If You Love Your Hustle, It Never Feels Like One. In Fact, It Feels Like Fun.
I love consulting work and running my 1-Man consulting practice. What about you?
I am no salanghaeyo guy. I don’t talk about love or passion the way many side-hustlers do.
Practicality is my language. Consulting is my business.
However, I am disturbed by some questions I get from aspiring consultants on the side. These are the top 3.
“Aldric, how much money can I make from hustling as a consultant for 4 hours a day?”
“Can I just collect middleman fees and outsource all work to you?”
“Running a 1-Man consulting practice seems like hard work. Will 2 hours per weekday be enough?”
It demoralizes me when I read such questions. Forget about replying. I just want to get a cup of black and go chill by the café.
There is a ton of Fun in Getting Dirty
I am a Lego fan. I enjoyed stacking as a child, and I still do today. For disclosure, I am in my mid-30s.
I love piling on different shapes of blocks. Time flies when I am stacking thousands of blocks to build an empire following an architectural blueprint.
Pride fills my heart when I am done. I would run around showing Mum and Aunt my latest piece of work.
Of course, my fingers hurt. But I would never want to outsource this sense of achievement to Dad. What is the point of receiving the Lego empire while Pops got all the fun?
I have the same mentality for my 1-Man consulting practice.
The reason I am running one is simple. I have always wanted to become a consultant. Always. It is an identity I resonate with no matter regardless of my job title(s).
- I am a Technology Pre-Sales Senior Manager.
- I run Startups.
- I am involved in other Startups as Fractional Executive.
- Above all, I enjoy solving complex problems. Therefore, I am a consultant at heart.
I would go into a client’s office and get buried in the consulting engagement. I won’t kid you. There are times when I am THAT CLOSE to taking out that little white flag in my back pocket.
And each time I toe the line, I would almost always get into bed with a bad headache.
But. I will always wake up with new ideas and possible solutions to the pressing issues on hand.
And I will be itching to put my discovery to experiment. I cannot wait for 5 pm to tick on the clock to end the workday and rush to my consulting hustle!
I Enjoy Consulting Work Because the Questions Are Interesting
There are 2 direct reasons I enjoy being a 1-Man consultant by the side.
- I get new questions/problems to work on for each engagement.
- There are no standard answers. I produce solutions in collaboration with my clients.
And that makes consulting work challenging.
There is no lifeline on speed dial. No one else is or has worked on the same problems you are today. You rely on yourself.
I love working on impossible tasks. It forces me to venture beyond the perimeter of my experience and exposure to new knowledge pastures.
It prompts me to ask Ray Dalio’s famous question.
“What don’t I know?”
I get lost in my thoughts whenever that question pops into my head. I share the love with my consulting clients, much to their dismay.
Clients hate to admit their ignorance. But when they do, we can work together to achieve a better consulting engagement outcome. Because it becomes professionally and socially acceptable to fill our areas of ignorance with thoughtful questions.
“Have you tried this before? Do you think it will work?”
“What if we replace User Acceptance Testing with Conference Room Pilots? Do you think we can overcome the current delay and Go-Live on time?
Yes, I am addicted to solving complex problems. My mind feels healthier when I feed it with puzzles.
“Your mind can solve what to do with a better question. Ask, how can I do X (thing you want) without Y happening (worry, fear or concern) by Z (time to accomplish)?”
The Money, The Working Hours, The Never-ending Headaches.
If you are in it for the money — Forget it.
Many clients pay consultants a fixed fee. You are expected to solve the problem no matter how long it takes you to close the job. You got to absorb the financial cost if you cannot deliver on time.
Your revenue goes down when it is measured against committed time.
Working hours are long. Many people (I speak to) think that consultants just have to talk, and someone else will pick up the operational execution.
I am bemused.
If you are running a 1-Man consulting practice, there is no one else. You are the pitch monster, the deal-maker, and the coffeemaker. You touch all pieces of the business.
That means you got to love working long hours to solve complex puzzles.
And that does not mean we have to hustle ourselves to the graveyard. We are human beings. We must take breaks to recharge, learn new skill sets, and nail down the industry niche we aim to serve.
Make time to take care of your family, soul, body, health, and mind, no matter how stressful your chosen side hustles are.
The All-Time Smoking Hot Question I Get Weekly — Should I Be a Consultant on the Side?
Let me teach you a common trick that consultants use to deal with questions we have no answers to. We answer questions with more questions.
And I have 3 questions for you.
- Do you enjoy solving complex problems?
- Do you enjoy working with (not for) clients?
- Are you confident in your work even when everyone throws you under the bus?
If your answer to the above questions is a big fat Yes — Welcome to the club.
If you have a No in any of the questions above, ask yourself what draws you to the consulting hustle.
Do not rush into a side-hustle because it appears to be a gold mine. My hustling experience taught me that it is never the case.
Parting Notes
If you hate your 9–6, the last thing you want to do is hate your 6–9.
That is a lot of hate, by the way. And that is no way to lead our lives!
I do think we have to enjoy our side-hustles. We need to look deep within ourselves to find out who we are and what makes us tick.
Of course, you will excel as a consultant on the side if you love confronting and overcoming challenges.
Oh. And if you do, you get fun from solving impossible problems too.
As a content contributor, I write my observations from daily life and my business exposure. Because our life experience is the bedrock of our unique perspectives.
