Your employer pays you to solve problems. Coworkers ask for your judgment. You know things that took years to learn. Yet when you consider consulting, it can be surprisingly difficult to say what someone would buy.

The missing piece is often a clear connection between what you know and a problem a particular person wants solved.

Jonathan Stark explores that connection in his video, 5 Basic Steps for Starting a Profitable Consulting Business. Here is how I would apply the idea to people who have built their experience in engineering, management, education, or another professional role.

Dan Koe’s video, “Work Less, Earn More, Enjoy Life,” made me think about that question. He explores the one-person business model: using your interests, skills, and expertise to build a business as a creator, freelancer, coach, or consultant.

I see a connection to the Company of One model I teach, especially for people who already have careers, families, and responsibilities.

You may enjoy your work. You may have spent years becoming good at it. You can value that career and still want more control over your income and time.

How to stop collecting business ideas and start building real options.

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to spend months—or even years—thinking about making a change without actually doing anything?

Maybe you’ve considered consulting. Or starting a business. Or investing in real estate. Maybe you enjoy your job but are tired of the bureaucracy and restrictions that come with it.

You keep looking at possibilities.

You watch videos, read books, attend workshops, and talk with friends about what you could do.

But nothing really changes.

I think one reason is simple: There’s no urgency.

If your paycheck stopped Friday, where would your next dollar come from? I’m not suggesting you quit your job. I’m suggesting the opposite. Keep the job. Keep the paycheck. Keep the benefits. But start building something beside it.

Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcast Most people I talk to say the same thing: “I want to start something on the side… I just don’t know what.” It sounds like an idea problem. It’s not. It’s an awareness problem. Because the truth is, most people already have...

I didn’t walk in offering to rewrite software.

I didn’t pitch features.

I made a simple claim:

“I can save your $100K investment by showing you what to remove.”

That was it.

This episode of Company of One is for the experienced professionals who feel that pull toward consulting but can’t quite see the path from where they are to where they want to be. The ones waiting to feel ready — not realizing the person people want to hire already exists.

Sometimes the most valuable thing someone can do for you isn’t give advice.

It’s ask a question you’ve been avoiding.