Do you have to start with a consultant?

Editor's note: This article was excerpted from our Consulting Business start-up guide, available from the Entrepreneur Bookstore. The dictionary defines a consultant as "an expert in a particular field who works as an advisor either to a company or to another individual." Sounds pretty vague, doesn't it?

But unless you've been in a coma for the past decade, you probably have a good idea what a consultant is. Businesses certainly understand what consultants are. In 1997 U.S. businesses spent just over $12 billion on consulting.

According to Anna Flowers, spokesperson for the Association of Professional Consultants in Irvine, California, the association has recently noticed an increase in calls for information from people who want to get into the business. "The market is opening up for the consulting-for-businesses arena," Flowers says. , an independent consultant in Arlington, Virginia, thinks more people are getting into the consulting field because technology has made it easier to do so.

"The same technology that has helped me to be successful as a consultant has made it easier for others to do the same," she says. A consultant's job is to consult. Nothing more, nothing less.

It's that simple. There's no magic formula or secret that makes one consultant more successful than another one. But what separates a good consultant from a bad consultant is a passion and drive for excellence.

And--oh yes--a good consultant should be knowledgeable about the subject he or she is consulting in. That does make a difference. You see, in this day and age, anyone can be a consultant.

All you need to discover is what your particular gift is. For example, are you very comfortable working around computers?