Michael D. Brown is co-founder of Consultant Launch Pad. He has worked in the chemicals industry for more than 30 years, 12 of that as a consultant.
Consulting on the side can be a juggling act
I have previously discussed ideas for entering the consulting profession, including tactics for minimizing the risk and cost and ways to give consulting a test drive without fully committing. In a continuation of that theme, one must consider the possibility of consulting on the side while you still have a day job. In many ways it is the perfect strategy for becoming a consultant because you are protected on the “revenue” side by the steady salary of employment and probably a nice set of benefits.
On the other hand, any side job poses potential risks to your employment and your personal life and one has to consider carefully how you can legally, ethically and happily marry a job and consulting practice. My advice is, BE CAREFUL ; unlike other side jobs, consulting on the side brings a special set of potential conflicts problems with your day job:
Make sure your consulting practice does not interfere directly or indirectly with your employment. Read your employee handbook carefully to assure that company policy allows side jobs and made very certain you are not in violation of employment contracts, secrecy agreements, etc.
- Never interact with your consulting clients during normal business hours and never use company resources (e-mail, phone, files, computer, etc) for consulting. These should be separated to prevent any appearance of impropriety – to your employer and your clients.
- Depending on your position in the company, and your relationship with your supervisor, it may make sense to be open about your consulting practice. Openness can relieve the burden of secrecy, but I do not necessarily feel this is essential and certainly do not feel your employer has to know how you spend your off-hours unless it is expressively stated in company policy.
- Carefully consider how you manage your personal brand and the multiple personalities you are presenting to your consulting clients. The more you can keep your worlds separate (consult in different industries, geographies, etc.) the better off you will be. Think two steps ahead – for example, if you lose your day job how will you explain past moonlighting while interviewing with new employers?
So is there wiggle room for consulting on the side? Of course there is depending on the type of consulting. In ubiquitous consulting where the potential for conflict is minimal (e.g. information technology), there is plenty of opportunity to have a separate consulting practice with little if any entanglements with full employment. On the other hand, business and management consultants may find a very narrow window to operate because of the potential for knowledge transfer and that will limit them so severely that they can’t have a meaningful consulting practice.
So, while certainly possible, consulting as a second job should be considered carefully. I do not believe it is possible to have a robust and thriving practice on the side. Rather, I see moonlighting as way to test your abilities to consult and see if it is a good alternative to a day job. Frankly, I think it makes most sense when you are serious about weaning yourself from a day job to a new lifestyle or retirement where you intend to make consulting your primary income.
Michael Brown is president of StrategyMark Inc., which provides consulting services to the specialty chemicals industry.
