I am a one-man consulting firm doing mainly construction management on the owner’s behalf. Depending on the contract delivery method used I act as the owner’s representative, work with another consulting firm as the CM part of ECPM work and similar roles.

Almost all of my work has come from previous contacts. My first big project was with a firm where a friend from school days worked. I have gotten work from people with whom I worked with in past employment positions; friends form volunteer work (both of us were once Scout leaders) and repeat business that has followed the initial business relationships.

Advertising and cold calls have never worked for me. I have never tried mass mailings. I do make the rounds at industry events but a lot of that is keeping in touch with former clients.  I do call everyone on my contact list at least once a year, more if I feel that there is a good fit for my services in their operations.

My business is a little different than a lot of consulting since I usually only work one project at a time and these can last 6 to 18 months so I am not often looking for work.

One avenue that I have explored but never found a good fit is some of the web sites that offer to be in the business of bringing consultants and clients together. I have never found one that has much relevance to a small firm. They tend to be either big projects where the client is looking for a national competition of the big firms, a highly specialized service or a full design, construction management service. The only web sites looking for one-man services are employment types of sites where they are looking for employees, not independent consultants.

Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng

Construction Project Management
From conception to completion
www.kitsonengineering.com

Nothing works as well as networking.  Networking consists both of cultivating your existing network (prior clients, contact, peers, friends, etc.) and expanding it.  Your primary source of work, if you are to succesful, will probably be your prior clients (at least after you are up and running for a while) so also be sure to provide good service.