. And so I had to be part of those roles and then find the best person to hire for them. And as the company grew, my role was always making sure that all of those different people and departments worked well together. So I did this for 11 years and part of those 11 years was me moving to the United States. That occurred in the UK, moving to the United States to open up US operations and essentially starting up all over again in the US because I got to bootstrap that operation, which I enjoy. So that was a good experience. So all of that to say that when I was then reviewing what it is that I was doing for this company on and on, I started to identify my strengths were making sure that all these parts of the companies were working well together, setting those strategic goals and understanding what we needed to achieve, communicating with and getting information from our clients. So I tried to always make those things tangible so that I could report on my results. That is the experience that then I took with me as a consultant. That's how I understood what I'm good at. So it's not just that the company grew where we got these sorts of sales. What did I do in order for the company to achieve that? So understanding that, again, making it as specific as possible and the way that you can do that is as I say, look at your achievements. Also ask yourself what comes naturally to you and just as important, if not more so, what do you like learning? So the areas in which you like learning are areas that you will continuously pursue naturally. So be realistic about what you enjoy doing and what you enjoy learning. And just out of curiosity, what if someone is coming out of, is just now graduating from school or just coming out of school and doesn't really have much corporate experience? What road might they have or what path could they have into becoming a freelance business consultant? That's it. That's interesting. If I'm going to be very harsh, I will say none. You have to have experience to bring in there. But that is not universally true because you can learn by doing. And what we were saying before, if anything worth doing is worth doing badly. But you must be aware of your limited experience at that point. Yes, perhaps you had part-time jobs in school, even full-time jobs. Yes, perhaps you had summer jobs. But be realistic about the responsibility that was on your shoulders. And if you did not deliver, what was the backlash there? So the higher your responsibility, the bigger the weight on your shoulders, and the more prepared you are to then go in and help other people bear that responsibility. So if you are a neograd and this is what you want to do, then I would say start very, very targeted, very, very specialized. Start small, but use that experience to learn. So learn by teaching, in a sense. Find that one area of niche that you can go into a business and say, okay, well, just give me this one small area of your business. Allow me to help you build that and run with it and use that time and experience to learn about the other parts of the business. And then scale up gradually, and gradually, not because you need time, but because you need experience. So be realistic about what you're learning. Also know that the more things you get wrong, the better you will be at consulting for other people. We learn the most in times of adversity. So, you know, just if you do something once and get it right the first time, don't let that feed into your confidence. You know, the idea is to always be in a little bit over your head. That's how you're learning. And then that's the experience that you can then bring to your business as you grow your practice. Right. So if someone's just starting out, and whether they're a neograd, as you call it, or if they already have experience, but they're just starting out as a freelance consultant, freelance business consultant, what about maybe offering their services for free to a company or maybe to someone they know just to gain that experience? Is this something you would advise or do you think it's good or bad or what? I advise never offering your services for free. But that doesn't mean that you have to offer your services for cash reward. So the point is you can work for remuneration that is different than money. So be smart about that. One of my first gigs was my services in exchange for some web development. I needed to up that presence. I don't have that expertise, but that allowed me to build my portfolio because I could then use that client as a testimonial. It also got my website done, which I needed to specifically to further my business. So it's not like I just want a pretty website. There was a business result there for me. So that's just an example. So don't work for free, but feel free to be creative about what you're getting out of it. Just make sure that you're getting something out of it that is going to help you further your business, even if it is just that testimonial in case study that you can utilize that publicly and that has a direct impact on your business growth. So in case someone is or maybe on the fence or maybe they're not interested yet, what would you say are some good points about being a freelance business consultant? Well, there are a lot of things. And again, there's sort of, so there's the personal side of work-life balance, so to speak. I don't actually like that expression because when I was in house, both corporate and with a startup, whenever people said work-life balance, generally, they just wanted to work less. And so I grew this frustration with that expression of saying, well, if anybody came to me with that, I was like, no, go home, think about what you actually want, and then come and say something specific to me. And if you do want to work less, that's fine, but just say so. Let's all know where we stand. Anyway, so all that to say, I'm using that expression, but what I actually mean is managing my life the way I want to. Again, that's true for every freelancer. It's something that you speak about a lot in your YouTube channel, picking your clients, picking your hours. I like to work and there's always a joke amongst my colleagues and people who know me about me being a workaholic. I don't think I am a workaholic because I can turn off and I do fairly regularly, but the point is that I like to manage my own time. I wake up super early and I start working very, very early. I don't mind working on Saturdays and Sundays and I do all that because at 2pm, I'm not very bright. That's my downtime. That's after lunch. I'm not at my strongest. So at 2pm, that's when I'll go to the gym or take a break or run errands, that sort of thing. So it seems like a little thing, but life is made up of everyday routine. That's what makes up life. It's not like the big unique moments. Those are unique. So being able to manage my everyday and manage those little things in a way that I want is important to me. So that's speaking to the freelance side. And also on the freelance side, I suppose, is picking your clients, getting to work with multiple clients. So that's something else that I like. I like this fact of getting able to see so many different businesses from the inside. It is personally gratifying to me to feel that I am impacting many businesses. So that's all, again, part of that personal gratification of what I do, the good side of being a business consultant. And then the consultant specifically is, again, I admire people who run their own businesses. I like people who manage businesses well. Management is changing drastically. We've seen it throughout the last couple of generations and we're going to keep seeing it the way that people are motivated and incentivized, what people expect to get out of work. So all of these things, again, I like to be a part of that and related to what I was just saying, being able to be a part of that for multiple people. So in my role as a freelance consultant, I can feel that I can continuously learn from that, but also have an impact on it. So those are good things about being a freelance consultant. I get control over my life. I get a lot of personal gratification from what I do. I get motivated to wake up in the morning and look forward to seeing this impact that I'm going to have. And again, this is true for all freelancers. I'm sure you feel this too. That paycheck is an incredible feeling. When you get a paycheck and you know that every single dollar on that paycheck you produced, it's not because of the brand that you represent or the systems behind you or the people supporting you. It's all you. There's no feeling like that in the world. Yeah. No, definitely. I think that goes for anyone who's an entrepreneur who works for themselves through the freelance or something like that. When you do get that paycheck, when you get that money, you know that 100% was because of your efforts and not because of people behind you or your brand or your company. Yeah, it is really a great feeling. And that, yeah, that's definitely a good point for anyone in our business. But anyway, so we talked about some good points about being a freelance business consultant, but in the interest of honesty, what are some bad points about it? Irregular income. So we talked about the glory of that paycheck, but you don't have your standard wage and one month will be great. Another month, it doesn't matter at what point you're on your business. That's something you have to be aware of. Even very successful, it still fluctuates. It doesn't mean it fluctuates drastically, but it fluctuates. So that's certainly part of it. And so the flip side of everything we're saying, you don't have all of that support. If you need something done, it's up to you. You can't just pass it on to HR or legal or admin even. You can't just call somebody and say, I need more pens, order me stationary. So you don't get any of that support. And that's true, yes, in the ordering stationary, but also in things like building your business and making sure people not just know that you exist, but remember that you exist. That's all very important when you're freelance anything and when you're freelance consultant. And again, going back to what I was saying at the very beginning, your work is somewhat intangible. I said, you know, one of the challenges is making it tangible, but that takes time. And you have to be the one doing it. Again, you don't have that whole support system to do it for you. So there is more to keep, there's more over which you need to maintain control. And it's sometimes it's frustrating, especially at the beginning, but even throughout your business, because as I say business fluctuates, and when you're at your busiest with clients is when you should also be marketing for your next client. Because otherwise the problem is always you're working on so much on your current clients that then those contracts end or those projects end and you don't have anything, your pipeline. So those balances, it's not just the effort that goes into it, but it's the effort of remembering to do all that. Those are some of the downsides. And if that is not something that either comes naturally to you or a challenge that you think you'd enjoy, so to speak, then that's something to bear in mind if you're considering this line of work. Yeah. And I know it definitely hit me when I first started out on my own, because like you, I was working in the corporate world and then I went out on my own. And you realize that, I mean, you're wearing all these different hats. And yes, you're the one who has to get all the new pens and paper clips. And at the same time, you need to be marketing. And at the beginning, in fact, no matter what your business, you're probably marketing and doing sales more than whatever your business is, because otherwise no one's going to come around to you for your business. Right, right. Very true. And that's the thing. And a lot of people will say, well, I'm not a natural sales person. So I can't do this. Yes, you can, because you're not in sales, you're a business developer. So you still can do it. But yes, you need to be realistic about the fact that you need to be out there and doing this. And that's not going to end just because you've got clients. That is true. That is true for the duration of your career as a freelance consultant or as a freelancer. Yeah. Since you are a business consultant, I was wondering if maybe we could get some business consulting tips for people who are listening here. If you have any tips for, so most of the people listening to this are very small businesses, as in one person. And so they're entrepreneurs or freelancers and stuff like that. So I don't know, do you have any tips you could give us? Sure. Yes. So many, but let's narrow down to some universal truths. One is to always be learning. So again, this sort of very touchy-feely 21st century approach to Glenn Gary, Glenn Ross. But the truth is, in this connects to what we were just saying, you constantly have to be marketing yourself, constantly have to be developing your own business. So you constantly have to have something to say. I mean, it's as simple as that. So knowing what is happening in the environment. So outside of your own desk, out there in your client environment, your industry environment, the general environment is important. Knowing what your clients want, what they need, what they're afraid of, what the trends are and the fads are that are affecting their decision making is important. So always be learning, do that through networking, do that through association affiliations, reading, journals, general news, etc. Just know that you're always getting more information that you can then feed into your own marketing and your product, etc. The other one is to also sort of connect to what I was saying before, always be in a little bit over your head. And this also means that you're learning. So accept the jobs that you're a little bit intimidated by. Do that. And pitch for things that you have 80% of that experience, not 100. Do that. That's fine. You will learn by doing. You're probably better at things than you think you are. You have the experience and especially the more you're doing it than the more you're learning from your experience. So challenge yourself continuously. And again, that's how you'll know that you're growing. And that's what will allow you to get bigger and bigger jobs or newer, different jobs. So very much those things. Always be learning, always challenge yourself. And also what I said at the very beginning, define your product. It's not etched in stone. So don't be afraid of adapting as you learn new things. But always know that you have a specific deliverable to offer to people when you're speaking to them. And do that in three sentences. If it takes you three paragraphs to define your product, you haven't defined your product. So learn how to narrow it down. Don't be afraid of testing out different options there. But just have a tangible. Always know what the outcome is of what you're doing. And that is your tangible. Well, that's, yeah, I wholeheartedly agree with everything you said. And no, especially the challenging yourself. I find that for a lot of people, they're scared to get started or they're scared to progress to like something bigger because they say, I'm not ready yet. I'm not there yet or something like that. And you do have to take that step. Obviously, not to something, you know, into rocket science, which if that's not your field, but to push yourself and say, no, I can, I'll figure it out and I'll find a way to do it because that, yeah, that's the only way to progress. And this also, you know, you're saying before, should you work for free to get started? That is also a mentality that you can take with you throughout your career. You know, if there's something that you feel, you know, I really want that job, but I don't think they're going to give it to me. But if I can, you know, so be creative with your contracts again and say, okay, I will do this for you at a reduced price or, you know, not for cash, but for this other thing, because I really, really want this project. So, you know, again, that's the, when you're a freelance consultant, it's like you're always at the beginning of your career and you're always smacking your career. It's, it's, you know, you're constantly growing. And so you're always employing those same tools and techniques to do so. Yeah. Just briefly before we stop, I just to get some concrete information about you, how long now have you been a freelance business consultant? Full time freelance has been since this year. So it's been about, well, a couple of months into the, about 10 months now. Have you, what kind of results have you been seeing? I've seen satisfactory results. I expected to not be essentially making money for the first nine to 12 months at least. And that was not the case. I started making money within a couple of months. That was in part through my network. I, when I decided to go freelance, I called everybody I knew, friends, colleagues, business partners, family and said, this is what I'm doing and sent them emails and sent them my website. And as I fine tuned, I kept them apprised to that. And so, you know, and, and being friends of mine just meant that I had people that I never would have thought that I'd work with just because of the nature of their jobs in mind who would call me up and say, you know what, I've got this thing and can you just help with that? It's like a two week job. It's a small thing, but you're available help out. Somebody hired me a research journal that I've done work with in the past, hired me to write a couple articles for them. Again, I never would have actually thought to go to them. So, but because I told them and we're having the conversation, they're like, you know what, we've got this deadline in six weeks. Can you get an article to us? So, so I've, I have seen good results. It has been through networking. I joined a closed networking group. I joined other associations or enhanced my activity and associations that I was already in. So it's all been through word of mouth and direct communications, direct encounters with people. And I've taken on jobs and absolutely one of, one of the first jobs I pitched, I sent a proposal and the business owner came back to me and said, I don't really want to do any of this, but I, I, you know, but can you just do this other thing for me? And I just, I just gone in. I, I, I overthought it is what I did when I sent this proposal. And, but, you know, but he said, well, that's, but I kind of need this. And I said, okay, well, let me do that. And he's turned into one of my principal clients now. I mean, it's, you know, so there was, I felt a very rocky start, but instead we have a great working relationship. He continues to send me more and more business. So yeah, the results have been good. Finally, how can people get in touch with you if they do want to get in touch with you? Is there a preferred way? Yes. Yes. So my website is rgbrixi.com. That's rgbrizi.com. That's also my email. It's rgbrixi at gmail.com. On my website, there's my blog. I write once a week, I said, I post a new strategy post and also a do for my series professional patois in which I tear apart business jargon. So you can see my blog post there, but I mentioned it because you can also subscribe to my newsletter in which you'll receive my blog post by mail and any news that I have, obviously it goes in there. So if you just kind of want to see what I'm thinking this week and learn, learn more about what I'm doing, that's one way to do so. But also do email me. There's a contact form on my website or send me an email and let's talk business. So I'm going to leave all the links and everything in the description below so everyone can get access to it. And before we go, is there anything else you'd like to add? Well, first of all, thank you of course for having me. This has been fun. Some of you who watch this channel may know that I've edited not all of these videos, but some of them. So I'm a big fan of the FTT YouTube channel. But the tips in there, part of why I enjoy editing in them is because I watch them anyway. The tips in there, there are a lot of universal truths for freelancers. So that's why I say, you know, the product that I deliver is different than what you deliver. But I think a lot of the struggles that we have and a lot of the approaches that we need to use are the same. Even if the specific tactics are different, you know, the way we need to manage our businesses are the same. So there's, there are a lot of good tips on this channel. Keep watching. Well, thank you. That was a great pitch and I didn't even ask for that. So once again, this is Rebecca Breezy and she is a freelance business consultant. I will leave all her contact details in the information, I mean, all the contact details she provided in the information below. And also, just in terms of transparency, she is my sister in case you didn't notice the resemblance. Yes. And anyway, thank you very much. I think it's already been half an hour almost that we've been talking. So thank you very much. And I'll talk to you next time. Thank you. And thanks. Okay, sorry, I'll let you go. Well, thank you. And thank you everybody for watching. And if you like this video, click like because that always helps. And if you want more, subscribe. You do watch my videos. You weren't fiddling. Okay. And so I won't even say that part. I'll see you next time. Thanks. Bye.